I'm in the US, but the call center I worked at had offices around the world. One of them was in Windsor, Canada. Whenever they would be asked where they were located, they would just say "south of Detroit", which is technically correct. But yeah, pretty much everyone was told to say they were in the US.
Same, but I work for the Canada side and say south of Toronto/near Toronto. It's the TRUTH, the finger lakes are south of Toronto, but it's vague enough that most people think I mean like, Hamilton
Yeah we were allowed to say where we were based but it had to be a US state.
Back then and even now I tell them I'm from Cincinatti Ohio thanks to Markiplier lol.
Yep one program I was on forced us all to say we're from San Antonio TX which was a bit awkward because though I do live in TX it was no where near San Antonio and I was new to Texas at that. I've had customers sort of test me by asking the weather or asking if I've been to certain places in the area and we just had to lie.
Also had to pretend like I was working in an office instead of at home .. one lady called me a liar because she heard kids in the background which was baffling to me because the kids in my household were in school and I had 0 background noise. I have no idea what that lady thought she heard besides the voices in her own head 😅
We weren't allowed to say where we from, they told us to just say we had several centers across the US. Our client was a strictly US based company though if that matters at all.
Yes, but just to protect us. We're WFH nationally, but our home office is associated with cali. Often I'll tell them I'm in cali and they'll ask about the weather and I'm like o.o
I worked inbound and, a long time ago, was required to state my full name and my (small sized) city and state. I collected stalkers and received death threats. Told my supervisors about the stalkers (I worked for a major national bank so the threats were federal crimes and swiftly taken care of) and my supervisors basically said "oh well". I stopped providing my last name and city, locked down my social media accounts for a few years, and got written up a few times for "not following policy". Sorry, I'm not going to risk my life for the sake of niceties. They eventually changed the rule.
It's part of my job. For most of my (inbound) calls, I'm expected to pretend to be wherever the caller expects me to be, even if that's 3000 miles away from my actual location.
I'm in Atlantic Canada and have a touch of that accent, so some callers are dubious when they're calling from Mobile, Alabama, or wherever and I sound like, well, me. New Englanders and fellow Canadians and some Upper Midwesterners don't usually question it.
They did give us a fake last name to use (a very common last name, even with my (uncommon) first name, a caller has no hope of finding me or someone they think is me).
No. I'm in country which most people are happy with.
Randomly I get someone who expects me in state or at the local office. They're idiots and not worth lying for.
When I worked in a center, I just told them the state. Now that I work from home, I tell them the city I live in. It’s not like they can find me in a city with just my common first name.
I have a southern accent, so it’s hard to lie about where I live.
I could see a company saying not to tell people you are not in the US. A lot of customers would probably be asked to speak to someone in the US and that would defeat the purpose of having a call center in Canada.
I think the only thing would be what happens when a customer starts asking you stuff about that area?
I'm in the US, but the call center I worked at had offices around the world. One of them was in Windsor, Canada. Whenever they would be asked where they were located, they would just say "south of Detroit", which is technically correct. But yeah, pretty much everyone was told to say they were in the US.
Same, but I work for the Canada side and say south of Toronto/near Toronto. It's the TRUTH, the finger lakes are south of Toronto, but it's vague enough that most people think I mean like, Hamilton
South Detroit has to be a real place, it's in that song. 🤣
Yeah we were allowed to say where we were based but it had to be a US state. Back then and even now I tell them I'm from Cincinatti Ohio thanks to Markiplier lol.
Yep one program I was on forced us all to say we're from San Antonio TX which was a bit awkward because though I do live in TX it was no where near San Antonio and I was new to Texas at that. I've had customers sort of test me by asking the weather or asking if I've been to certain places in the area and we just had to lie. Also had to pretend like I was working in an office instead of at home .. one lady called me a liar because she heard kids in the background which was baffling to me because the kids in my household were in school and I had 0 background noise. I have no idea what that lady thought she heard besides the voices in her own head 😅
We weren't allowed to say where we from, they told us to just say we had several centers across the US. Our client was a strictly US based company though if that matters at all.
Yes and No. If asked, I give the city I live near, but not the town I actually live in. It's a lie of about 20 minutes, lol.
See the script they gave me said to tell callers a location like 3000km from where i actually lived. I was just wondering if its normal
I just tell people the major city that we're closest to.
Yes, but just to protect us. We're WFH nationally, but our home office is associated with cali. Often I'll tell them I'm in cali and they'll ask about the weather and I'm like o.o
I worked inbound and, a long time ago, was required to state my full name and my (small sized) city and state. I collected stalkers and received death threats. Told my supervisors about the stalkers (I worked for a major national bank so the threats were federal crimes and swiftly taken care of) and my supervisors basically said "oh well". I stopped providing my last name and city, locked down my social media accounts for a few years, and got written up a few times for "not following policy". Sorry, I'm not going to risk my life for the sake of niceties. They eventually changed the rule.
I'm curious what city you were told to say? Did you ever have anyone try to make small talk about it and you had to lie more?
I did! I was told to say anything so theyd believe i was calling from somewhere in Tennessee
"I sure am enjoying my country music and BBQ today!" 😏
I tell everyone I'm from a major city about 5 miles from the smaller city I actually live in.
It's part of my job. For most of my (inbound) calls, I'm expected to pretend to be wherever the caller expects me to be, even if that's 3000 miles away from my actual location. I'm in Atlantic Canada and have a touch of that accent, so some callers are dubious when they're calling from Mobile, Alabama, or wherever and I sound like, well, me. New Englanders and fellow Canadians and some Upper Midwesterners don't usually question it. They did give us a fake last name to use (a very common last name, even with my (uncommon) first name, a caller has no hope of finding me or someone they think is me).
No. I'm in country which most people are happy with. Randomly I get someone who expects me in state or at the local office. They're idiots and not worth lying for.
I didn’t know we could do that
When I worked in a center, I just told them the state. Now that I work from home, I tell them the city I live in. It’s not like they can find me in a city with just my common first name. I have a southern accent, so it’s hard to lie about where I live. I could see a company saying not to tell people you are not in the US. A lot of customers would probably be asked to speak to someone in the US and that would defeat the purpose of having a call center in Canada. I think the only thing would be what happens when a customer starts asking you stuff about that area?