The Online Citizen A Community of Singaporeans Contributed via the Readers’ Contribution
“Dear TOC,
this is a behind a scene scenario i’m here to share with you. It’s about the latest Hello Kitty sales going on at McDelivery. First of all, my opinion is solely mine and does not reflect the opinion of the mass here working behind the scenes at McDelivery call center service.
The maximum number of cubicles available to cater is around 40. And usually outside such promotion period,even at peak period, roughly only 30 cubicles will be occupied. The recent promotion has been receiving such high demand to the extent that all 40 cubicles have to be occupied 24/7 even at 4am-6am in the morning where there will usually be barely 10 people in office and no queue calls.
On an average, a CSE takes roughly 1mins to 2 mins to handle one call. So, to do the maths, that’s 20 to 40 calls concluded every 2 mins. Ever since the promotion yesterday, there has been consistently 80-100 queue calls. We, the CSEs, could barely take breaks.
Next, keep in mind that yes, our job is to take order and to get them delivered to you, the customers. However, there will be time when there are too many orders in the respective restaurant and as a result, we cannot take your orders. Due to the high demand, we are not allowed to take advanced orders too and there is limited that we can do on our part.
Roughly 80-90% of the time, customers will ask for the availability of the Hello Kitty McDelivery-only Witch Promotion Toy. If item isn’t available, they will not order. When we inform them that we cannot take their order at the moment due to “”Hub Stop Order””, they will get furious with us and says things like,
“” I tried online, but the system say that they can’t deliver to me, i called earlier, your colleague also mention the same thing and now, you are telling me the same thing. What can i do? I Really Want The Toy!””
This is one kind of the customers that really tests every of us CSE’s patience level. We understand that working in the service industry, it is our job to cater to your needs. But, there will be time where things are beyond our control. We can not control the number of riders available at the restaurants and we cannot control the weather situation. There are some period of the day when there is a heavy rain and hence restaurant managers are forced to halt taking orders for the safety of the riders. Do you want the riders to get into accident while on the way to deliver your toy? What about the customers who live at location that is far from any food restaurants? I do receive calls where customers will call just for the sake of the toy and then, they will say “” There’s a McDonald under our block, can’t they deliver to us?”” Not all outlets provide McDelivery service
My point in writing this is to share with everyone the tension arising. As much as we aim to provide the best service, things can be beyond our control. Most of the times, i face customers that are very nice and polite, they can understand and empathize with our situation. I have face times when the customers joke with me, this really bring smiles to both sides. Especially the times when after the calls, some of the customer will ask for our name again, that shows how much they acknowledge our service.
Working part time here, my wage is $5.50 per hour on weekday and $6 after 10pm (overnight) and $7 per hour on weekends and $7.50 overnight. There is no commission or any other benefits. I must also mention that there is a high turnover rate. My training batch of 10 people who went for the orientation training, has cut down in size to only me remaining. That shows the level of stress that we have to face.
But, what keeps me going in working in this place is really really the nice customers who will make our day livelier and the ever supporting supervisors who are always ready to help us when we face difficult customers. During this promotion period, we do not gain any extra cash benefits, but, what we gain is the emotional benefits that we share together as colleagues.
I do hope that from writing this, customers can learn to be more patient and understanding when they need services.
We won’t always get everything we want in life, that is something we must understand. ”
Editor note – I did try to call for the delivery as well for the sake of the toys. I was put on hold and asked to call back in an hour and then another hour for the meal to reach me despite living 3 mins walk away from the outlet. But I do understand that due to the high demand of the toys which was sold exclusively from delivery orders. The high volume of sales that McDonalds receive would surely be overwhelming. In that sense, blame cannot be placed on the staff in managing the high volume of sales but maybe the company in managing the anxiety of consumers over fear they would not be able to purchase themselves. – Terry