call center that can't see the forest for the trees... - Senior Vitamin Specialist ProCaps Laboratories Employee Review

* extremely high turnover, leading to constant pressure on remaining employees to cover more calls. they are frequently hiring a new class (about 2-3 times yearly), because people either hate the job and quit, or get fired. if you manage to stay, you have brand new people all the time who have no idea what they're doing around you. when I left (already summer 2022), you were not allowed to take more than 2 vacation days at a time. why? so many people had left, they barely had enough associates to cover the needs of the business. you want to take a week-long vacation with your family? good luck. they won't approve it. doesn't matter how much vacation time you earned, don't even ask for more than 16 hours together. matter of fact, you aren't allowed to request time off more than a month in advance, so things like family reunions, cruises, really anything that requires saving and planning ahead or purchasing ahead is impossible. usually at least 1-2 from every new class quits, some by literally dropping the computer off unexpectedly mid-day and walking out. the problem is with a variety of things - not least of which is the pressure they apply and the constant micro-management - but they just keep hiring a new class 2-3 times annually, keep losing tenured employees to exhaustion/attrition from the job, and keep thinking somehow the problem will correct itself. * over most of a decade I was there, the fun things they did for pure employee fun/enjoyment slowly got taken away one by one. month after month it became less fun to work there, until all it seemed we did was take more calls and get less benefit. there used to be times that the entire floor would get time away from the phones to do things like play games, have potlucks, decorate for parties/holidays/birthdays, etc., but now it is a silly made up game about once a month where you may get about 5-10 minutes off the phone, but you are constantly reminded to go back to your desk ASAP. it is not lost on me that a company CHOOSES to implement things for pure employee benefit like time off the phones, but they are made aware on a daily basis how stressful the job is and have slowly killed off all the tiny little moments that help you to decompress in the day. * very high pressure on your calls. you will be told it is not about sales, but this is what they tell everyone. calls are monitored constantly, and you get sort of micro-managed all the time with everything you say. you can *think* you're having a great day until mgmt calls you in about some little thing you said on a call. there is an imaginary bar that is set for you to achieve on your calls, but most of the supervisors didn't even take calls nearly as long as the tenured employees did before getting promoted, so they aren't even able to give you meaningful specific instruction to do better. * promotions are decided based on very loose criteria, for well-liked employees, but there is no clearly defined system outlined that can be followed to grow in the role. you basically hope and pray you will get promoted. I have watched someone that worked at the company many years prior and left get hired again, go through current training, and almost immediately get promoted to a supervisor. this person had no clue how to manage associates (I was on her team), and stepped down from supervisor to a senior vitamin specialist, but hated that too. she quit (again), having spent maybe 6 months at the company, and without being qualified for any of the roles she was put in. * management is sadly, and quite unprofessionally, VERY gossipy. there is a certain supervisor that oversees the email/chat department who has told me personally about multiple coworker's illness (when they contracted covid, which was not to be made public), reasons for disciplinary actions against other employees (again, not public knowledge), and even told a former employee of the company about a personal work situation that happened with me. it was later told to me what she said by the former employee (who would have no way of knowing that detail without being told by her). even the director has talked negatively about the number one senior on the floor to me. * saving the best (or worst) for last, THE CUSTOMERS. the worst part of this job by far is the rude customers. not every customer is rude, many absolutely adore the owner and are very nice. the problem is the company operates on the mentality of "the customer is always right" when it is not the case. the demographic of this company is the very elderly (probably majority are 65-95 years old) and they will frequently be deliberately rude, condescending, and insulting to you. part of your training will be to apologize, and simply take it in stride. it would be impossible to count how many times i've been told "you must be new there, you don't know what you're talking about" or "well, you haven't helped me at all" when i had to provide an answer they just didn't like (no). i would say i had at least 1-2 calls daily like that. they draw you in with great starting pay, the claim that it is one big "family" and they all look out for one another, and the untruthful statement that it is "not a sales position." you'll soon find out the truth if you give it a try.