Thought this was weird..

Was wondering if others thought the same.

We are considering getting foxtel put back on after not having it for 2 years. I didn't realise but i have a debt owing, anyways the foxtel rep called the call centre to help me sort things out and i spoke to a gentleman called jeremiah and he asked my name and i said "jacinta" and he said "may i call you jacinta?" i was like "umm yeah thats fine" what else would he call me? he just asked my name. Anyways so i shrugged it off and he couldn't help me so he transfered me to a guy called patrick and he asked my name and again i said "jacinta" and again i was asked if he could call me that. I don't understand what else would they call you other than your name??

Is it just me who thinks its odd or is it the new way of speaking on the phone :lol:

Maybe they encounter people who want to be called Mr/Mrs/Miss.....(whatever) despite saying their names are Fred or Jane, kwim?

Yeah i s'pose. Still think its weird!

Is it a technique to get you on side, soften you up, sound more friendly? I dunno... weird.

It's pretty much normal in a call centre environment to ask if you can address people by their first name. Some people, especially those of older generations, and some cultures, find it really disrespectful to be addressed by their first name.

^^ yeah that

it often happens to me when i call places like telstra etc. I have to give my full name for id purpose, and they ask if i mind being called my first name, i can always go, call me my nick name. alot of people dont use their full first name only when their mother is yelling at them or something. I think its polite.

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It's pretty much normal in a call centre environment to ask if you can address people by their first name. Some people, especially those of older generations, and some cultures, find it really disrespectful to be addressed by their first name.

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I would get this if she didn't say her own first name when they asked her name, therefore if she didn't want to be called that, it is not what she would have replied when they asked her name ITMS. I would understand the above scenario if they were looking at her full name on paper or if she said her name was *full name* not *first name* IYKWIM... that's why I find it really strange!!


Sent from my iPhone more than likely while I should be doing something else!

Probably standard operating procedure that they have to ask - also probably normal for people to give both first and last names during calls like that. I know I always do, and I always get the question of whether they may call me by my first name. There are many out there (especially of older generations) that would prefer to be Mr/Mrs/Miss, etc.

Also - if you don't actually go by your first name - but still have to give your first name for identification purposes, the question does make a lot of sense.

BW

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It's pretty much normal in a call centre environment to ask if you can address people by their first name. Some people, especially those of older generations, and some cultures, find it really disrespectful to be addressed by their first name.

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Yeah this... generally at Telstra we would ask your full name and then would say may i call you "jacinta" even if you only gave your first name we could still see your account details and were still generally advised to ask.

LOL abit weird yes. You would think that if you wanted them to call you something else, when they asked you would have said "Mrs Brown".. iykwim. I would have said "no, you can call me fred"...

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I would get this if she didn't say her own first name when they asked her name, therefore if she didn't want to be called that, it is not what she would have replied when they asked her name ITMS. I would understand the above scenario if they were looking at her full name on paper or if she said her name was *full name* not *first name* IYKWIM... that's why I find it really strange!!

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ok, using the OP as an example:
she may prefer Jacinta, Jac, Cinta, Cin (these are all names i have been asked to call Jacinta's through work or in my own life). She may also prefer Miss (surname) or may use her middle name as her preferred name.

i know it sounds redundant sometimes, but it's part of building rapport and showing respect to customers. you can't assume because someone says their name is XYZ that they will actually happily accept you calling them XYZ. unfortunately there is a significant proportion of our population that will call themselves XYZ but expect those in service industries to address them as Mr/Mrs/Miss/Dr ABC. and quite a number of them will put in formal complaints against the consultant for being "too informal" in their interactions - so it's often a question that needs to be asked. I don't do it in my current role, as i take whatever name people give me as their preferred name - but when i was working with ZF, we either HAD to call them Mr/Mrs/Dr/Miss OR ask if it was ok to use their first name - and it was expected that we use name at least twice (or three times - can't recall) in every call (if we didn't, it wasn't deemed to meet quality standards and if that call was monitored, no matter how "good" the call was, that aspect had you losing major points off your quality assessment - so it became second nature, no matter how someone introduced themselves, that you'd double check...

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I would get this if she didn't say her own first name when they asked her name, therefore if she didn't want to be called that, it is not what she would have replied when they asked her name ITMS. I would understand the above scenario if they were looking at her full name on paper or if she said her name was *full name* not *first name* IYKWIM... that's why I find it really strange!!


