Should you work for Amazon?

To remain silent on my experience in this company for both the improvement and well being of individuals that may be subjected to similar things would be unfair.

I began working as a customer care agent for Amazon early 2021 and was welcomed through online training which lasted about three weeks. This training was enjoyable and all carried out online. The job I worked was a work from home position which required answering calls of unhappy customers. To no surprise they were consistent.

As I think back through the memories I have of the different situations that happened the highlight of the job was when I resolved the problems some of the customers had. This was one of the only things that remains a positive memory from my time with the company.

This started to seem odd for me when I realized a lot of the way things were viewed was time and number based. For example, if I only answered x amount of calls within x amount of time the calls I would have resolved with positive feedback would not be praised and I would have been asked what my reason was for not answering x amount of calls or why I had not been faster.

Bare in mind I am a human.

No conversations with collogues were ever held in person which is another thing I found odd. There seems to be a circle of tech orientated people that organize the customer service database and handle all of their business online. I was told over a two minute phone call that my contract was not being renewed.

This happened in December and even though I signed off for my last shift the computer was left for seven months before being collected by delivery staff.

Seven months for the computer. Which I found very surprising because I was micromanaged to the second every time I logged on to it. I would receive calls during the work week asking me why my clock in was 15 seconds late. At the time I brushed this off and although I wasn't too sure what to say I realize now while sat in a class room taking a workplace health and safety course how bizarre and strange that is.

Phone calls were also listened back to by 'managers' as all the customer service calls are recorded. I was told not to sing while in-between calls. I'll have you know there is no man on this planet who can take my voice away.

'No singing' is almost something you would expect to hear shouted down a prison landing.

An in house 'investigation' was put on me in the early days of my employment. I had missed a day of work because of timetable confusion. I recieved no notice it would be changed and was for two weeks told I have to attend a 'meeting' which the manager in question never showed up for. I ended up sitting speaking with two people who I never spoke to before as they quizzed me on things I had repeatedly explained. I was then told after the meeting I would hear back within a week, so for one week I went not knowing what was going on and was never contacted about the matter again. Some time after a timetable was placed online and without any notice was changed completely, it was trying to be suggested that I had not paid attention to the time table although I had taken photo proof of the original time table.

And to no surprise there was no 'investigation' put into this. I think there is a lot of pretending going on with the brand name being used in a job title to sound like an important business man.

Trying to get the attention of the next guy up the ladder sort of thing. There is no praise for good work and mistakes are highlighted which is detrimental to an individuals confidence. I'm not sure if this is the aim so as to have a lot of broken obedient workers.

I'm sure there are some lovely parts of this company as it is so large but that is where there is a fault in the stars. Someone should be able to go about their workday and not be surrounded by the negativity that circulates.

I put myself forward to write for a committee in the company which was to do with mental health and well being I wrote two or three monthly articles and none of this was acknowledged.

Did I mention it took them seven months to send someone to collect the computer? Seven months? 5-7 working days is the wait time an employee is told to ask a customer to wait for a replacement or refund. Seven months though if your an ex dedicated employee.

How does that work? I'm not too sure but at what point am I a potential customer again? And why is it as a potential customer I have a red carpet laid out for me but as a worker in a company I am not worthy of more than a two minute phone call for dismissal.

Two weeks prior to being dismissed I was told I would be getting upskilled to do a different job which I had began doing training for. So from being told I would be doing a new job to being told I had no job within two weeks.

Their was no consideration taken for me what so ever. Even during my time there the good reviews left by customers were all ignored.

After leaving I was not given any well wishes and have not had one spoken word from any member of staff.

I even had customers leaving reviews that I should be promoted. Their kind words where was kept me motivated.

Well, thank you for all your lovely words if we did speak over the phone but unless there is improvement made in the way employee's are treated I wont be providing my services as an Amazon representative.

Should you work for Amazon? Do your research first.