[Cov]

Sorry, but I have to get this off my chest.

There're different reason for why people decide to live in London. My reason was that I moved together with my ex many years ago, we got along for about three years before we split up. I'm not the type who likes changes and I prefer to stick together for the rest of our lifes, but I'm honest enough to admit defeat.

Anyway, as I had adapted to London as my home I made the best out of it and do live and work here without having a plan of what to do next.
Yeah, I'm a lost soul if that's what you think about me.
I would like to move far away but I think I just don't have the courage anymore to start all over again without having a partner.
I might ask why and whom I'd do this for and I wouldn't be able to answer myself. Hm, maybe it's time to admit that I have messed up.



As I work in a big inbound call centre I get in touch with approx 40 - 50 people every day. The nature of my job is a technical helpline but besides this, I find it very interesting to talk to people from all directions of life.

Deep inside of me I believe in the good of people.
And I certainly have a small percentage of customers who I would describe as having a heart of gold.
You develop a feeling of who is genuine and who is a fake personality.

Many are plain demanding and rude, with "unrealistic expectations".
Others are on a mission I think ... they're constantly looking for someone to hand over their aggressions. To dominate others is the only thing they're after.

I won't go into detail but I could write a whole book as thick as Argos' catalogue about my experiences on the phone not only with customers but about liasing with colleagues from other departments ... which can be very painful, as many customers would be able to confirm.

The issues can be boilt down to a few key issues I think.
The communication problem is one of them. What do you think how many people I have to pull out bits of information piece by piece. They're are really unable to imagine if the person they're talking to can actually understand what they say.

One example which happens frequently is, talking like a "mashine gun" where they swallow half of the information. The best part is when I ask if they can repeat it because they'd speak far too fast, then they say the same again in the same speed and the same mumble jumble ... what a situation !



Misunderstandings are one big part of the communication problems. I find myself often negotiating with customers about subjects which have nothing to do with my job, but then again, part of my job is to manage the call and if I build rapport then it's only for the benefit of all participating.
The hurdle would be to convince them that I'm actually very willing to help as much as my resources available and my knowledge allow. That is not as easy as you might think. But I have to admit that I feel reluctant to help when I'm faced with people who don't want to get helped. Those who are on a mission to see how far they can go. They don't know how to reach their target because they don't have one other than search & destroy.

At the same time I have to obey the regulations of my employer which puts a lot of pressure on our team. I say that because out of all the departments in our head office and other offices all over UK is our technical team the most restricted one. We have to keep the so called AHT (average handling time) in mind which is 450 seconds per call. We have to write reports into the customer's account while listening to the problem description and finding the right solution at the same time. We log so called "call drivers" in a long list of reasons for why we have been contacted. That has to be done without the knowledge of the customers as they wouldn't agree that we did not spend 100% of our attention to them. Writing email confirmations to other dpts as required and dealing with system issues like managing 5 different applications where each one requires to login with individual username and password for security reasons - changed every single month, makes me think everytime when it has been timed out and I have to login again and again while the customer is waiting unpatiently on the phone, what was the password again for this one ?

All this has to be done within the calls and there is no extra time given for sorting out what couldn't be done within the very call as 100% of my day is being on standby for the incoming calls and on a typical day they come in one after another.
We're the only department who have to give the customers estimations of how long we will put them on hold if we need to. If we can't keep the timescale up, we need to get back and ask for permission to extend the time. That is often a painful game as many callers demand to get it solved "yesterday". Other dpts can place ourselves on hold however they like. They couldn't care less.

When concentrating on solving the customers problem we are required to make small talk to avoid bigger gaps. I personally find this difficult as I often need to spend my attention to look up difficult information in order to get it sorted. But my employer is like many customers are - unrealistic.

Keeping calm while under pressure, dealing with problematic cases and very emotional customers whose patience has clearly run out over the last attempts to get their trouble solved, it's not easy and every single one of my colleagues in our team is happy to go home at the end of the day because we feel just sucked empty. If we don't perform as required, we will lose a considerable part of our income for the following month and find ourselves rated & blamed by our team managers who listen to our calls by random.
Customers don't know about this and will never find out ... unless I write about it on a forum like Gumtree.

[6xXKesXx9]

Well.. if your living somewhere, where you are not happy.. then whats the point? Why not just move back to where your original idea of home is? Where you may have family and old friends?
It really doesn't sound like you are enjoying living abroad "alone".

Unless you are hoping to meet someone in your surroundings anyways.

You don't sound like you are enjoying what you are really doing in your job much either.

[Sanne]

If you don't like London and don't like your job, why do you stay? Nobody is forcing you to be here working in a job you don't like. You don't like the high costs, the crime and other aspects of the city so why do you stay? As for your job, that type of environment exists everywhere - not just in London.

Maybe you need to take some time off and figure out exactly what you want to do and where you want to live. If you have a UK passport, there are now dozens of countries where you can legally live and work within the EU so you have a lot of choices.

I just don't understand people complaining all the time when they have the choice to change their situation. But some people also just like to complain.

[Cov]

1. I know what I want but I can't get it - so I just spend the rest of my time I'm given here until it's up. And no, once your life is finished, there'll be nothing else ... it's like as if you have never been born.

2. That's right, I don't like London. But here I have a place and a job at the moment. I can make a living which is more than many others are forced to go through.

If I'd go back to my country where the housing situation is a dream compared to here (quality & price wise), I'd be faced with the hard job situation atm ... comparable with the housing situation in London.
And no, I don't have family anymore ... I'm the only survivor of a genetical desease which has killed my mother and all of my three older siblings. I was lucky (if you can call it this way) that it had been detected early enough and that my body responds to the medication, which I have to take for indefinite, very well.

