NCO Group

Answered incoming calls for T-Mobile tech support. 
You sit on the phone with a headset...not your own, one that many others have used. it was gross. there was always a chance of getting lice or a cold. I always brought alcohol wipes to combat getting lice or sick. 

The training was long and not helpful. They should have given 1 week on how to use the systems and then shadow people out on the floor before putting them live on the phone. (it would have cost less and been more effective) Instead they do 3-4 months of training then 1 week of shadowing someone before you go live on the phones.

Sometimes you get a great customer, sometimes you get an irate customer. The bonus of having an angry customer is you have the chance of someone auditing your call and if you meet the criteria you can get a "5". (they have a rating scale of 1 which is poor and 5 which is an angry customer and you calmed them down and fixed their problem) If you got a 5 NCO will give you 50$. If T-mobile gives you a 5, then NCO promised 2000$ to the first rep who could get it. Someone got a 5 and quit 3 months later because NCO failed to keep their end of the bargain. You can also get "Kudos" where a customer will ask to talk to your supervisor to give you a good review.  They give you a certificate and a "kudos" candy bar. I received 18 kudos...I only received one certificate, no candy bar. Their excuse was they needed to go to the store to buy some. I really didn't need the candy bar but it set the precedence that their promises are hollow and meaningless. 

It was also extremely difficult to move up in the company.

They ask that each team do a certain amount of overtime. It averaged out to an hour per week per person. We all would get in trouble if we didn't meet our quota. So I decided to do an hour a day to help out (knowing that a few people on the team had kids and couldn't even do an hour extra). But then it got to the point where we still were not getting all of our overtime covered and I ended up doing all of it because I don't like getting in trouble. that was an extra 20 hours per week. I approached other coworkers to ask for their help and I was met with excuses. I went to the supervisor for help and nothing was done. So...I went back to doing my one hour of overtime. We got in trouble week after week and I asked to be moved to a different group and they said no. so i only did 5 hours extra a week and refused to do any more.

My breaking point with this job was when I told them I needed a day off to go to a specialist for a test up in northern Wisconsin. I had a doctors note stating the time and date and had him write it to the company. It was difficult to get an appointment. I would have had to wait another 6 months to get in and it was urgent that i got in and tested a.s.a.p. I told them a month and a half a head of time (they said it was ok), then a month (they again said it was ok), then two weeks (they said it should be ok), then a week before i told them that its a week till and they told me no. so i asked if i could switch days off with someone and they told me no. so i told them that i would have to call off on that day and expressed the importance of me going to get this test. They said that if i missed that day they would fire me. I had been working there a year and had never missed a day or called off. I called them and told them i was calling off for the day because of a doctor appointment and they told me not to come in and that i was fired. When i went into HR to talk to someone about it they said that I quit. I requested paperwork proving it and they couldn't. I attempted to fight for my job but they refused.

it was disappointing because I liked that job and was good at it. I wasn't a bad employee and had never been late or missed a day. I worked more than i should have.

This place is as sterile, lifeless, and unchallenging as they come. A couple managers have a little spirit and humor, sure, but otherwise you're looking at an ultra brain-dead "Office Space" environment straight from the film of the same name, except not funny in the least. This place will test your sanity, due to the extremely low work flow resulting in massive boredom, crossed with unnecessarily harsh floor rules that literally trap you in one place - at your cubicle - and punish you for the slightest showing of humanity.

Exaggerated? I think not. Try working the Fraud department for Capitol One in Montreal. When the work flow is slow and there simply are no cases to review (and I mean NONE, not like a few and people are putting them off. NONE), you are not even allowed a book, magazine, pen and paper - ANYTHING - to doodle, read, or otherwise pass the time when there is NO work and NOTHING YOU CAN DO OR BE GIVEN TO DO.

Turning to talk to your neighbor? Reprimanded. Browsing Google search results (the only internet access not blocked)? Reprimanded. More than once and you're written up and sent home. You are literally expected to sit there, stare at your screen, and keep Refreshing your work program in the hopes new work comes in... which on average, nets you maybe ONE case in a 3 hour window. Again, I've lived this, and am not exaggerating. I never thought I'd work someplace where I actually begged for MORE WORK TO DO!!

"What am I supposed to do then?? There is no work coming in!!" numerous workers plea to their managers when yelled at for surfing Google search results (the only loophole luxury on the floor), to which their zombified superiors reply "Keep refreshing in case something comes in"... or "keep calling customers" (who you've already called once for the day and can't leave more than one message for in a 24 hr window)... they don't even know what to say, because there is nothing to say.

I'm not a dramatic person but seriously.... all they need are whips and shackles to complete the picture. The newest computer monitor on my floor is from 2002. I checked the barcode. There's also a common war for a good chair to sit in as many are busted, leaning, and stuffing torn out... Forget about appropriate ergonomics. This place is ghetto as hell.

