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Post by dutchstokie on Mar 10, 2015 13:10:05 GMT
Just called a company in the UK to do a character reference for a potential employee and attempt to ask 6 simple questions to complete said task.
Bearing in mind I have the name who can give me the reference at the company in question it went something like this,
Receptionist: "can you send an email with your questions please"
Me;" what would be even better is if I could ask you or my contact name how long this person worked for you"?
Rec:" its a little difficult to answer that so if you wouldnt mind emailing us at info @ ............ we can get them answered for you"
Me" wouldnt it be quicker to just answer them now"
Rec" Like I said if you....."
Me: if your sitting on the couch with your boyfriend and he asks you if you want a cup of tea, do you ask him to email you..?"
Rec:" Like I said if you" (she didnt even notice I asked her !!!!)
Communication and talking to your fellow human being, died for me today........
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Post by S.O.N.S. on Mar 10, 2015 13:12:57 GMT
You may have been talking to one of those renta-receptions Dutch.
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Post by harryburrows on Mar 10, 2015 13:23:13 GMT
Just called a company in the UK to do a character reference for a potential employee and attempt to ask 6 simple questions to complete said task. Bearing in mind I have the name who can give me the reference at the company in question it went something like this, Receptionist: "can you send an email with your questions please" Me;" what would be even better is if I could ask you or my contact name how long this person worked for you"? Rec:" its a little difficult to answer that so if you wouldnt mind emailing us at info @ ............ we can get them answered for you" Me" wouldnt it be quicker to just answer them now" Rec" Like I said if you....." Me: if your sitting on the couch with your boyfriend and he asks you if you want a cup of tea, do you ask him to email you..?" Rec:" Like I said if you" (she didnt even notice I asked her !!!!) Communication and talking to your fellow human being, died for me today........ That's pretty normal mate , I called my insurance company recently to ask about my daughters insurance policy , they refused to talk to me despite the fact that it's at my address and I pay the premium |
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Post by dutchstokie on Mar 10, 2015 13:23:26 GMT
You may have been talking to one of those renta-receptions Dutch. Possible, but for the love of god dont just sit there spouting shyte about sending emails, at least try to help your customers - or just be polite and helpful - no...? Is it really too much to ask - really..? Pissed me rayte off it did, even when she spouted the usual "just send us an email line" when I tested her.... Unbelievable Jeff !! |
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Post by dutchstokie on Mar 10, 2015 13:30:22 GMT
Just called a company in the UK to do a character reference for a potential employee and attempt to ask 6 simple questions to complete said task. Bearing in mind I have the name who can give me the reference at the company in question it went something like this, Receptionist: "can you send an email with your questions please" Me;" what would be even better is if I could ask you or my contact name how long this person worked for you"? Rec:" its a little difficult to answer that so if you wouldnt mind emailing us at info @ ............ we can get them answered for you" Me" wouldnt it be quicker to just answer them now" Rec" Like I said if you....." Me: if your sitting on the couch with your boyfriend and he asks you if you want a cup of tea, do you ask him to email you..?" Rec:" Like I said if you" (she didnt even notice I asked her !!!!) Communication and talking to your fellow human being, died for me today........ That's pretty normal mate , I called my insurance company recently to ask about my daughters insurance policy , they refused to talk to me despite the fact that it's at my address and I pay the premium I had something similar over here, "its not company policy to discuss personal matters - please send us your request" (this was scooter insurance for the girlfriend). My retort was "So if I dont personally pay YOUR company for YOUR insurance, this is OK because its a personal matter" "No thats another scenario sir, that would be in bre...." " I thought you werent supposed to discuss personal matters" She started getting in a flap after that , at which point I decided to use another insurer who DID take the time to listen to what I had to say and were very helpful. They got my money and not the other insurance company.. Just be nice to people hey....! its not that hard!! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2015 13:40:12 GMT
The art of conversation and communication died with the advent of the electronic era we are now in .....sadly ! Do pen , ink and paper exist any more ?
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Post by dutchstokie on Mar 10, 2015 13:42:31 GMT
The art of conversation and communication died with the advent of the electronic era we are now in .....sadly ! Do pen , ink and paper exist any more ? My ex used to work for KLM as a trolley dolly and they still have to send in written job applications.....good on em I say. If they can be bothered to put the effort in, it starts to show who wants it and who doesnt |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2015 13:44:01 GMT
The art of conversation and communication died with the advent of the electronic era we are now in .....sadly ! Do pen , ink and paper exist any more ? My ex used to work for KLM as a trolley dolly and they still have to send in written job applications.....good on em I say. If they can be bothered to put the effort in, it starts to show who wants it and who doesnt Good point mate , I agree. |
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Post by britsabroad on Mar 10, 2015 15:44:26 GMT
They wont do it in case you dont offer the employee the job and he sues them.
If they were a good employee, the manager may give a reference, if they were shit you'll get a template response. Some places just wont allow anything other than confirming the dates they worked there no matter how good they were.
