call center representative

customer service representative

The Sydney Call Center

The day would start with some dry heaving, prior to logging into the required portals and tools. When things finally loaded, jump into the calls. It was stressful, demeaning, and management couldn't have cared less about the employees. You're treated like cattle. The pay is far too low for the pressure you're put under, and your mental health suffers greatly. Time off is rarely (if ever) approved. Any time missed, sick or otherwise, must somehow be made up. The "bonuses" were structured in a way that new employees got great bonuses, seemed like a real incentive to keep going, but over time, they pull them back and pay you less, while increasing expectations. Once, they even implemented a new, last minute metric requirement in order to be eligible to even receive your bonuses. There was so much backlash from furious employees, that within a matter of days, the new implementation was retracted. Unfortunately, this took place during pay week, and payday itself fell right into the middle of those days, so the requirement (and subsequent consequences) were still enforced, and many people didn't recieve bonuses. Personally, this cost me over $400 in bonus pay, and I guess we were supposed to just accept it. That was it for me, and I began searching for my exit ramp. Definitely the absolute worst experience I've endured as an employee, anywhere. Not worth the anguish. I still have PTSD from this job, 2 years after my doctor put me on leave. I obviously chose my health first, and I did not return, but was also advised not to. Since, and still to this day, I'm unable to make calls to my family or friends, and I avoid all incoming calls from them. Would not recommend to a worst enemy. 

They have goals to meet in order to get a bonus but it’s near impossible to get help with improving unless it’s from other agents. There is no individual feedback unless you get an auto fail. The supervisors are too busy to do it and the quality assurance people are too and they don’t even let you see your scores unless you get 0%. The benefits suck.  

They give a warning if your attendance drops below 90% for a 4 week period and toss you out if you get 4 of those so if you get sick and miss a few days and you aren’t able to get a doctors note you are in trouble.  Especially if you are still recovering when you get back and can’t work the extra hours to make up the time fast enough. They advertise part time but you can’t work part time unless you are a student or have a doctors note.  They screw up your schedule by not scheduling you for any holiday they’d have to pay time and a half for and schedule you in on your day off so you might have to work 6 days in a week because they are too cheap. Even though this centre was the most profitable mci company last year. Only time you get a raise is when minimum wage goes up!

The guy who bought the center acted like he was so great for doing things like letting former employees keep their pay rate and seniority but he had to because it’s the law. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working from home, I save a lot of money and time without a commute.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not a very long period of time allotted for onboarding of new employees (training). They pack a lot of information into a short time frame.
Sometimes the custmers can be unpleasant, but that comes with a sales job.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is good. I am an employee who shows up on time, and follows my training, and I am not a slacker. I am sure those type of people may not have the best experience with the company.


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I sign in, and start taking sales or customer service calls. I present customers with product options, or I take calls and help them with anything they need. Regular breaks, and a half hour lunch which is nice, on a straight 8 shift. What's not to like?

I worked at the Sydney Call Centre for longer than I should have .
Out of my years of work experience at various jobs I have never experienced a work environment with so much negativity and toxicity. 

First of all, management will push unattainable goals on supervision who will, in turn, push them on the employees.

Secondly, there is tell of bonus incentives in the posting where the reality is- the bonus requirements, in the time I was employed by this company, steadily increased and by the end of my employment bonus was borderline impossible to achieve.

Lastly, every second of time that you miss you are required to make up by working extra time and if this is not met than there are penalizations at every level.
This coupled with the impossible sales goals creates a  toxic and miserable work environment. 

Overall, I would shovel poo for spare change before I ever thought to apply to this job again.

The worst part of the job was the inadequate systems they expected us to work with. Even when the systems failed there was no compensatory pay. They offer voluntary time off. They grandfathered old systems in to replace the broken ones, but still expect agents to meet the metrics. The most you'll ever get is minimum wage. The best part of working for this place was the team leads, who were often paid less than the agents. There were favourites. You had to beg for sick leave, paid or unpaid.  Management? Couldn't have cared less. A lot going on behind the scenes (like the company you worked for was pulling out) and the employees were the last to know. Their attitude was go where we put you or leave. Most employees have left and that's why they're hiring again. Only go here if you're desperate and can afford to work for minimum wage.

I have worked in this company and managers were worst than I ever seen in any company and moreover If someone tells them any reason about health they never show empathy towards them instead they take it as excuse and strongly believe that work culture and targets in this company is stressful and they do not want to be successful, they just want you to do sales and get money from customers and they don’t give consistent hours as well and flexibility is not a word in this company. I strongly say this is the most ridiculous company I have ever worked with, you can earn more in working part time then working full time in this company.

Do not work here. I worked remotely and you are constantly watched, and listened to. You are told to do more and more and are not properly trained or even told what your job responsibilities are until the first day you start after 1 week of training. They constantly change your roles and throw you into different positions that you aren’t trained in, only then to be criticized for lack of effort and not making sales (even if you weren’t trained into sales). You also cannot miss any time and have to work extra to make up even a couple of minutes off.

If you value your mental health, do not work here. 

It's better than other $12/hr jobs but it's the kind of job that you quit as soon as you can find anything that pays better with similar benefits. The work environment can best be described as a cross between a minimum security prison and a high school. The training sucks and the work is both mundane and unfulfilling. It's a sadness factory that will crush your hopes and dreams if you stay too long - unless, of course you have no hopes, nor dreams nor ambition. Then, it's better than other low-paying alternatives. That's because most other low-paying jobs provide little or no health benefits - which is the primary/only reason many continue to work here.

Weird hours so most of your day is spent at work. A lot of cold calling with unrealistic quotas to hit when doing it. Best part were some of the people you work with but otherwise not enjoyable for me. You could not miss any time at all or you were told to make it up but only if you work in Nova Scotia. They started hiring in other provinces but since some provinces at 40 hours you must pay overtime, they could force them to make up their hours like they could us. If you called in sick you would need to work on your day off to make it up.

I worked for this sad excuse for a company a number of years ago, and it was bad enough that I ended up having a case heard before a Department of Labor tribunal, which I won. There is no protection from bad managers The company will guarantee you forty hours a week, until "business needs" change, and then you can have your hours cut. It took me nearly a year to get the benefits that I was promised within 90 days. The site director is a moron who has been promoted well beyond his level of ability.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Call center representative 2 salaries reported	$18.62 per hour
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour

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