Don't care about employees - Customer Service Advisor 2Touch Employee Review

there was plenty of training, I did learn some decent sales skills, there's a good "gallows humour" attitude amongst the employees and I met some great people whilst I was there. Also at least you don't have to take your work home with you.

It's a pretty unpleasant environment, I started training with a large group of people (around 12 or so) within 3 months that had been whittled down to less than half that figure, I left soon after. It's high volume telesales (cold calling) for unscrupulous energy companies, if you fall behind on your targets they start looking for reasons to sack you. I was brought before a disciplinary hearing for "avoiding calls" which essentially meant I'd taken more than 1 toilet break a few days in a row and hadn't been selling that well, they were surprised when I turned up to the panel, most people apparently just quit. They were also surprised when I insisted on working out my notice period. The middle management are patronising,demanding and see you as disposable cattle rather than an asset. In the sales training the instructor had a lot of fun mocking people on the dole, not terribly sensitive given most people had ended up working at 2touch at a last resort. I've worked in other call centres in a sales role so the idea this sort of unpleasant, petty attitude comes with the territory is absolute rubbish. There's plenty of other call centres in the north east, avoid this one if you can.

I worked on an outbound department for an Energy supplier, for most of a year. Cold-call sales. The Holiday entitlement is slightly better than a lot of places, and it seems to be filled with a lot of friendly characters. Top sellers can make a fairly decent wage but to the bonus, but most walk away disappointed. Once you get onto the floor, the training is quite good. You get a lot of time with the coaches and "gradbay" managers to develop sales skills. If you ask for time off the phone to listen into someone else's calls, you will usually be granted it. The company will make most people into a decent salesman at the very least. You get a 40 minute lunch, and a 20 minute break in a shift. Half an hour of this is paid for. Nice canteen food.

The staff turnover is the worst I have ever experienced. Out of my training group of 20, almost everyone has left for a different job. Most left before the three month mark. The initial training is really poor. The training staff want to spend most of the two weeks messing around. You learn hardly anything before they spring two tests onto you (a telephone roleplay, and a written exam). Most people fail the roleplay and are asked to leave almost immediately (they give you one retry). The work/life balance is non-existent. The standard shift is 11.45-7.45, but they expect most people to do a longer 10-7 overtime shift. I was forced to work a six-day week for five straight weeks at one point. If the systems go down they will send you home early and demand that you make the time up at the weekend. Booking time off it a real hassle too. It once took them over six weeks to accept a days holiday that I had requested! Like most call centres, they are very statistic orientated. You are judged on the number of sales you get, the amount of time you are not in a call, how many products you sell, and the type of product you sell (which is often out of your control). Most sales calls you make will be marked by the quality department. As soon as you let one of these stats slip your manager will put you on a four week development plan...fail to improve on the plan and they show you the door. Even if your other stats are fine. The facilities are poor. It took them weeks to provide me with a security badge, and months for a locker key. Despite being a call-centre, they have hardly any working headsets. Many people have to sit with a phone in their hand while trying to type into the computer, which is frankly ridiculous. The number of toilets is shocking. Each floor has several hundred staff, yet the whole building has less than 15 males toilet cubicles/urinals! Whenever you need to use the toilets they are full or being cleaned. The canteen is very nice, but expensive. You can only eat in there if you buy their food. No packed lunches or outside food is allowed. Carparking is also a major issue. Parking passes work on a rota system. One week you can park, then for the next few weeks you have to use a carpool bus, which makes the whole thing pointless. The final issue I have with the facilities is with the air-con system (more specifically the lack of). In the summer it became so hot that they gave everyone ice cream and (room-temperature) bottles of water. One week around the September of 2014 at least three people passed out from the heat. The air quality became so bad that they had to hire an external company to check that it was still safe. Stuart Gray addressed the whole sales floor about the issue, and admitted that it was barely legal. Toilet breaks are expected to be deducted from your main break/lunch time. You will be told things like "you've had four minutes at the toilet this morning, make sure you make it back on your lunch" by your manager. The bonus scheme is a waste of time for the majority of employees. It works as a accelerator. The more sales you get in a day, the more each sale is worth. Most people seem to make £50-200 a month (before tax) in bonus, which doesn't make up for the poor wage (£7 ph). The "incentives" they run from time to time are even worse. Every three sales you achieve gives you a raffle ticket. One ticket will be drawn at the end of the week. The winner gets £50 in vouchers or a day off. Things like that. The chances of winning are tiny, even if you are a good seller. Promotions go to the wrong people. Understandably they don't want to give the best sellers jobs that take them off the phones, as it will cost them money. Its a strange dynamic where the best guys get stuck on the floor with the worst sellers, while the mediocre rises to the top. Of course there is exceptions. Some of the coaches and managers are great people who are very good at the job. Staff don't feel valued at all. The higher managers make it abundantly clear where the door is, and that you are never more than a short walk away from it.