If you'd like to better understand the mammoth amount of civilian complaints against this company that circulate online, regarding annoying calls and harassment, then you need only WORK HERE and see for yourself... the poor workers have NO ONE ELSE TO CALL, for weeks at a time, NOTHING THEY'RE ALLOWED ELSE TO DO. NOTHING BUT SIT AND HOPE FOR WORK.

A typical day at work consisted of phone call's and being slave driven by management.

What I learned at this particular job is that I have been treated with more respect working with meanial job's or job's with minimum wage pay or less.

Management at this facility only care about playing the number games within themselves and there employee's. You are not considered an important of the business. They have absolutetly no way of showing you appreciation considering the fact that you have been approved for three raises and never received not one of the raises and if you as the employee remain there and continue to be successfull and is due for yet another raise, your going to be terminated instead receiving your promotion or your raise. Point blank period, if you are not already an employee there who is already in a management position or any postion of authority or higher, there will not be room for you to grow and develop or make a career there for yourself. Alot of people and positions there are already set in stone. And if you ever havr to report a member of management to the human resources department, prepare to start looking for other places of employment because the management and human resources there are so one-sided. You, the customer service rep, the employee with out authority will be out of a job before action is taken against the individual that you report especially in management. There is one management member there that has been reported at least ten to twenty times since I have been an employee there in my four year term and no action has been taken. I mean even going as far as corporate and calling the actuall client that the company did business with in pursuit of help for the employees.

My co-workers were awesome they really do help you cope and get through the daily stresses of the job.

The hardest part of the job is having the 100+ customer that you speak with every single day give you more respect than the company you represent and the management team in it.

The most enjoyable part of the job, the day you as the employee know that you will never have to set foot in the building because you are no longer an employee there. No matter if your terminated or if you find other means of employment.

This company deserves NO STARS in the Review but something had to be selected.

LET ME TELL YOU Considering that I have gain personal experience from within the company. Needless to say example the ridiculous numbers that is to be expected from an employee. Considering with useless training. Reason that is stated is because the training book and FACS doesn't describe different scenarios it can be vague in that sense. When asked for assistance, questions are ignored, the so called "supervisors" and "team leaders" often refer us back to the FACS sheet or training book. Making us feel ostracized and ridiculed ....Oh did I mention talked to on the side with a training memo? Leaving no room for human error. Yet expecting an employee to hit our numbers at the end of each month. Not expecting our numbers to be affected. Which is caused by your incompetent trainers giving a lack of knowledge to their employees. With only 5 minutes of medipac so called training. We wouldn't seek assistance if we were trained up to par at minimum. Now on another note. I feel that policy and procedure is inadequate and a sham. Clearly, when dress code violation are inconsistent and not enforced properly. Even to where fabric of the material is discuss as to what is allowable in the work environment really? come on REALLY!! Since this company enjoys on nitpicking on what employees can and can not wear why not issue uniform and nip this in the bud just a suggestion. That was just given believe me I have more the rest would have to cost you....lol. Last but not least management, management is suppose to lead, coach , mentor and develop their employees. Clearly no signs of that, instead what is often given by "management" is scare tactics, negative feedback (not constructive criticism), undermining. Once again leading to a training memo. Which as of today, I for one have had enough of. So best of luck to you all....And I'm out !!!!!

So where do I begin with NCO Financial Systems, now called EGS Expert Global Solutions. I worked here for about for months doing the same thing every single day. My first two months I enjoyed it, I got along with my supervisor which was probably my favorite out of all the jobs I had. She was very helpful in answering any and all questions that I had. I also got along with my entire team who I got to knew a lot from during our three week training class. The is pay is pretty bad considering what we have to put up with; our co-workers, the angry callers and the long hours. Plus you don't receive any benefits until you complete your 90-day probationary period...that is IF you can make it.

The atmosphere is rather tense and dry usually unless there's a holiday that comes up which the supervisor will let their team decorate the office and cubicles based on that holiday theme. Any other time, as the review summary suggest, its just another call center. The other teams I worked with were somewhat okay to work with, others were stuck up and snooty when you tried asking them questions relating to a customer's bill.

This is a company will write you up or terminate you without further notice depending on the severity of your actions, so be cautious.

I would only recommend this job to people who enjoy sitting down all day and coming to work doing the same repetitive actions every single day with no strong benefits and no raises (Oh yeah, you don't get a raise here they start you off at $8.75 and that stays there forever) You do however get pay incentives for having high productive numbers and a strong, consistent quality control number. (All of your call our recorded and they review all of your calls)

Good luck people

I enjoyed the customer contact, loved talking and assisting  & providing great customer service.  However, I was unable to fully focus on customer satisfaction, due to  stressing over stats, such as: hold, call duration, transfers time, averages, etc. Also, was told would be collecting required, but shortly after completing training... company became very strict on collecting. Started out as soft collections, then it changed to aggressive collections. 

COLLECTIONS IS NOT MY FORTE & I just couldn't get all of my stats up to par. Didn't like asking customers for payments to restore service, didn't like COLLECTING, soft nor 3rd party contingency!!!

