It was the year 2006, I was out of a job and desperately needed one. I am living all by myself in Manila with no money, and I was not sure where the heck I was going to stay. Temporarily, I was with a friend who was gracious enough to let me crash for a few days. So, off I went to the business district with a newspaper. There was an ad that they needed customer service reps and the post said URGENT. I liked the sound of that.

The application process was really fast, I was offered the job the following day. That was a friday. Training starts on Monday at 5AM in the morning. Wait...What? Training at 5 freaking AM? Oh-kay...

I set the alarm at 3AM and went to bed at 9PM. As soon as I closed my eyes, the alarm went off. For some reason, I was able to haul myself out of bed, take a bath and off I went into the still dark Monday morning. 

The first week of training was Communications Training. The trainer would help us neutralize our accent. In other words, help us acquire that American twang. You see, the company I worked for was an American company, and they had american clients. Those clients outsource their business elsewhere because supposedly it saves them money. Now, the outsourcing company would outsource their manpower outside the US because supposedly it saves them money. Labor is cheaper in the Philippines. So there's a lot of outsourcing going on. Going back to training, it was actually fun learning all those pronunciation keys like the schwa, blah, blah. I learned that "internet" is pronounced "iner-net" and not the Filipino way, "inTERnet" and "February" should be "Feb-yu-a-ree" and not "Peb-ra-ree". 

After the three week training, they said we were ready to take calls. Really? Are you sure? I mean, I've forgotten how to pronounce February! I need a re-training!

The account I was working on was for a Telecom company. We handled mobile phone accounts. The first call I got was really frustrating. The caller wanted to cancel his dead father's account. Uhh...The thing is...We haven't gotten to that part yet during training. Can I give that as an excuse? " Uh, can you please hold while I  check your father's account?" Omg, where's that trainer when I need him? Aargh. Luckily, one experienced CSR passed by and he noticed me fidgeting and looking very, very uncomfortable. He was able to help. Okay, how many more hours to go before I go home? Eep...7 more hours and 45 minutes...Dang!

For some reason, I was able to survive a year and a half of checking accounts, checking on bills, going through the bills with the customer, going yet again a bill 3 months ago because the customer did not understand that extra 5 dollar charge.  Most of my customers are very nice people who just want their bill explained.

Me:"Ma'm, do you have the copy of your bill? Yes, as you can see, on line 567, there was a call made overseas which cost you that extra $40.00"

Customer: " What do you mean overseas call? I have not made that FUCKING call"

Me: "But as you can see on the bill, there's the call and the number. It also shows the time and date of the call"

Customer: " I am telling you, I HAVE NOT MADE THAT CALL AND I WILL NOT PAY FOR THAT. SCREW YOU ______________!"

Me: " I understand your frustration Ma'm, but I can assure you that a call has been made and  I am sorry that you are unaware of the call but you need to pay at least $25 so we could reactivate your phone. Maybe someone who has access on the phone made that call"

Customer: "How many times do I have to tell you, I carry my phone ALL THE FUCKING TIME so no one else has access to this phone. No, turn my phone back on right now. I need to call my boyfriend"

Now, this is the part where I become unsure of myself. Can it be possible that the system made a glitch? Can it be possible that the Telecom company IS screwing the customer? 

In all fairness, the nice customers outnumber the irate customers. I have customers telling me I was the best CSR they've talked to, that I was very polite and that I needed a raise. 

The experience was actually fulfilling. On my last day of work, I only heard the F word plus the MF word thrice. Wee!