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No more verbal abuse against call center workers
Call center employees suffer from chronic depression due to repeated caller abuse. / Korea Times file
By Lee Kyung-min
Call center workers take strong action against foul-mouthed customers
By Lee Kyung-min
A call center employee at a large local card firm said on condition of anonymity that she felt sick when listening to unrelenting, degrading remarks from consumers.
Her job was making calls to credit card holders asking about unpaid debts, which means no one ever welcomes her calling.
“As soon as I say ‘You have some amount unpaid…’ then they start cursing, including using sexually abusive language,” she said.
Although a barrage of abusive words follow for up to 20, or 30 minutes, hanging up on the caller was not allowed, because it meant a poor grading in evaluation reports, leading to pay cuts.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Korean Finance & Service Workers’ Union on 1,118 call center employees surveyed, more than 80 percent said they suffer from chronic depression due to repeated caller abuse for a prolonged period. Their symptoms include migraine, nausea, insomnia, weight loss and fatigue.
“The best way to endure the unspeakable moment was to pray to God that this moment would end soon,” she added.
But she and other callers don’t have to bear such abuse and stay silent.
According to police, a number of abusive customers are increasingly facing punishment after being found guilty on charges of obstruction of business.
Consumers who abuse call center workers can be punished.
A man in his 50s, surnamed Park, who made more than 9,000 calls abusing workers for the past year, was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week by a district court.
Another man surnamed Bae was fined 2 million won after being found guilty on charges of assault and business obstruction. He was indicted for pushing and shouting at workers, and throwing water in the face of one of them at a local service center for a telecom carrier.
In a related move, financial authorities are also stepping up their efforts to crack down on abusive callers.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said that it plans to file a complaint with the prosecution or a compensation lawsuit against customers who have a record of using bad language.
The move is part of FSS efforts to fight five key "evils" of the finance industry ― voice phishing, illegal money lending, illegal debt collection, abuse between financial firms and consumers, and insurance fraud.