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Post by S.O.N.S. on Mar 10, 2015 15:58:45 GMT
They wont do it in case you dont offer the employee the job and he sues them. If they were a good employee, the manager may give a reference, if they were shit you'll get a template response. Some places just wont allow anything other than confirming the dates they worked there no matter how good they were. It's actually illegal to provide a bad reference in the UK isn't it? |
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Post by lawrieleslie on Mar 10, 2015 17:15:12 GMT
They wont do it in case you dont offer the employee the job and he sues them. If they were a good employee, the manager may give a reference, if they were shit you'll get a template response. Some places just wont allow anything other than confirming the dates they worked there no matter how good they were. It's actually illegal to provide a bad reference in the UK isn't it? It isn't actually illegal Sons. But companies usually don't because of the risk of being sued for defamation. However a reference only has to be accurate and there is no requirement for it to be comprehensive and an experienced HR manager would easily read between the lines of a reference that only gave details regarding a former employers job description, time in the job and punctuality for example. What a reference doesn't say about a prospective employee often says more than what it does say if you get what I mean. |
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Post by S.O.N.S. on Mar 10, 2015 17:36:43 GMT
It's actually illegal to provide a bad reference in the UK isn't it? It isn't actually illegal Sons. But companies usually don't because of the risk of being sued for defamation. However a reference only has to be accurate and there is no requirement for it to be comprehensive and an experienced HR manager would easily read between the lines of a reference that only gave details regarding a former employers job description, time in the job and punctuality for example. What a reference doesn't say about a prospective employee often says more than what it does say if you get what I mean. Sharp practice then. |
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Post by harryburrows on Mar 10, 2015 18:20:35 GMT
It isn't actually illegal Sons. But companies usually don't because of the risk of being sued for defamation. However a reference only has to be accurate and there is no requirement for it to be comprehensive and an experienced HR manager would easily read between the lines of a reference that only gave details regarding a former employers job description, time in the job and punctuality for example. What a reference doesn't say about a prospective employee often says more than what it does say if you get what I mean. Sharp practice then. The " WOULD YOU RE-EMPLOY QUESTION " is always a good one to get your point across |
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Post by Gods on Mar 10, 2015 18:23:47 GMT
You certainly wouldn't get anyone to chew the cud with anyone over a reference on the telephone at our place.
An email would get you a pro forma response although in practice you would get little more than a start and end date.
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Post by Beardy200 on Mar 11, 2015 15:02:38 GMT
Just called a company in the UK to do a character reference for a potential employee and attempt to ask 6 simple questions to complete said task. Bearing in mind I have the name who can give me the reference at the company in question it went something like this, Receptionist: "can you send an email with your questions please" Me;" what would be even better is if I could ask you or my contact name how long this person worked for you"? Rec:" its a little difficult to answer that so if you wouldnt mind emailing us at info @ ............ we can get them answered for you" Me" wouldnt it be quicker to just answer them now" Rec" Like I said if you....." Me: if your sitting on the couch with your boyfriend and he asks you if you want a cup of tea, do you ask him to email you..?" Rec:" Like I said if you" (she didnt even notice I asked her !!!!) Communication and talking to your fellow human being, died for me today........ So you called a company asking for a favour and you're annoyed they didn't drop what they were doing and see to you straight away instead of finding the info you want at a time suitable to them? Seems a tad presumptuous on your part Dutchy ;) |
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Post by Beardy200 on Mar 11, 2015 15:04:25 GMT
You may have been talking to one of those renta-receptions Dutch. Possible, but for the love of god dont just sit there spouting shyte about sending emails, at least try to help your customers - or just be polite and helpful - no...? Is it really too much to ask - really..? Pissed me rayte off it did, even when she spouted the usual "just send us an email line" when I tested her.... Unbelievable Jeff !! Isn't that the point? You're not their customer but an annoying phone call asking them to spend time on something of no value to them |
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Post by Billybigbollox on Mar 12, 2015 0:39:56 GMT
It's actually illegal to provide a bad reference in the UK isn't it? It isn't actually illegal Sons. But companies usually don't because of the risk of being sued for defamation. However a reference only has to be accurate and there is no requirement for it to be comprehensive and an experienced HR manager would easily read between the lines of a reference that only gave details regarding a former employers job description, time in the job and punctuality for example. What a reference doesn't say about a prospective employee often says more than what it does say if you get what I mean. It is annoying. Current references are very often not worth having, they tell you so little. Mind you most people haven't got the manners to ask you to provide a reference for them in the first place. Then when you receive a request a lot of companies don't include a SAE. Cheeky fuckers. |
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Post by scottzbj on Mar 12, 2015 1:13:40 GMT
The art of conversation and communication died with the advent of the electronic era we are now in .....sadly ! Do pen , ink and paper exist any more ? If Alanis Morisette is listening... |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2015 1:17:55 GMT
The art of conversation and communication died with the advent of the electronic era we are now in .....sadly ! Do pen , ink and paper exist any more ? If Alanis Morisette is listening... Give her my regards |
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Post by f1rew0rks on Mar 12, 2015 8:26:59 GMT
When I first read this thread I felt as annoyed as Dutch, but there are a couple of very good points above. I doubt the person answering the phone had the information at hand (especially if they were one of those external answering services).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2015 10:56:29 GMT
When I first read this thread I felt as annoyed as Dutch, but there are a couple of very good points above. I doubt the person answering the phone had the information at hand (especially if they were one of those external answering services). plus the fact i'm pretty sure they'd get in trouble giving out information about specific people to just anyone who rang up purely on the basis they said they worked for x and were supposed to just believe them |
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Post by harryburrows on Mar 12, 2015 11:01:25 GMT
When I first read this thread I felt as annoyed as Dutch, but there are a couple of very good points above. I doubt the person answering the phone had the information at hand (especially if they were one of those external answering services). plus the fact i'm pretty sure they'd get in trouble giving out information about specific people to just anyone who rang up purely on the basis they said they worked for x and were supposed to just believe them Correct |
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