| Customer Service Representative |
I saw Vesta undergo many changes over the course of the three years I
was
employed there. It began as somewhat of an upstart, selling its own
prepaid phone devices. Later, Vesta took on contracts with AT&T, Sprint
and Qwest's prepaid departments, and later we started to process orders
for AT&T Wireless and Cingular.
The lowest ranking position at Vesta is referred to as the Customer
Service Representative; and almost all non corporate employees are hired
on as CSRs. In the context of Vesta, the term "customer service
representative" is somewhat misleading; CSRs are simply order
processors.
They sit at computers and take phone call after phone call of customer
credit card information. Over the years, the training department at
Vesta, at the behest of upper management, have found many creative ways
for CSRs to de-emphasize customer service in their jobs. CSRs take
credit card and calling card information only. Any further customer
service concerns are directed to separate customer service centers or to
a higher ranking "CSR 3" who is trained in handling escalated calls.
Vesta is somewhat unusual in that its entire corporation was (and
largely
still is) contained within just a few floors of one office building. In
many ways, this makes Vesta's glass ceiling more apparent. The call
center itself where the customer service representatives and supervisors
are, is a diverse place, populated by lower income employees of all
stripes. The corporate wing is populated mostly by slightly younger
than
average businessmen and women, who often emit an air of palpable
discomfort whenever their duty calls for them to walk among the low
level
employees.
Earlier in the company's life, Employees were hired directly to the
Vesta
payroll as well as via three different temp agencies, but as time went
on, it became increasingly clear to upper management that the turnover
rate at the rank of CSR was extremely high, and that few CSRs stayed
with
the company for longer than 6 months. Vesta now only hires via temp
agencies for CSR positions, and if an employee is promoted to a higher
rank, they are signed on to the Vesta payroll.
The high turnover in the lower ranks at Vesta is understandable; it is
often difficult for employees to get the number of hours they require,
and Vesta's scheduling is very inconsistent. In addition to these
concerns, CSRs are kept on a very short leash; they are held to
unreasonably high statistical performance standards; many calls last
only
a minute, and very little time is allotted for CSRs to be off the phone.
Conversely, the Vesta CSR has extremely little responsibility. This
makes temping at Vesta an attractive option, but almost every employee
that stays with the company advances to a "CSR 3" (escalation) or
Revenue Assurance (Fraud Prevention) position within a few months.
Advancement beyond one of these positions is almost unheard of. Very
few
Vesta call center employees advance even to the rank of Team Lead (floor
supervisor)
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