hardcore talkoff man
Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003
I collect bad debt from horrid debtors who don't care to pay their bills
regardless of the size of their wallets. But within a 8 hr day I will
inevitably talk to someone that ligitimately can't afford much because
of life and it's sometimes sad circumstances. Of course I collect for
Alltell Communications and therefore (no I don't work for Alltell so don't
try to stalk me there....it's fruitless..) I am collecting bills that
could have been avoided. But then again cellular companies are horrid at
slamming people with undue charges for things that you did not know you
were agreeing to in the contract you don't have to sign to be held
accountable for. In other words, the minute you turn the phone on, if
you don't abide by what that small worded contract says...they have ya!
Back to my original thought. I end up caving with these debtors that have sad stories. I can't bitch at a 25 yr old girl in Idaho that has 3 kids, and lives on disability because of a car accident who hasn't paid Alltell that $764.32 yet. I just can't tell her to feed her kids rice and beans and cough up a check like some of the other collectors I work with. I end up wishing her luck and telling her things will eventually improve. Then I put her name on my "well wishes" list in my mental book of people to pray for.
Problem is I don't get paid to pray for people. I get paid to collect hard cold cash. Tonight I was emphathizing with someone on the phone and my boss, for whom I will forever refer to as "hardcore talkoff man" was monitoring my call. He immediately comes out onto the floor and places my debtor on hold and then proceeds to ream out little miss idaho for not paying her bill. She let out with a string of profanity and hung up. One hour later she called me back and literally begged me to take her money for Alltell. Of course this is good because I need a job, but bad because he jacked her up. But then again, she lied to me. What a deceitful bunch of non-billpaying bastages this lot can be!!!
I have a monthly goal that I must collect in which to keep my job. This month I have met my goal by simply jacking up Joe Somebodies that work for all the dot com's of the world who want to talk to every other Joe.com they know. I can't jack up grandma's with cancer, or grandpa's with hearing aids. I can't jack up children insisting they put an adult on the phone because I'm too concerned about why a 4 yr old is on the phone and no adult is there shortly afterwards to retrieve the phone. Hopeless I am. Too compassionate I am. But when pushed, purturbed by numbers and after a bout of "hardcore talkoff man" up in my face, I immediately turn into a voice, a heartless voice, not a cruel person, nor a belligerant mean person, just hardcore voice without emotion and voila the cash flows. When I am compassionate to debtors I am allowing them to continually not pay their bills.
I swear I have customer service mentality in a world full of users. These people are in large part the sponges of society who want everything but can't afford to pay for everything. People who want the lifestyle of champagne on beer income. Argh...
Furthermore, today they betrothed me with a nameplate. A frigging nameplate. They waste money on something so useless but hell if they can provide me with a dang pen from time to time. Geesh. It came to my boredom induced thoughts tonight that the more money I make, the less grandiose the surroundings are. My first job in Florida...I had a desk, not a cube, a brand new computer, a huge office, my own phone bought just for me, my own stereo and my own equipment. Now I have a computer I would value out at $25 just because the mouse works, a cool looking chair that they probably paid $35 for that makes my back ache, and a phone with a third rate headset. And the paycheck is huge. I make now in two weeks what it took me a month to make at the first job. Life is odd. I'd rather have a bigger paycheck and a crap chair I suppose, but how is it that this happened? Strange. Tonight I was looking around at the situation and I had to pull out my last direct deposit to remind myself why I was there jacking people for money to fatten Alltell's pockets.
Incidentally Alltell sucks. And my other co-workers collect for T-mobile and so do they. Don't dare think of leaving either of them without paying a hefty bye bye early fee. This job...I swear it's about as important as the color of those toilet bowl cleaners you hang on the side of the commode. So why does it pay so well?? Odd.
Incidentally I wore a new skirt today and 3 people complimented my attire. It must have been the bangs down, black tights and big smile on my face. Either that or those 3 co-workers are dazed and confused from the wrath of "hardcore talkoff man".
-PoeticaL
