Have you tried applying for a job, with little to no description, leaving the main part of the job, a mystery.
Now Hiring: immediate Job pays 18.00 an hour with benefits. Address will be provided for interview when you text to number 696 for interview.
I was curious to text the number, I had been out of a job for 2 months already and I couldn’t let my roommate pay all the bills for me. 18 dollars was too good to be true unless it was a scam but I texted the number anyway.
Hello, this is Brian, I saw your job ad and would like more information.
Not even a minute passed when I received a text message.
“Hello Brian, come for an interview this Friday at 3. We are located at 3100 N 31st street Suite 16. Please don’t be late and bring a pen with you.”
Not even one description of what the job was. I texted back.
Can you give me more information on the job please
They replied right away.
More info will be given about the job once you come in for the interview. Have a great day.
I was puzzled, didn’t know what to think. I desperately needed the job, but how desperate was I. My roommate couldn’t even buy food to feed himself due to having to pay my half of the bills so I decided this was it.
That Friday, I dressed to impress, wore my best attire and drove over to the address. I was a bit nervous since for all I know this could be a scam and I would probably wake up the next day with one of kidneys missing. Once I arrived at the address, it looked like a legit building with several office spaces to rent and a Quiznos store on the left corner.
I stepped inside and I was greeted by the female secretary and was told to sit down until Mr Lumber would call me in. The whole lobby was white, too white with absolutely no decoration, style or personality, even the secretary looked lifeless.
The door opened and it was Mr Lumber
Brian Conner, nice to meet you, walk with me this way.
I followed Mr Lumber inside from the only door that was inside the lobby, apart from the entrance.
We both entered a room where we sat right beside each other. I finally got a good look at him and his eyes, they looked horrible and tired like he hadn’t slept in days, a thick vein popped from his forehead and a forced smile caused him to look almost as if he had been suffering. I was starting to feel a knot on my stomach just by looking at him.
Mr. Conner, I’m very glad you can make it. Do you have any questions?
I was bewildered, of courses I had questions, I had a million of them.
What is the job description?
That is a very good question Mr Conner and in order to answer that question in the most precise possible way, I will be showing you a video tape.
Mr Lumber rolled over a desk with an old box TV and a VHS player attached. He put on the video and sat back down. This was all very odd.
This is very important so please listen, said Mr Lumber.
The tape played and it was very scratchy and grainy, definitely very old. An office setting appeared on screen with the title words Better Solution Corporation. A short woman appeared on screen with office attire and a big creepy smile, almost gremlin looking.
“Thank you for your interest in Better Solutions Corporation, here at BSC, we take care of our customers with the best most elite customer service we have to provide”
It’s a customer service job, I let out a sigh of relief, they could have just said this from the beginning.
“You will be taking phone calls on a specific project to meet our company’s needs. We value our customer service with great quality and make each customer we speak to leave that phone call happy and satisfied with your service” “At the end of the call, the customer will take a brief survey based on your performance and you will need to score a 95 or above to meet our quality metric”. If you don’t meet our quality metric, after 3 failed scores for the week, you will be terminated”
This all felt so simple, Ive had customer service experience before, this would be great.
I glanced over at Mr Lumber who was gawking at the tv like a brain dead zombie, mouth open, air coming in and all. Very weird person.
The woman on the tv finished talking and mr lumber got up to turn it off and sit back down.
Did that answer your question?
Yes, it did.
Ok then.
Mr lumber pulls out a folder and hands Brian some paperwork.
I would like to extend an offer to you for the position as customer service representative. If you agree we can proceed with your employment.
I right away said yes.
Ok then Mr Conner, I just need you to sign your initials at the bottom of each page and once you do, you will take all the papers, put them in this folder and you will not show them to anyone. You will start working today, inside you will find a script to which you will read to your customers upon taking phone calls and congratulations Mr Conner and welcome to Better Solutions, here opinions matter.
This all felt too easy and simple but I finally had a job after 2 months. This didn’t seem normal but I couldn’t be irresponsible anymore.
