Oh for God’s sake, Citibank!
I just had the most God-awful experience on the phone!!
See I'm always apprehensive when the Caller ID on the screen says, 'Withheld'. Usually it means some guy from some company is calling me up to sell some product. This time it's a girl. But it took me like one whole bloody minute to realize where she was calling from and later, what the fuck she was talking about.
DAMN I hate being rude on the phone. But This time, CITIBANK has really outdone itself. Good golly, if anyone who works in Citbank here is reading this, I'm sorry, but the people in your Telemarketing department really, really need to learn some conversational skills.
See it took me like 3 bloody times of asking, 'Excuse me' to realize that this girl was calling from Citibank. Even then, it was almost impossible to interrupt the girl because the chick didn't seem to know that when you're in a telephone conversation, you damn hell need to wait for your turn before you continue to speak.
After saying the classic 'Citibank' line, she told me her name, and went on to mumble a very long sentence which made no bloody sense to me at all. SHE SOUNDED AS IF SHE STUFFED AN ENTIRE DONUT INTO HER MOUTH and pushed all the accents of the world into a single sentence in an effort to sound educated damn it. And because I didn't, for the love of God, I couldn't get any inkling of wtf she was blabbing about, I had no choice but to go, 'I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?'
She went, 'Yes,' and then proceeded to wait for a WHOLE ETERNITY before going on again, 'OK I SHALL GO ON.'
GOOD LORD, WHICH PART OF 'Could you repeat that?' is so fucking hard to understand damn it? So I said it again, 'I said, I don't understand what you're saying. Can you say it again?'
And then again,' Yes,' and the eternity pause. Then she goes and say this awfully clever line, hu-hu, 'Ok , would you prefer to speak in Chinese or Malay?'
LIKE WTF? I want to speak in English lah damn it. I said, 'Er. I'd rather speak in English.'
Then again, 'Yes,' and ANOTHER ETERNITY PAUSE!! AND THEN, TO TOP IT OFF, she didn't even pass the phone to someone who COULD be more eloquent than her, she just CONTINUED WITH READING HER PREPARED TELEPHONIST SCRIPT, and then I caught the words, 'PROTECTION PLAN', and by then I had to bloody scream into the phone.
'Stop stop stop stop, you're saying 'Protection plan'?'
'Yes, Propecdon plan.'
'OK.'
'Are you free now?'
'Not really.'
'OK THIS PROPECDON PLAN IS..'
'I said I'm NOT free. And I don't understand what you're saying.'
'OH OK you free at what time?'
'Call me back after work.. Maybe seven.'
Asswipes says I'll buy your stupid protection plan, damn it. Get a good telephonist first, else how the fuck am I going to be convinced that you'll do a good job protecting the things I buy if you can't even employ people who speak understandable English?!
February 17th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
I have so much beef against nuts from HSBC I would probably end up stangling the next one i meet in real life.
February 17th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
HAHA. Confirm new worker. SO by the script. That’s why she’s mumbling all the way and not giving you the chance to even speak coz they’re afraid that once you get the chance to talk, they won’t know how to finish the rest of the script. Robot betul. Telemarketers like that are really sucky and so annoying because they don’t know how to change their script according to situations (like this one). Customize it abit lah.
February 17th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
I’ve taken a call from one telemarketeer whose words were so garbled that she sounded like she was talking and simultaneously giving a terrific blowjob at the same time. I was pissed off, not because I wanted to be the guy receiving the blowjob but because it took a while before I managed to get an opportunity to say goodbye so that she would stop bothering me and go back to do whatever it was she was doing.
February 17th, 2006 at 5:12 pm
i absolutely HATE/ABHOR/LOATHE telemarketers…sorry if anyone is one, but so far I’ve NOT met one that’s worth listening to (if you can even comprehend them in the first place)…
My sympathies to you, Claire
February 17th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
ehhh.. why u dowan buy the propecdon plan from sitibenk lehz? buy lahhhhh
*oops… I’ve got two mates working there… Will tell them abt it when I see them*
Haffa good weekend!
February 17th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Poor girl was just trying to earn her RM4.50/hour…
But the employers should’ve taken more initiative to at least make sure that she can actually speak (and not read) in English…
Well, I blame the education system… The focus on BM has killed off our abilities to communicate in THE International Language, THE Lingua Franca of the WORLD…
If not for the rise of the www, we would stillbe kidding ourselves that BM is the only language that is important, because we need it to pass SPM…
February 17th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Hmm. Just had a similar experience with some assistant at a migration agency. I was saying something blah blah blah “assets”.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand that, what do you mean assets?”
“??? I’M sorry, what ARE you??? How is it that you don’t understand the meaning of assets, you’re a migration agency for goodness sake????”
