Some cons of working at TLC&A:
-The benefit package is a joke. For a single person it is a $5,000 deductible for approximately $160 per month. For a family, it is a $10,000 deductible for approximately $190 per month. There are no employer kickbacks for insurance through this company.
-Management can be flirtatious at times.
-Gossip is rampant.
-The same cons as any other call center:
-Negative customers.
-High volume calls.
-Long, exhausting hours.
-Sore voice after a long day.
-Only allowed to ask for one holiday off per year.
-Must know approximately 2 weeks in advance when you want to take your paid time off.
-Only get .5 hour lunch break. It's not long enough to de-stress before heading back up to take more calls.
I feel I also need to state the reasons most people are let go from TLC&A:
-Swearing on the call floor at any time. (Immediate dismissal.)
-Having your cell phone out on the call floor at any time.
-Being late 6 times in a ROLLING 90 day period.
-Being rude to a customer. (Immediate dismissal.)
-Intentionally hanging up on a customer. (Immediate dismissal.)
-Failing calls for the same reason for 6 days in a rolling 90 period. (You can fail multiple calls a night for the same reason and have it count against you only once, but if you fail multiple times for different reasons, each reason has it's own 6 times against you.)
-Not meeting or exceeding the conversion goal for two months running. (Let's be honest, at this point you are costing the company more money than you are making them.)
-No call/No show. (Immediate dismissal.)
-Failing a drug screen. (These are random, and yes, it is an immediate dismissal.)
-Putting through a sale that a customer previously agreed to and then decided they didn't want.
I'm going to put it this way, if you aren't motivated to keep your job, you won't be here long. This job takes focus, energy and persuasion. You are selling products. And if you are addicted to your phone, this is not the place for you. You are dealing with people's confidential information. Would you want someone who has your name, address, date of birth, and credit card information to have a means to steal your data? I know I wouldn't. People are trusting you with their information, at least act like you are responsible for the 8 hours a day you spend at work.
Please keep in mind, management is not the one who fails calls. These calls are screened by a separate company that is contracted by the client (if you work the Affinion Campaign). If you fail it, or the sale is cancelled, it's because they listened to the call and found an area where you omitted or changed the verbiage of the script that then changed the context. They cover TLC&A and Affinion's hind ends legally so they don't get the pants sued off of them if a sale is put through that shouldn't have been.
I cannot stress enough how important professionalism is in this call center. Tom expects to have the best customer service around. His goal is to knock out the competition and be the best. He is ruthless when it comes to bad customer service and unprofessional behavior and language on the call floor. You only get one chance one this. Every great business has high standards for their employees. You are held accountable for your own actions. Everyone is fired for a reason, you aren't let go just because the supervisor doesn't like you. If you get fired, you screwed up.
