Working on the phones (customer service) at Medibank is single-handedly the worst job I ever had in my life (for context I've worked in similar roles at several companies in Melbourne):
- Customers are usually on hold for between 20-50 minutes - and are either MISERABLE or ANGRY by the time they speak to you. (There are 2-3 Million Customers - and anywhere between 300-600 CSO's, do the numbers).
- Every millisecond of your time is measured - spend an extra 5 minutes in the toilet? Get a 'talking to' by your "People Leader" to 'manage your time better'.
(Your 'people leader' is sometimes an external hire with much less knowledge than you, but they have 'managing experience' - so you're usually ). You are also measured by 'how quickly' you handle the call (AHA - Average Handling Time). A bit hard when you're telling a 70 year old widow that she's not covered for her hip-replacement.
- The metrics of this time measurement go against the 'values' of the company. Explained: If i spend an extra 5-10 minutes answering multiple questions or explaining someones cover for e.g., i reduce their need to call back to ask another question - But if someone just answered their question (and not their underlying query) and gets them of the phone in 2 minutes - they have better statistics than me! (Even though that same member will call back in 10 minutes to be on hold another 45 min and speak to a completely new person again. AWESOME!
- I had 5 different 'people leaders' in a 12 month period. So after a while you stop seeing them as a 'leader' and more as a 'placeholder'
- As your breaks, calls, toilet time are measured by the second - you are encouraged to be a clock watcher.
- All the great facilities and work-life balance DO NOT APPLY to call-center workers - we are literally livestock hooked up to systems that measure our 'output' - I felt like a cow being milked almost everyday.
- There were times where I had to place a all on hold to call another department, who then placed me on hold to check with another department. Literally a chain of people on hold.
- The CEO was doing his best to bring Medibank into the 21st Century - why innovate when you had a monopoly for decades and guaranteed government contracts?
- Everyday, for 1 year; I would have a customer break down sobbing because they're not covered or their child is not covered. (They don't understand how their cover works! A salesperson wont explain because they want the sale, and why would we because we're incentivised to get them off the phone ASAP). This soon turns into pleasing/begging, or outright anger directed AT YOU, the representative of Medibank.
- You have to work public holidays (hahaha - I HATED my life when I had to do this)
- The main thing is you don't feel like a PERSON. You are a TOOL, someone to field the 'nasty general public' who in turn are nasty because they have been serviced by TOOLS - not PEOPLE
