Legal employment related question?

I work in a call center that is outbound collection calls. The call center is set up on a system which automatically dials out phone numbers on accounts and connects the call to any random represtative while at the same time bringing their account info on the rep's screen.
On majority of the phone calls, we end up having a person answer the call but we wouldn't know who to ask for because the account information has not populated on the screen -- this can last for up to 30 seconds.
Majority of us don't say anything when the info is not up.
Mangement has been aware of this for a long time with no fix. Instead, they put me directly to a final written warning for not saying anything on the phone call. Can they do that? Who am I supposed to ask if I don't know who I'm calling? And how am I supposed to talk if I can't legally speak without identifying myself and doing a debt collector disclosure yet at the same time I can not disclose that to anyone other than the intended party...?

ginia

This sounds like a shady company to me. I would start looking for another job. Or if the info didn't come up when it is suppose to I'd say "Sorry wrong number." And hang up.

Brian G

Yes, they can write you up for not saying anything on the phone. If the company wants you to talk when the party answers, you have to find some way of killing the time until the information comes up on your screen.

Quicksilver

.As someone else said, I personally would look for another job. I get similar calls at home, not from collector's but from solicitors from various companies where I once ordered a product online. It annoys the heck out of me, and I always hang up when I hear nothing but dead air. If you are really concerned, I would have a brief meeting with an attorney who specializes in employment issues. Then you will know exactly where you stand should you be terminated. You may be able to collect damages, or at least sway the company into fixing this ridiculous problem thereby do a big favor for everyone. People can say what they want about attorneys, but sometimes that's just what it takes to make radical changes. Or at least speak with or file a complaint with the state's job regulatory agency.

Marianne T

I would guess that likely the company knows about this glitch in the phone system. This way, someone does answer but hangs up, by law it allows them to skip to the next process in the collection of the debt. And that is the final written warning. You know as well as I do if they wanted it fixed, it would be fixed. This is just somebody at the company that figured out how to get those final warning letters out sooner to make MORE money.

Heather H

Do you actually care about your job at a call center enough to use legal action (which will cost you money)? I should hope not. Put in your two weeks notice and find more meaningful work where the management isn't trying to screw you over.

zeebarista

Just assume you are talking to the right person. Say "Hi! This is Tim with Visa and I am calling to help you make a payment on your account. Do I have the account holder on the phone?"

If I answered the phone to dead air, I would just hang up.

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