Jayne Dowle: If I ran a call centre, why I would recruit the over-50s

I WOULD like you to meet my new friends, Barry and Valerie.
VOICE OF MATURITY:  Should call centres employ staff with experience of life. Jayne Dowle thinks so after her recent experiences  do you agree with our columnist?VOICE OF MATURITY:  Should call centres employ staff with experience of life. Jayne Dowle thinks so after her recent experiences  do you agree with our columnist?
VOICE OF MATURITY: Should call centres employ staff with experience of life. Jayne Dowle thinks so after her recent experiences  do you agree with our columnist?

I’ve changed their names to save their blushes, but these two lovely people have restored my faith in human nature – and customer service.

Barry is in sales for my erstwhile car insurance providers and Valerie is a miracle worker for the manufacturers of my boiler. Neither of them sound as if they are in the first flush of youth. In the world of customer service, this is a good thing.

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If I was in charge of the telephone end of any big utility company or service provider, I’d be targeting all my efforts at persuading over-50s to come and work for me.

My experience of trying to get things sorted on the phone suggests that the older and more wordly the person on the other end of the line, the better the service. Patient, thoughtful and honest, that’s my assessment of Barry and Valerie. How often can we say that about anyone these days?

And consider this. If we’ve all got to work until we’re 70, as looks increasingly likely, being employed to help other people find their way through the consumer maze could be a good career choice. I’m not saying that call centre work is perfect, but it’s got to be better for the back than fruit-picking.

I’ve been giving it all a lot of thought this summer. Some people may have been lapping up the sunshine in Majorca. Me? I’ve had a week at Cleethorpes – it was lovely, thank you – and several weeks undertaking all the household management tasks I haven’t had chance to tick off since we moved house.

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This includes exciting activities such as checking all our insurance needs are met, setting in place extended warranties for vital appliances and updating everything I’d forgotten about to our new address. I was guilt-tripped into the latter by the Post Office’s latest campaign to beat identity fraud. We consumers can do a lot to help ourselves. It’s a pity more companies and organisations don’t respond in kind, or with kindness.

I must say that renewing the car insurance isn’t exactly the most fun I’ve ever had in August, but Barry at least made it interesting. Over the years, I have spent hours of my life trying to find the best price, protecting my no claims bonus and generally setting myself the challenge of beating the automatic and astronomical annual renewal quote.

It was even more eye-watering this time since the Government’s insurance premium tax has doubled over the past two years and changes have been made to compensation arrangements, sending the price of the average policy to almost £800.

In all those decades of haggling, I have never spoken to anyone as helpful as dear Barry. What made his attitude even more impressive was that I actually called him to cancel, as I’d found a quote elsewhere which will save me £125 a year.

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This didn’t seem to matter a jot to Barry, who said he was sorry to see me go. He sounded so nice, I thought I would ask him a few pointed car insurance-related questions which have been bugging me for ages.

Like how come I’ve moved to a “nicer” postcode, and my premiums are higher? He warmed to his theme as he explained that a person could live in the most desirable village in Yorkshire, but if motorists zoom through it at 50mph and cause multiple accidents every year, it will impact on the cost of cover.

He also told me that if funds are available, it’s better to pay in one lump sum than spread the cost with direct debit. Not only does this cost less, because there is no interest to pay – which I’d sussed myself – it also impresses future providers and makes your credit score a little bit rosier.

And as for Valerie. I’ll just say this. When was the last time you got something for nothing? Well, Valerie took it upon herself to point out that I was actually eligible for a seven-year free warranty on our central heating boiler, a fact which had hitherto escaped both me and the plumber who installed it.

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Valerie clearly received no commission for selling me this, as it already existed, nor was she obliged to tell me. In doing so, she has potentially saved me hundreds of pounds a lot of worry in the dead of winter when the pipes are threatening to freeze.

What a contrast to the rude young man I encountered this week when I reached the end of my “to-do” list with the washing machine warranty. I’m not sure where he was based, but it sounded very exotic. He also sounded very bored.

Call me paranoid, but I think he was trying to get rid of me. He said the line was crackling, as it might well be, stretching to the other side of the world. When that didn’t shake me off, he had the temerity to inform me that he was having difficulty understanding what I was saying. Deeply offended, I put the phone down.

Barry and Valerie, your country definitely needs you.