welcome to singtel mobile.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
HTC Dream is a disaster. No. Not the handset. The new phone seemed to be a little bit more brilliant than Apple's iPhone. But the day of its launch was a nightmare.
Particularly for those like me who had to sit in front of a glaring computer screen and pick up calls from supposedly potential customers who enquire everything about the HTC Dream, only to leave the line criticising it. Now
THAT is a real horror.
And it's not helping when there is this cheerfully stern looking woman walking around the office floor in a slow stride, peeking from the corner of her eyes to see whether we are really answering calls, or checking on the illegally and banned SingTel website call Facebook. I couldn’t quite tell if that creepy look was because she didn’t want to be out there checking out on everyone, or if she was actually enjoying her slow, utterly painful patrol of the little room.
I glanced around at my colleagues who are all shifting in their chairs, faces screwed up in confusion, and i'm remarkably brought back to a school classroom setting instead of a call-center work office. I do not want to be reminded about school, so i have to escape from this office (probably make a toilet trip or something), but first i need to exit this browser where i'm updating my blog.
“Is that a customer's case?” I'm imagining that was what she'd asked if she caught me on blogger.
“No,” I would replied bluntly. Hey, if she’s going to make me close it anyway, i may as well be honest about it. She might stiffened slightly, but the overly cheerful look will definitely remain. After all, i was busted anyway.
“Shut it off, then,” she would clipped and then walked away to reprimand Raymond for playing Sudoku online and jabbing Hanz in the shoulder to remind him to close that YouTube video. A minute later (if i'm still bored), i would decide to play Solitaire. But soon enough without a doubt, our lady would have caught me again.
“I’m sorry, but solitaire counts. Shut it off.”I would know by that irritating look in her eye that, no, she was not sorry at all. She was not at all remorseful for bringing me to the brink of death by boredom. I was not allowed to do anything online that does not involved handphone sets, unco-operative customers and a big SingTel logo.
SingTel Call-centre Rule Number 1: use the computer only for office work. and we don't care how young you are.
Ah, what have i been reduced to? Surely there must be
SOMETHING to do besides gnaw my own arm off from boredom! With no calls to pick up (yes, sometimes my customers understand the peace i desire), i found nothing to do other than to stare at the computer and waiting for a dreading call to come in.
SingTel Call-center Rule Number 4,838,468,465,168 clearly states:
No doing anything to occupy yourself when you have no calls. In fact, you should read SingTel.com.sg and broaden your knowledge.To my endless relief, i managed to end my day-dream and the possibilities of it happening, because i saw the woman walking towards the perimeter of where i am seated. I turn to the computer and pretend i'm handling a really important case of billing waiver and adjustments. Just as she reached the back of my chair, my headset alerted me of a call. I lifted my head to the heavens and thanked Allah. Truly, i had never been so happy to answer a call.
But, of course, do not misunderstand, dearest reader.
I mean no offense to our temporary floor walker - she is just another employee given the duty to supervise the call-center. Insulting those who watch us at work must be going against some office rule.
I imagine that
Call Centre Handbook Amendment 480 clearly states something along the lines of
“insulting supervisors appointed by the boss is punishable by death.”It’s right up there with historical
Amendment 1’s
“no eating while talking to customers”, and
Amendment 200’s
“Employees who die in office MUST complete the cases of the day to achieve the quota required by state law. Death is no excuse. Deceased employees will be kept in the corpse closet in the guard house until no sooner than 2pm.”Ah, work. I just cannot guess why so many people quit...
