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A few years ago, I sent my youngest son to a well-known online retailer to buy some computer gear. What he got was a counterfeit, a fake that was broken. He s

A few years ago, I sent my youngest son to a well-known online retailer to buy some computer gear. What he got was a counterfeit, a fake that was broken. He started the refund process, but I was pretty miffed that my reputation with my kid got mixed up in these poor business practices. So I emailed management and asked that they apologize to the kid. It took almost forever to get them to figure out that I was not asking for a refund. I was asking for somebody to explain what happened, apologize, and take steps for it not to happen again. He finally got a refund, although whether it was from my actions or his nobody knows. He said it came in three chunks, as if various departments were each pitching in a bit. I thought my point was pretty clear: as leadership, when you take your company and allow its reputation to suffer like that, this is something you are responsible for and need to take action to fix. The money has nothing to do with anything. But they only have certain predefined channels that they seem to be able to communicate through. Anything outside of those channels causes a weird org fault. I've worked with call centers before, and it continues to amaze me the strange place we are putting humans. They're paid to answer the phone, but after that? They're basically little robots, paid to execute a predefined program, adding in a bit of human-sounding noises now and then to make things slightly more palatable to the person on the other end.

pjc50 7y ago
On call centers, I will keep pointing people at: http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/2012/01/21/the-politics-of-call-centres-part-one/ http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/2012/01/21/the-politics-of-... > Inappropriate automation and human/machine confusion bedevil call centres. If you could solve your problem by filling in a web form, you probably would have done. The fact you’re in the queue is evidence that your request is complicated, that something has gone wrong, or generally that human intervention is required. > However, exactly this flexibility and devolution of authority is what call centres try to design out of their processes and impose on their employees. The product is not valued, therefore it is awful. The job is not valued by the employer, and therefore, it is awful. And, I would add, it is not valued by society at large and therefore, nobody cares.
- DanielBMarkham 7y ago
  Call centers, warehouses, and distribution centers; all places where people seem to be required yet their creativity and input isn't. For a large part, we treat them like they're just meat robots. I remember the first time I saw the computer-controlled voice-directing picking. You wear the headset. The computer tells you what to do. I see this way of working eating up more and more workers. One economist put it this way in a recent column I read: robots aren't taking your jobs. Robots are becoming your bosses.
  - tomp 7y ago
    There's a lot more jobs like this... Bank teller, fast food server, garbage collector, store clerk...
    - nerdponx 7y ago
      What's interesting to me is that human creativity and input are indeed required for excellence in these jobs, but not basic competence.
  - the-dude 7y ago
    Predicted : http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
- rcxdude 7y ago
  > If you could solve your problem by filling in a web form, you probably would have done. How true is this of the general population? I suspect that a significant fraction of call centre volume could be dealt with through a web form. That said, the rest of the point is true: the lack of agency in call centre employees likely results in a huge amount of wasted time and frustration both for the customer and for the company.
FDSGSG 7y ago
>It took almost forever to get them to figure out that I was not asking for a refund. I was asking for somebody to explain what happened, apologize, and take steps for it not to happen again. This is not the payment processors job, this is the merchants job. Instead of PayPal you could just as well have contacted Visa/MC/Whoever or your issuing bank, they wouldn't have been able to do much for you either. E: Yeah, I guess I misinterpreted the parent.
- austhrow743 7y ago
  I don't think their story relates to PayPal in any way other than this is where they decided to tell it.

pjc50 7y ago

On call centers, I will keep pointing people at: http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/2012/01/21/the-politics-of-call-centres-part-one/ http://www.harrowell.org.uk/blog/2012/01/21/the-politics-of-... > Inappropriate automation and human/machine confusion bedevil call centres. If you could solve your problem by filling in a web form, you probably would have done. The fact you’re in the queue is evidence that your request is complicated, that something has gone wrong, or generally that human intervention is required. > However, exactly this flexibility and devolution of authority is what call centres try to design out of their processes and impose on their employees. The product is not valued, therefore it is awful. The job is not valued by the employer, and therefore, it is awful. And, I would add, it is not valued by society at large and therefore, nobody cares.

DanielBMarkham 7y ago
Call centers, warehouses, and distribution centers; all places where people seem to be required yet their creativity and input isn't. For a large part, we treat them like they're just meat robots. I remember the first time I saw the computer-controlled voice-directing picking. You wear the headset. The computer tells you what to do. I see this way of working eating up more and more workers. One economist put it this way in a recent column I read: robots aren't taking your jobs. Robots are becoming your bosses.
- tomp 7y ago
  There's a lot more jobs like this... Bank teller, fast food server, garbage collector, store clerk...
  - nerdponx 7y ago
    What's interesting to me is that human creativity and input are indeed required for excellence in these jobs, but not basic competence.
- the-dude 7y ago
  Predicted : http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
rcxdude 7y ago
> If you could solve your problem by filling in a web form, you probably would have done. How true is this of the general population? I suspect that a significant fraction of call centre volume could be dealt with through a web form. That said, the rest of the point is true: the lack of agency in call centre employees likely results in a huge amount of wasted time and frustration both for the customer and for the company.

FDSGSG 7y ago

>It took almost forever to get them to figure out that I was not asking for a refund. I was asking for somebody to explain what happened, apologize, and take steps for it not to happen again. This is not the payment processors job, this is the merchants job. Instead of PayPal you could just as well have contacted Visa/MC/Whoever or your issuing bank, they wouldn't have been able to do much for you either. E: Yeah, I guess I misinterpreted the parent.

austhrow743 7y ago
I don't think their story relates to PayPal in any way other than this is where they decided to tell it.