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WEST AT HOME AGENTS West@home Terminated for No good reason, Internet
I started working for West@home in November 2009, This company was a " JOKE " from day one. But I needed some income, so I stuck with it, Until I received a call on 07/13/2010, telling me that I was terminated because I didn't handle a call in a professional manner. More on that later !, As a home agent, you are required to answer incoming calls for products ( i.e. Ab Doers, Rosetta Stone, Redi, Set, Go food Processor, Ninja Food Items, H2O & Shark Mops..UGlue, LipOzene, Time Life CD collections, etc..etc ) and services ( AARP, Health & Life Insurance Companies, Medical Supplies, etc..etc ) most of these are as advertised on TV....for the products, so in other words YOU MUST be a SALES Person, after getting all the pertinent information form the caller, you are then " required " to sell UPSELLS ( items to add to the original product that caller called in for. "
This is REQUIRED to be read to caller VERBATIUM to the script, If caller says NO, then there is the "REBUTTALS "..ok after all that, then there are the APO ( Additional Product Offers ), these range from Monthly Entertainment Programs starting @ 24.95 PER Month, Insurance, and Magazines, these " MUST BE READ VERBATIUM or you will get DINGED and receive a written warning OR a PIN. ( not sure what PIN stands for ) Keep in mind these are ALL added at the end of the call and sometimes there are as many as 5-6 UPSELLS and then 3-5
As far as Hours, this is the BIGGEST JOKE, Good luck IF you can grab any hours to work, They use a Program called SPECTRUM, the company post the available hours when ever, NO set day or time, So you never know when a schedule will be available, Most of the hours I got was from " TRADE " other agents posting the hours they decided they did not want or could not work, Apparently there were some agents that had a " BOT " working for them to get the hours when posted. Anyways the work time slots are in 30 minute increments. SO IF you get any hours, you may work only 30 mins at a time. I ended up working sporadically through out a day, anywhere from 1 - 7 hours a day. Also, you are paid MINIUM WAGE for your state, If you do get lucky to get a call that might be paying a commission, this is taken into consideration with your weekly quota and is counted as part of your minimum wage rate. In the 9 months I worked I got 2 calls where I received a commission, what a " joke "
Then there are the DAILY STATS that IF you don't keep Up with, you again will receive a DING and PIN or be DE-Graded. I was fortunate enough to keep my status as a # 1, and then they keep stats on everything, time, conversations, sells, calls..etc and OH yea, ALL the calls are Monitored and Listened ".
If a PAL listens to a call and doesn't like the way you handled it or didn't read a script Verbatim, you get dinged !
Speaking of PALS, another " Joke " if you have " any issues and need help, you are suppose to call a PAL, " Good Luck " with that, most don't know their a*s from their elbow and blow you off anyway they can, so you are pretty much left on your own and to figure it out.
As a home agent, there are NO BENEIFITS..health, 401k..vacation..etc.
Ok, back to my " TERMANATION " some "old lady" called in to get information on BCBS Health Insurance, we are required to follow the script and to get, name, address, telephone numbers, email addresses, date of birth, what kind of insurance they are interested in and then " Transfer the call to a BCBS agent and required to wait for them to pick up the call, so you can sit on hold for up to 5 mins, once they answer, you are then required to give the BCBS agent all the caller's information. Well, this " lady " did not want to furnish any information at all, no first name, no telephone #, no DOB...I was following the scripts and she started " Screaming and Yelling " at me, that she didn't want to give all this personal information and she didn't want to talk to anyone, just wanted the information to be sent to her in the mail.. as I was trying to explain to her that the information is required, she states to me to " SHOVE IT UP MY A** " this woman was extremely abusive and loud. I had it with her and Yelled back at her, then hung up. Next day I received a call from a PAL and was terminated because I didn't handle the call in a professional manner. .....G' grief " after NINE months on this job and ALL the GOOD CALLS, and GREAT STATS , after One bad call, I was Terminated, I could go on with other trails and trivia about this JOB. But My only advise would be, Unless you are THICK SKINNED, A GOOD SALES PERSON, NEED TO WORK FROM HOME, OR JUST NEED THE $$, PASS ON THIS COMPANY
3 Updates & Rebuttals
justbeingme
Clarksville,Tennessee,
USA
YOU YELLED AT A CUSTOMER?
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, January 10, 2017
Let me start by saying you yelled at a customer handeling the call unprofessionaly and against policy for ANY company you deserved to be fired. Second I worked for WEST at the same time from 08-2012. Depending on the skill you qualified for your pay varied. Companies that sold product were usually per minut pay. If your total pay averaged out less then the legal minimum wage for that state they follow the law and pay you that minimum wage. If your call volume generates a paid per minute above that minimum wage thats what you get paid. If you work a specialty skill they pay different amounts. I have done customer service, tech support and recalls some paying a flat wage of $12.50 an hour. I never had any issues getting paid nor did I have issues getting hours. Notifications are always sent when hourst are posted.
standup4fairness
United States of AmericaWest@home is unethical and takes advantage of senior citizens
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, April 21, 2011
West@home.... They expect you to listen to perverts who call in the middle of the night and try to have phone sex, they dinged me for hanging up on a "fax or dial up sounding transmission call" that is common, a prerecorded politcal announcement not a real caller, and said I did not answer a call and hung up on a person. Keep in mind you get paid .15c per minute, why would I NOT take a call when you only get paid to WORK. Next for all the APO's they offer and force you to offer, I had to offer a Disney Vacation to a person calling in to order Time Life Malt Shop memories who lived IN ORLANDO FL. The lady cussed me out told me I was worse then a used car salesperson and cancelled her ENTIRE ORDER including Time Life. Time Life pays West@home agents to take the calls and then you basically have to sell a product after the Time Life product West makes money from called Passport to Fun, Magazines Direct and many other products that end up on your credit card bill. They disguise it in the script stating they get a $50 Walmart gift cards to try the product and most senior citizens are so confused they do not understand it is not part of the product and many people ordering Time Life are seniors . I have often had to take the orders for the after product that WEST tags on the Time Life sales knowing full well the customer did not understand what they were getting into, but you CANT deviate from the script and if they consent you have to take it. I met some really nice people on the phone but you can not chat with them they want robots. To me I would think Time Life would prefer customer service that is warm and friendly and not baited with bogus products at the end. The pay off for Time Life to use West@home and allow them to offer products that are West spin off companies is that Time Life gets a discount from West on their services. I have a fulltime job in customer care and have been in sales for 20 years I took this for extra money. The best part is I work for a major bank and when I now see those calls come in for unknown charges from places like Passport to Fun I know exactly what to ask "Did you order something off the TV and enter the last 4 digits of your card number several times?" Then I will certainly direct them directly to West. Sooner or later they will lose major accounts if enough people complain.
Mom of 4
Longwood,Florida,
USA
You yelled back
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, February 04, 2011
You state you yelled back at a customer and, therefore, should have been fired. 99% of customer service positions states that if you yell at a customer you are terminated, period end of story.
The rest just sounds like the run around from the company.