I am not fond of jobs that put stats on providing great customer service, because every call is different.  Some of the senior citizens customers required additional assistance & time. At the end of the day, I felt good about customers thanking me for taking the time to explain and education them, regarding their accounts, etc.  

Trainers were good & T. Barnes was GREAT!!!
I learned a great deal from her!!! Much LOVE TO YOU T. BARNES!!! 

Majority of co-workers were great to work with & majority of Management were great!!! 

System & Programs: Experienced a lot of technical difficulties & company need to work out the glitches!!!!!!!!!!

OVERALL: I REALLY AND TRULY ENJOYED MY JOB & MOSTLY WORKING AT HOME.  ***THE CUSTOMERS WERE THE MAIN REASON WHY I DIDN'T GIVE UP & KEPT CLOCKING IN  EVERYDAY!!!***

Recently, the supervisors of my department informed us that the company would be relocating our work to another location in Dublin, OH. I live in Columbus, OH. It is a long commute from my residence to Dublin. That was not the problem though. The organization gave us a temporary mileage reimbursement plan as an incentive to retain them as a employer. Keep in mind, I have been employed with them for a year, and from speaking with the longest tenured employees of the department, the company has not given raises in at least 5 years. Well, upon seeing that many of the employees were declining staying on board with NCO, they offered everyone permanent 2.00$ raises. This was seen as better than the 4 month mileage reimbursement plan, so it was offered in lieu of the reimbursement. Because our employees deal with sensitive information, it was a organizational priority to retain their employees. Nearly everyone obliged to accept the raise and stay on board. Well, the organization never indicated when the raise was effective. And when the raise did go into effect, the longest-tenured employees did not receive their raise on their checks, while myself and other employees did. Their obvious lack of professionalism, along with the mistreatment of the longest-tenured employees and the entire situation influenced me to pursue other opportunities. I recently accepted a position at JP Morgan Chase. February 21st was my official last day at NCO.

A typical day at work for a customer care representative consisted of properly and efficiently handeling inbound customer calls for T- Mobil cellular. Handling these calls consits of answering customers billing questions to fixing simple problems they may have with there phones to helping customers purchase phones. I learned how the cell industry works, the in's and out's of trouble shooting problems, and I learned to have confidense that I'm capable of handling problems I may have or difficult situations I may come across on my own. Management there was very reliable and helpful when you needed them as well as very friendly. Co-workers mostly stuck to them selfs but occasionally you would get to interact with people while working which made the job a little bit easier from time to time. The hardest part about the job was trouble shooting each problem a customer would call about since there were many different types of problems that we were trained to handle. You had to be a good listener, identify there situation, know how to fix the issue, and apply what you know to do so. The most enjoyable part of the job was the satisfaction of kowing that you were completely capable of handeling any and everything that could come your way and that your were self riliant.

Working at Protocol which the company I work for is Direct Energy which is a supply company that offers a lower fixed rate for either electricity or gas is a good place where you can start to learn how to gain the experience of customer service and a full-time job. A typical day at work is receiving inbound calls where you have to use problem sloving skills, and a great knowledge of the company to explain to the customers what is going with their account and be able to reslove any questions or demands they ask for and to be able to process transactions and to brieftly explain in the account holders account the reason why they called and what was the resolution.The Management i must say can i actually be better than what it is now, the reason why is because when it comes to management each manager/supervisor says different things for one question you ask and most all managers/supervisors are not on the same page when they should be, but overall they are easy to get along with and helpful. What i've learned for Direct Energy is 11 different states and 3 different computer systems where you have to know what states allow what and what computer sytems you would be able to process different transaction and to know what you can and what you can't do in each different computer systems. I must say the hardest part of the job is remembering the whole history and knowledge of Direct Energy and the enjoyable part of it is able to mulit-task and keep yourself busy the whole day.

Your typical collection agency. They separate the office between the Medical and Government collections. Co-Workers are all very nice and welcoming. They have periodic little contests to promote family-like atmosphere and boost motivation.

Hiring process is boring. You spend 2 weeks on the computer via web-based training viewing powerpoints and listening to lectures on a voice chatroom about the company, policies, laws, and the FACS system which is their collections software. Afterwards, you're pretty much on your own on the collection floor making and taking calls.

Management is a train wreck. Probably because all training is done online and there is only one manager that handles new-hires and she's constantly running around like a chicken with her head cut off. I think the office seriously needs more staff to handle stuff. There is only about 9 total people on collection floor handling hundreds even thousands of accounts.

I came from an agency of 50-75 people so this office is tiny compared to the one I worked at.

FACS software is a bit complicated. I think it would be alot easier to navigate the system quickly and efficiently if it were GUI based and not text based. So many different codes to memorize on top of all the laws you have to know when collecting.

Overall it's a job. It's not that hard..... But if it weren't for the welcoming atmosphere of my co-workers, I would have quit a long time ago.

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