Sent from my iPhone more than likely while I should be doing something else!

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You have to give your full name for id purposes for most of these places

sent via my vortex manipulator

Next time tell them you prefer to be called Superman :rofl:

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ok, using the OP as an example:
she may prefer Jacinta, Jac, Cinta, Cin (these are all names i have been asked to call Jacinta's through work or in my own life). She may also prefer Miss (surname) or may use her middle name as her preferred name.

i know it sounds redundant sometimes, but it's part of building rapport and showing respect to customers. you can't assume because someone says their name is XYZ that they will actually happily accept you calling them XYZ. unfortunately there is a significant proportion of our population that will call themselves XYZ but expect those in service industries to address them as Mr/Mrs/Miss/Dr ABC. and quite a number of them will put in formal complaints against the consultant for being "too informal" in their interactions - so it's often a question that needs to be asked. I don't do it in my current role, as i take whatever name people give me as their preferred name - but when i was working with ZF, we either HAD to call them Mr/Mrs/Dr/Miss OR ask if it was ok to use their first name - and it was expected that we use name at least twice (or three times - can't recall) in every call (if we didn't, it wasn't deemed to meet quality standards and if that call was monitored, no matter how "good" the call was, that aspect had you losing major points off your quality assessment - so it became second nature, no matter how someone introduced themselves, that you'd double check...

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This.
It's not just Telstra that do it too, it's a lot of call centres - I worked at Telstra for a while before moving to an electricity retailer and we also had these type of standards. Mind you, we were also permitted to use "mirroring" so if someone said their name was Jacqui instead Jacqueline or directly told us that they preferred it, it was considered permission to address them that way provided no surname was given. If a surname was given it was expected that we ask how they preferred to be addressed. Same goes for names that are very difficult to pronounce, we would ask for clarification on how to pronounce the name if it was spelt out, and were permitted to use any preferred nicknames or shortened versions.

:rofl: Tinks you make me laugh so much!

I suppose it does make sense still doesn't make it less weird :lol: but i'll accept it!

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Next time tell them you prefer to be called Superman :rofl:

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yeah that.

Or Her Royal Majesty Princess Priscilla Pandita Penelope Potato Cake with Pretty Pink Pony Pants.

I mean hey, they asked ...

;)

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yeah that.

Or Her Royal Majesty Princess Priscilla Pandita Penelope Potato Cake with Pretty Pink Pony Pants.

I mean hey, they asked ...

;)

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:rofl: :rofl: Too funny!

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yeah that.

Or Her Royal Majesty Princess Priscilla Pandita Penelope Potato Cake with Pretty Pink Pony Pants.

I mean hey, they asked ...

;)

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Next time tell them you prefer to be called Superman :rofl:

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:rofl: :rofl:

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I'm Australian but live in Europe. Here it's highly unusual and considered very rude to be called by your first name by people you don't know (doctors/shop assistants/call-center etc..). You wouldn't even offer for them to call you by your first name unless you know them personally. Being here 7 years has completely changed my way of thinking and I find it soooo strange when I go back to Aus and get called by my first name. I find it rude. It's a cultural thing.

Yup all that! I worked in a call centre and you had to ask permission to use the persons first name etc. I personally hate it when people just use my name without asking cause I dont like "Rebecca" I prefer Bex.

Totally normal :)


Sent from my iPhone so sorry for the spelling and punctuation!!

I give first and last name when I call a service and HATE it when people use my first name, or comment on the spelling (I often have to spell it). And I am not a "miss" either. I will accept "Your Ladyship", "Ma'am" or "Mrs X", but NOT my first name, especially when it is mispronounced. Incredibly rude.

Doesn't take much for me to relax, but if I can't even see you then NO WAY should you be using my first name. (Accept it only from people with avatars here LOL.)

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I'm Australian but live in Europe. Here it's highly unusual and considered very rude to be called by your first name by people you don't know (doctors/shop assistants/call-center etc..). You wouldn't even offer for them to call you by your first name unless you know them personally. Being here 7 years has completely changed my way of thinking and I find it soooo strange when I go back to Aus and get called by my first name. I find it rude. It's a cultural thing.

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Yeah That!!
But I'm European living in Australia! ;) I really struggled calling my lecturers at Uni by their first names.... It just seems wrong! :shakehead:.