Confession from tech support

[wishbone]

For 3 months in early-mid 1999, I was the only graveyard tech support guy 3 nights a week for all ump-teen thousand USWest DSL subscribers. There was 2 graveyard guys, we each worked 4-10 hour shifts and were both there on Wednesdays.
As we opened new markets to DSL the management needed all the people they could get on day shift and couldn't put people on graveyard. I had calls in the queue all night, sometimes hold-times would be 3 hours+. The first couple weeks, I didn't take luch or breaks and would take calls non-stop for 10.5 hours. Once I realized that the calls wouldn't stop, I started taking breaks and lunch. That's when things got ugly. People would yell more than usual. I would answer the phone and hear only someone snoring with a TV in the background (sometimes infomercials, sometimes porn). I would softly repeat my opening phrase and then hang-up after 30 seconds. I've always felt guilty that the person would wake up to that phone off-the-hook sound in their ear and I would get praise from my manager for taking so many calls.

[sterlingice]

Haha. Well, in the realm of two wrongs make a right, if you worked a 10.5 hour shift, you should have gotten at least 2 paid 15 minute breaks and an unpaid 30 minute meal break. ;)

SI

[wade moore]

Haha. Well, in the realm of two wrongs make a right, if you worked a 10.5 hour shift, you should have gotten at least 2 paid 15 minute breaks and an unpaid 30 minute meal break. ;)

SI

Depends on the state.. in VA, there is no such legal requirement... no requirements to give ANY breaks.. (even lunch)

[stevew]

This thread is already awesome.

[MikeVic]

So in VA, it's possible to make people work for minimum wage and for 10 hours straight?

[JonInMiddleGA]

So in VA, it's possible to make people work for minimum wage and for 10 hours straight?

Well, no. I don't believe they can prevent you from quitting.

[RendeR]

Depends on the state.. in VA, there is no such legal requirement... no requirements to give ANY breaks.. (even lunch)


This is incorrect based on my experiences at least. Working for Erol's Unlimited internet in 1996/1997 we were told during orientation that we recieved 2 15 minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch only because the government required them to do so.

We were located in Springfield, VA, perhaps regulations are handled on the city level for such things, but I doubt it. I have always been under the impression that these requirements were federally mandated, part of the whole minumum wage law etc etc.

[chinaski]

did you happen to work at Stream?

[wade moore]

This is incorrect based on my experiences at least. Working for Erol's Unlimited internet in 1996/1997 we were told during orientation that we recieved 2 15 minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch only because the government required them to do so.

We were located in Springfield, VA, perhaps regulations are handled on the city level for such things, but I doubt it. I have always been under the impression that these requirements were federally mandated, part of the whole minumum wage law etc etc.


Before I address the legal issue...

I worked at Erol's tech support from Jan. 97-Jun 97....

But, no, they're wrong... it is not required... I am a manager in the state of VA and I have looked up the laws.. there is no requirement for breaks at all.. now, a smart company gives them because as Jon stated, you can always quit... but they are not required by law...

[Peregrine]

http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~cdhall/img/Apathy.jpg

[SirFozzie]

Before I address the legal issue...

I worked at Erol's tech support from Jan. 97-Jun 97....

But, no, they're wrong... it is not required... I am a manager in the state of VA and I have looked up the laws.. there is no requirement for breaks at all.. now, a smart company gives them because as Jon stated, you can always quit... but they are not required by law...


You worked at Erols?

Did you work with Afterburner?

[Draft Dodger]

I answer the phone all the time to hear silence or some idiot ordering from a drive thru window or yelling at his kids or something - I don't waste my time with them at all.

[SirFozzie]

Here at work, I answer the phone, and if the person doesn't speak within about 2-3 seconds, I'll repeat my greeting.. then if they don't answer, I hang up, this isn't baseball, you don't get three strikes.

[wade moore]

You worked at Erols?

Did you work with Afterburner?


Afterburner is.... a person? (obvioulsy no, since I don't know what you're talking about ;) )...

[wade moore]

Oh.. and..

When I worked at Erol's, it was right after AOL offered unlimited access and were not prepared for the load, so many people left AOL to come to Erol's...

There were wait times of 3+ hours.. so, if you got someone on the phone that was beligerant, you would just say "Please hold while I transfer you to Level 2"... and then drop them back into the incoming queue...

I work at a HD now (management level actually) that is FAR more professional, but we did not give a crap back then and a lot of us were young and dumb...

[SirFozzie]

Afterburner is.... a person? (obvioulsy no, since I don't know what you're talking about ;) )...

Afterburner headed the Erols abuse desk. Him and his minions dished out lots of disconnects and unhappiness to folks who used Erols to spam

[wade moore]

Afterburner headed the Erols abuse desk. Him and his minions dished out lots of disconnects and unhappiness to folks who used Erols to spam

Not that I know of.. to be honest, those days are a bit of a haze...

I was a senior in college, scrambling for AP Exams, getting into College, etc.. I worked like 4-midnight on the weekends and really did not get to know any of my co-workers... I worked and MUD'd through my whole shift, slammed through calls, but really did not recognize what was going on outside of my little world... could not tell you the name of a single co-worker, and maybe could tell you what a couple looked like (i remember a late-night sup with long hair that enjoyed dealing with beligerant customers)...

[wishbone]

Haha. Well, in the realm of two wrongs make a right, if you worked a 10.5 hour shift, you should have gotten at least 2 paid 15 minute breaks and an unpaid 30 minute meal break. ;)

SI
My shift was 10 hours plus a 30 minute lunch break, I worked through breaks and lunch trying to get to all the calls in the queue.

did you happen to work at Stream?
I did 2 years at Stream, one year supporting flatbed scanners and a year supporting DSL service.

[wishbone]

When I first started at Stream, I was going crazy. People would say the dumbest things, they had questions I couldn't answer and spoke dialects of English I could not understand. I was losing my mind, morphing into an angry, arrogant geek.

The only solutions were the "stupid log" and "punishment hold". Everytime someone said or did something that upset me or was inexcusably stupid, they received an entry in the log or a hold time varying from 1-10 minutes. I filled up steno pads, notebooks and legal pads in the 2 years I worked there. My deepest regret is throwing them away when I left.

me: which version of windows do you have?
them: windows 97
me: are you sure?
them: yes
me: please click on the start button and tell me what it says on the left side
them: windows 95
them: but it's windows 97
me: ok

[wade moore]

So many stories I could tell....

[chinaski]

I did 2 years at Stream, one year supporting flatbed scanners and a year supporting DSL service.
aah, i figured since youre in Hillsboro. I had some friends & former coworkers who have worked out there one time or another.

Did that place finally go under? I assumed with all the mass CSR jobs being shipped overseas, they would have a likely candidate.

I managed Teleport Internet Services from 1997-1999.

[wishbone]

Last I heard Stream had dropped from 1200+ people in 2 locations to less than 300 in Beaverton. I've read that they have a habit of going into small, remote towns and promise X number of jobs at a higher than average rate in exchange for tax breaks then never delivering.