“Oh, you mean air-sat“
February 17th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
After getting 4-8 telemarketing calls a day, I become rude and just hang up as soon as I hear robot-like voices.
I even get the same call everyday at exactly the same time from the same company. So now they can programme their phones to do things like this?
February 17th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Hmm sounds familiar especially the “are you free?”part … I remember telling a telemarketer that I was in a meeting and that I couldn’t talk but she just went on and on…. so I just ended the call but she just kept calling back…grrrrr I hate telemarketers with passion…
February 17th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
bravo the education system.
February 17th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
To err is human. I bet she is either still new or inexperience. But still, I think telemarketers ought to possess, if not learnt, some basic conversational skills.
February 17th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
What you need is the Anti-Telemarketing Counterscript.
From http://www.xs4all.nl/~egbg/counterscript.html,
“The Direct Marketing sector regards the telephone as one of its most successful tools. Consumers experience telemarketing from a completely different point of view: more than 92% perceive commercial telephone calls as a violation of privacy.
Telemarketers make use of a telescript - a guideline for a telephone conversation. This script creates an imbalance in the conversation between the marketer and the consumer. It is this imbalance, most of all, that makes telemarketing successful. The EGBG Counterscript attempts to redress that balance.”
You can find the script at the link above.
February 18th, 2006 at 2:33 am
i got a lot of these kinda calls.. but its fun to play with them sometimes
February 18th, 2006 at 5:07 am
If I’m not wrong, citibank outsourced it telemarketing to another company.
February 18th, 2006 at 8:11 am
Telling them you’re having lunch/dinner always makes it easy for me to say goodbye and hang up.
On second thought… just hang up.
February 18th, 2006 at 10:01 am
i tend to get call centers from all over the world calling me up to see if i would like a new mobile or a new kitchen and stuff like that. I tried a funny trick the other day. I asked the guy if he believed in god and whether he ever thought about whats out there in the universe……got the idea out of a tv show. i wished that i could see the guys face on the other end……..try that next time…..but they might not understand you though!!!!! harhar
February 18th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Screw telemarketers. They better be sure they have a protection plan ‘cos I’m gonna stuff the phone up their ass.
February 18th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
maybe she called from a call center somewhere in Timbuktu or Cambodia, trying to speak Manglish LOL
February 18th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
I wouldn’t have so much patience with them, if i were you. Either they talk properly with me, else the next thing would be “doo… doo… doo…”
February 18th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
well that was annoying. doesnt she understand english at all leh???
February 19th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
ah, she’s probably a newbie… and i’m betting that her script was really long-winded, making her all nervous and prone to just gabbling out the whole damn paragraph.
as for me, i’m a tele-surveyor and we get about the same amount of flak as tele-marketers. heh.
February 19th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Give them a break. At least these telemarketers are earning an honest living or at least trying to. Dun blame them but blame the employers or companies who seek assistance from call centres. I never believed in being rude to these people UNLESS they’re so darn stupid that they do not understand when we decline them politely. They’re human too. I’m sure most of you have dealt with customers at least once in your lifetime or clients in your line of job.
But it is definitely important for telemarketers to realise that sales through phone does not only need you to emphasize on closing the darn deal but also improve on your conversational skills instead because this will not only help you in your job but also change you as a person.
March 14th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
CITIBANK IS NOT BEING HONEST WITH DFEH
DFEH=Department of Fair Employment & Housing
Is this legal or just morally wrong?
HOW CAN THEY DO THIS TO PEOPLE?
What else are they not being honest about?
IS CITIBANK GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS JUST BECAUSE I CAN’T AFFORD AN ATTORNEY ANDI DON’T QUALIFY FOR LEGAL AIDE?!
DOES ANYONE KNOW AN ATTORNEY WITH A HEART WILLING TO HELP ME, PLEASE?
