As more and more companies shift their work abroad for reduced wages they begin trying to hide that you might not be dealing with a fellow U.S. citizen when you need help. Customer support in particular is a field of work that gets outsourced to offshore remote employees quite often. And in many cases these workers are made to lie about who they are.
An ex Verizon employee who was hired as an offshore remote worker for customer support recently shared their experience after quitting the company. This person quit because of being forced to sell things to customers that they did not need. But their biggest takeaway from their time with Verizon is that they lied. A lot.
But it’s not lies about plan pricing or anything: it's the lies we often hear about coming from scam call centers. Offshore remote customer support representatives lie about their nationalities. They have to lie about where they’re based out of. Sometimes they even have to fake their name if the customer asks for it.
The poster who shared their experience also had to lie and claim that they used Verizon themselves. Funnily enough sometimes customers on the line would be grateful for finally getting an American representative, completely unaware of who they were talking to.
Image credit — PhoneArena
The ex Verizon representative also shared some painful experiences. They recounted that sometimes customers would actually break down and start crying because they couldn’t afford their bills. These instances would sometimes be accompanied by the customers saying that their medical bills were preventing them from being able to buy anything.
But there were also some touching moments too: like when the employee would just reveal who they were to the customer. While some didn’t approve, others would be interested and ask more about where they were from. According to the ex Verizon representative these interactions changed their perception of Americans.
Alongside the lying there has definitely been an uptick in cellular companies forcing their employees to sell more unneeded plans or phones. AT&T employees are disgruntled and thinking about quitting after the company has started demanding more results. This, after AT&T employees received short checks, has soured relations and some are thinking about asking their local union representatives for help.
I’m kind of taken aback, though not by much, that U.S. carriers pull the same tricks that literal scam call centers do. And I just wish that these jobs, which are pivotal to the industry, didn’t rely so heavily on obfuscating facts.
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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.
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