Reports from the Call Center: Episode 1

[Foamfollower]

I work in a call center as a customer support representative. I'm never going to say where I work nor will I say which company for which I am a customer support representative.

I will say that rule #1 in being a customer support representative is that the customer is always right, even when they are not.

I have to listen to customers who are Trump supporters rant about how great he is and even agree with them while on the phone. If I were to disagree with them, I would lose my job in a heartbeat. It's just the way it is. There's no other choice.

I even have to listen to misogynistic crap from certain male callers who whine about getting a female customer support representative and how happy they are that they are now speaking with a male.

It's complete and utter bullshit, but it pays the bills and puts food in my mouth, so what are you gonna do until a better job comes around?

But back to my point. I've listened to Trump supporters and it's become incredibly clear to me, these people have their entire sense of personal existence now wrapped up in supporting Trump to such a high degree that NOTHING will ever sway them from their support. Even if Trump were to perform a third trimester abortion live on television, then proceed to eat the aborted fetus in the most gruesome fashion imaginable it would not sway these people from supporting him and even those deeply devout Evangelical Christians who only voted for Trump due to the abortion issue would proclaim this as the most presidential act in American history.

Folks, these people will NEVER change their minds about Trump no matter what that POS does.

It's time to write these people off as completely and utterly hopelessly lost to the dark side. They will NEVER vote for another Democrat again regardless of their voting history because they have become enamored in a cult of personality and will blindly follow this evil man over any cliff at any time.

The only way to defeat this man in 2020 will be to convince those who never vote but will be incredibly harmed by the damage he is doing to come out and vote. It's time to give those people the political will to actually get involved because the Trump supporters will remain Trump supporters forever. He is their God Emperor and NOTHING will change their minds.

[HAB911]

1. https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016188358

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016188358

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Welp, I'm super curious about how your customer service callers get on the topic of Trump.

Customer service line for...insurance claims? Cable news?

[Foamfollower]

7. The Trumpers always find a way.

It's neither of those industries, but even revealing the industry would be TMI to divulge. I cannot risk my job.

Suffice it to say, the idea is to get the customer taken care of and get them off the phone, but Trumpers always have to drag things on. Agreeing with them moves it along. Trying to state you cannot get into such matters makes things worse and always results in a Supervisor call and a bad survey. Agreeing with them shortens the call and results in a better survey (though Trumpers almost NEVER give a good survey).

[Mariana]

9. They obsess. Seriously, they must never think of anything else

for more than a minute or two.

I work in retail and at least once a day, some customer will mention Trump in the middle of a totally unrelated conversation. There is nothing whatsoever political about the store or about any of the merchandise sold there. It's never been in the news for any political or religious stances like, say, Hobby Lobby. It's really weird, like they're in a cult.

[cwydro]

3. Why in the world are they discussing politics on a customer service line?

If I have to call customer service, I want to get off the phone as quickly as possible. I can't imagine discussing politics.

[Sanity Claws]

4. Instead of agreeing with them

Can you say that we are not allowed to discuss politics? That calls are monitored and you could get into trouble for engaging with a customer regarding politics.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I don't have your direct experience but I don't doubt any of what you're saying.

It seems to have become a cult of personality, at least in some locations. The hard-core "base" is not going to come around. No matter what he does, his approval ratings will never drop below 25%-30% - which sucks for a president but is still a whole lot of people. But it's not surprising. At the end of the Watergate scandal, when the release of the tapes proved conclusively that he was directing the cover-up, Nixon left office with 26% approval, and that stayed pretty steady for years afterwards. To this day there are people who think he was framed.

The psychology of this is that people don't like to be wrong. They don't like to admit they made a wrong or foolish decision, and there have been studies showing that the more wrong they are shown to be the more they will dig their heels in and refuse to admit they were wrong. So: You voted for Trump because he told you, for example, that he'd bring the jobs back to the factories and coal mines or that he'd build a wall to keep out the Mexicans who are stealing American jobs. These things were so important to you that you didn't care that he's a thuggish, racist, mean-spirited boor with the morals of a jackal (for some, those characteristics are actually features, not bugs), so you voted for him.

And now, the more he's revealed as an erratic, narcissistic man-baby who doesn't give a shit if you ever get another job or lose your health insurance, the more you will support him. You will insist that he'll bring the jobs back soon, just give him more time; and that the media who criticize him are wrong and unfair and fake - because to acknowledge how bad he really is, is to acknowledge that you were duped into voting for a con man. You were stupid and foolish for believing a grifter. You can't admit such an embarrassing thing about yourself - that you're a sucker for a fast-talking con artist - so you double down on your support. That's where that dead-end 25% will come from.

And yes, they are largely unpersuadable. There will be people at the edges - those who saw Trump for what he was but had ideological reasons for voting for him, as well as some of the people who voted for him only because they irrationally hated Hillary - who will desert him; this is already starting to happen. Some of them are Democrats, and they can be won back. The main target should be the people who didn't vote at all. The hard-core Trumpistas are completely hopeless, like the hard-core Nixonites.

[cwydro]

6. I worked in a call center once for several years.

One doesn't have to agree with those type rants (though I still can't imagine anyone discussing politics on a customer service call); one can simply redirect them back to the matter at hand.

You should have coaches in your call center to help you with this, if you don't then it's a very poorly run center.

[pnwest]

8. I worked in a call center for three years for

a company that managed prescription benefits for several insurance companies. This was long before Obamacare. Even without the ammunition of ranting about Obamacare, there were times that I would be on the phone, having to be polite and responsive to some of these people, who were so abusive and ugly that tears would be streaming down my face. The stress of dealing with that for 8 hours a day, with the horrible vitriol literally pouring directly into my brain from the headphone jacks jammed into my ears, much of it being VERY personal attacks towards me because I represented the insurance company...well, it's hard to describe if you've not experienced it. I've had grown men threaten to "come down there and snatch the turban off your head"...(and I have no accent that would logically prompt that reaction...). Just awful stuff. I cannot even imagine the next-level anger brought on by Obamacare, and now the disastrous sabotage of it that's causing even more pain to the insured. I feel for you, whatever industry it is that prompts the vitriol you're experiencing - I know it is not fun at all, and very damaging to the psyche. I didn't make it past three years...