THIS IS A LETTER I SENT MY GOVERNOR
Dear Governor, First Lady and staff,
I have been awake since 1:05 a.m. I was having a difficult time sleeping again due to my conversation with Ann Lueckeman from the DFEH. Ann and I spoke on 3/08/06, Citibank apparently faxed in their reply on 3/07/06. Ann read to me some of the statements that Citibank made on their reply Citibank states: that I called in on 11/15/05 and that I stated that I would be out the rest of the week, this is a lie!!! I happen to have my time card for the week ending 11/19/05 and it clearly shows that I worked the 15th, I was off the 16th and I worked the 17th and that I was out sick on the 18th and 19th and that the manager approved my time. Citibank states that I refused to work on Saturdays but they don’t mention that I, unlike them, was willing to meet them half way. Citibank is not telling the truth. To further support that I was at work on the 15th and 17th I have my journal notes with specific times of things that occurred on those two days. How does an honest and ethical person fight against unethical people who lie? How can I protect myself if I can’t afford an attorney and I can’t find one to work on a contingency basis? The other night, on TV, my husband and I heard that the government spends 4 million to train wasp and I can’t get help from The White House or our Senators or Congress, to defend myself against a corporation which is taking advantage and lying about this situation? The only one that has offered to help is the Governors office and although I appreciate the letter and the call from the Governors office this does not get me an attorney. I have diligently search for assistance to no avail. I am now begging for help, I can’t continue to loose sleep and live on anxiety medication; this situation is wearing on me. Again, please, is there anything more that you or our government can do to help my family and I, for this wrongful termination? Why is Citibank lying? I feel like I am going to have another panic attack and I had to resign to taking medication to calm down. This is totally and completely unfair, unjust, wrong and no one should have to go through what Citibank has put my family and I through. I only wonder how many other wrongful termination’s Citibank has gotten away with because people are afraid to go up against them or just don’t have the money to fight and protect them selves? My husband and daughter are worried about me and so am I.
PLEASE HELP US. I don’t know what else to do and I don’t want to give up.
Sincerely.
Damari Stratford
1291 ORD GROVE AVE, SEASIDE , CA 93955-3119
A BETTER EXPLANATION Mother fired by Citibank for no good reason
I am searching for an Employment Attorney willing to work on a contingency basis. I was fired while I was out sick, the managers states in a note added to my personnel file that he had called me to see if I would be coming into work on Dec. 13th but yet with my letter of termination he returned to me the faxed in doctors note, faxed in at 3:44p.m. on 12/12/05 by my doctor, which clearly stated that I would be out from 12/12-12/16/05. He sent me my letter of termination thru UPS, which arrive on 12/15/05. The manager knew that I was out on work related stress and I had a workers comp case pending. The manager states that I was fired for not complying with my warning and I asked how I could comply if I wasn’t there to comply so then I get a letter from HR stating that I was fired for failure to follow the call in process but my doctor had called in for me on the 12th due to my stress level and blood pressure. The doctor had spoken to the supervisor on the 12th so they were aware that I wouldn’t be in on the 13th and my doctor has the notes on my file that she had made a call in for me. Citibank did not follow their own procedures when they fired me. The EEOC has given me the right to sue and the letter arrived on 2/17/06 so my 90 days have started. The DFEH has also launched their own investigation which Citibank received notice on 1/23/06 and should be responding to the notice any day now, (as of 3/8/06they haven’t responded). I had an outstanding performance history with the bank; I had worked there for 4 years 2 months 6 days. I was the head teller one of the notary and the only Spanish-speaking teller. I have at least 40 letters of support from Citibank clients and I can prove that the manager was not equal with all the employees and although he was aware of the tellers cooking the books under the direction of the supervisor none of them were put on corrective action yet I was written up for missing my first Saturday and then again when I missed my 2nd Saturday although I had a doctors note to be out of work due to my blood pressure and stress brought on by the manage and the unfairness in treatment. One of the tellers had left $10,000.00 out unlocked for two days, the supervisor signs the vault book stating that she witness the teller put the cash away, which was a lie, and they still work there. That same supervisor was having the bank cover her daughters overdrafts and she is still there. These employees lie and put the bank at risk for $10,000.00 and I get fired for having my doctor call in for me? Where is the justice? I had been threaten with job abandonment but at that time I hadn’t missed any work long enough to be accused for this. Citibank violated code 132A of the worker comp law and I do have an attorney for that but they are unable to deal with all the other issues. I have a strong feeling that the manager never told HR that my doctor had called in for me nor did he share my doctors note with them, he is to get approval from HR before firing me yet fired me by 4:30 pm or so, I had also emailed him that day at 1:45 pm and explained that my doctor had spoken to the supervisor and faxed in a note, again he was aware that I wouldn’t be in. The manager had called my cell phone and left a message at about 10:25 am, he states that he called because I hadn’t called in a half an hour prior to my shift, which started at 8:30 a.m., why did it take him 2 hours before calling me? And I would bet that the supervisor had made arrangements to have a teller there to cover my shift since my doctor called her. Please help my family and I.
Sincerely, Damari Stratford
Home 831-583-9077 all calls to this number are screen due to telemarketing calls and my current situation so once you hear my voice saying that all calls are screened please leave a message, once I hear who is calling I pick up the phone.
Cell phone 831-236-0112 this is the best number to leave a message
Again please help us
IF YOU CAN’T HELP ME PLEASE FORWARD TO SOMEONE WHO CAN AND WILL THANKS