I signed the papers, shook Mr Lumbers hand and he walked me into another room where there were employees in cubicles, in all the cubicles there were no decorations, no photos of family, it was crazy, the employees even looked lifeless, dead inside, you can tell it would kill them to even smile. What have I subjected myself to? But nothing would compare to what I would witness later that day.
I sat at my desk and a man named Anthony came up to me. He stared at me, cold, like looking at the sight of a dead body.
Why? Why did you do this? Was it money?
I felt offended. What are you talking about?
The job, why would you take this job?
Why would you? I asked.
You know why I took this job, I am criminal and on the sex offenders list, I couldn’t get a job anymore…now I wish I never had.
The man walked away. I was confused. I know he was trying to tell me the job is horrible but how horrible can it be.
I took my first call, remember I had no training prior so I seriously didn’t know what I was doing. I basically answer the call, act polite and answer any questions they have, all I had to do is resort to the Manuel to answer any of their questions. I had to follow the script verbatim and at the end we had to remind them of the survey. Once they took the survey we would get an email with the score, you had to score an 8 or higher to pass, anything below that was considered a call fail. After my first call I got a 10 so I was obviously doing something right.
I got an email from Anthony, the guy that came to my desk. He commented on the score I got, he put “great job, keep it up. Here we can actually see everyone’s scores, they were shared with everyone apparently just to see how we were doing overall. I thought it was kind of personal honestly but I guess let the work speak for itself. I seriously didn’t care for other peoples scores but I was caught by someone else’s because this person was getting 3s, and 1s as scores. Poor guy I thought, the named read Gilbert on the low scores.
I immediately got a message from Anthony Meet me in restroom, we have to talk.
I got up and went inside the restroom where Anthony was washing his hands.
Congrats on the survey.
Thanks, I said. I was still confused as to what he wanted.
Do you know the purpose of customer service? (Pause) It is to serve the client no matter the circumstance. Have you seen Gilbert scores?
Yea, I said
Don’t be Gilbert, you don’t want to be Gilbert.
We stare at each other, again a cold dead stare.
Do you even know what you signed?
Yea, no not really. I didn’t know how to respond.
Read your paperwork.
I rushed back to my desk and pulled out the paperwork I signed. Basic stuff, employment acceptance letter, be on time protocol, paid time letter then the contract. I grabbed it tight and read it thoroughly, this one paragraph I stayed on, read it over and over, was I really reading it correctly?
You are property of Better Solutions and your full duty is to provide the best customer service possible for ALL clients, you are now OWNERSHIP of Better SOLUTIONS until you have ceased to exist.
What the fuck does that mean? I’m working here until I die?? Until I cease to EXIST??? What the fuck is this place. Anthony was right, what did I get myself into.
Then the sirens went off. Two security guards came in and grabbed Gilbert. They put a bag over his head and dragged him out of the room as he screamed.
No, nooo, please I’ll do better. Give me another day. PLEASE!
Gilbert pleaded for the men to let him go. More security guards came into the room with FUCKING GUNS, armed. Standing by the doors. One of them stood in the middle of the room.
Everyone to the meeting room, said the guard.
Everyone got up and walked into the hallway, we walked our way into a room that looked like a theater room with cheap folded seats instead of the recliner theater seats. We all sat down as the security guards stood by the door holding their guns. I was shocked. I know I needed the money to pay bills but at what price? Once the curtains were opened, we saw a man tied to to a chair, blindfolded, and gagged, that man was Gilbert… What were they going to do to him. One man approached Gilbert. “Gilbert after 3 failed surveys in one week, you are officially terminated.” The man pulled out a Glock and shot Gilbert in the chest 10 times. The man stood in the front of the podium with his hands and shirt covered in Gilbert’s blood. Let this be a bitter lesson to everyone. We take our surveys very seriously, if you fail this will happen to you. You are all free to go. I sat in complete shock, I sat in my chair as everyone got up, now I know what Anthony meant this whole time, I would either be killed in here or die out there, those survey scores now meant something, I couldn’t fail, not one, as everyone got up to leave Anthony came up to me. “Welcome to Better Solutions…”