You may think that I don't like my job but despite the tough conditions I do enjoy being under pressure, in a busy environment. Maybe because the time always passes so very quick that I don't have even a single minute per day to feel bored. I have done most of my working life boring administration work as a Civil Servant back in my country. That was the most secure job you can imagine ... very difficult to get in and impossible to loose once you had qualified - unless you quit by yourself and that's what I have done, to start a new life in London.

[king_tut]

Boo-hoo-hoo Cov, my heart bleeds for you. If you don't like it then piss-off & move elsewhere. I don't think your whiney/depressing attitude will be missed much....

[crabs]

[6xXKesXx9]

[6xXKesXx9]

How have you been anyways cov? Did you move yet and that?

[Cov]

6xXKesXx9 ... thanks for asking, yeh ... I have moved away from Yasho about middle of last May and boy, the new place rocks.
The room, the house mates, the area, the shops around, the new landlady ... all is cool. I'm such a lucky bastard this time.

Come over with your husband and we'll have BBQ in the back garden and watch a video. You better come by public transport so we can get filled up with brandy & coke on the rocks.

Have you sorted your laptop troubles yet or is it still slow ?
I'm not a fan of touch pads, how about you or do you use a mouse ?
By the way ... our company is changing the PCs to new ones in the next few months. If I'm lucky I could get hold of a whole batch of redundant IT equipment.

Who want some second hand office PCs incl flat screen ... still in as good condition though.

[6xXKesXx9]

Sounds a lot better in your new place.. That yasho guy sounded like a real creep!

I use my mouse.. The touch pad drives me nutty.. Unless I am out side with my lappy.. Then I do.. but it's a pain in that ass.. I can't copy and paste or scroll properly with it..

Yup my lappy seems to be ok now.. I just need to re download some things I deleted, make a new msn name and re add some people, I deleted my entire list because I was being overly cautions and found out a few hours later I didn't even have too! lol.. which I may re download all the stuff I deleted tomorrow if I find time, I need to go to the dentist in the morning or something, I have a tooth driving me nuts! And I am sure taking all these pain killers to numb it is not good lol

I have one of them flat screens on my big desktop in the basement.. I'm always worried about knocking it over, it's a bit wobbly now.. I hit it once when I was pissed off and whacked it in to the wall

On day it would be nice to visit England and the entire area in general..I'm afraid of planes though.. and I don't even know if my Boyfriend could leave the country He probably can't. LOL

[6xXKesXx9]

Well.. it's 1 am here.. I'm off to bed...

Have a good night/morning/ day cov.

[Bluey]

Someone said that if a man is tired of london, he is tired of life. Of course, I think he came up with that statement before public transport got overcrowded and when housing was affordable.

I can't see why having a partner to move with is important to you - what's the chances of meeting someone special who has no ties to the city and is happy to upsticks? You actually diminish your chance of moving.

There are loads of call centres across the UK which at least means your job is relatively mobile.

Easier to move when single.

[happypole]

[Cov]

Bluey ... I might be wrong, but isn't the situation everywhere similar within the UK ? Maybe not but you need to have some kind of connection with the new location.
I can't imagine just moving to a random place, what if it's the same shit just different colour ?

Funny enough I'm a family person, meaning I don't enjoy having the level of independance that I have now. But life has made clear to me that my train has departed ... without me.
The women in my age bracket are either married, engaged, lesbian, muslim or have at least one boyfriend.
I want some one who likes me for who I am and not a far eastern doll who sells her future for a little security. Many of my (ex) friends have "bought" love this way. Then again they don't seem to mind cause love is just a deal for them ... maybe because they have never come across real love ?

Yeh, it's easier to move when single.
But as long as I don't have an answer for whom I'd do this all for, I rather stay idle.
I should care for myself ? That is not a strong enough reason for me. I need to spoil someone, I need to care for a nice person or my life has no purpose ...


I'm ready to go, boy I'm so ready

[6xXKesXx9]

Finland?

I'm just guessing

[king_tut]

Maybe Cov if you weren't constantly full of self-pity, negativeity and moaning all then time then you would attract someone. People are attracted to people that are happy, lively & possitive. Also I don't realy think anyone cares enough about where you are from to start playing guessing games about it. my guess is that you are from a lunatic assylum??

[Cov]

6xXKesXx9 ... "Akka otetaan, mies annetaan".
No Kes, I've never been to Finland.

king_tut ... thank you for your reply, but boy you really have too many mistakes there, in only two little sentences.

1. I'm not constantly full of self pity - only very rarely.
2. What's wrong with moaning ? Look at your postings first mate.
3. If nobody cares about where I'm from, why has happypole asked me then ? Besides this, you pull up constantly statements where you talk on other people's behalf. That's pretty arrogant. Speak for yourself to show us you have some backbone.

C'mon ... I know you can do it.

[king_tut]

What do you want me to say - based upon my reading of your posts you come accross as a bit of a negative/depressing person.

[Cov]

[king_tut]

Look Cov, to be fair the Gumtree forums is all about opinions. If you start a thread based on your opinions(the title of this thread: I don't know what to do - London makes me feel sick... sounds rather negative to me)& write them in the public domain via a forum then you can't expect everyone to agree with you. In fact there is a v high chance that somone is gona come back with an opinion that is totaly different/conflicting to yours. Thats just the way it is. You gotta accept it.

[Cov]

Look king_tut, I am owner of the medal of excellence for writing some shit on Gumtree, remember ? That alone makes me qualified for being right beyond exeptions.

[king_tut]

Yes, no doubt but that medal is like winning the special olympics - it counts for nothing and nobody cares

[impaired]

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

— Samuel Johnson

… and Samuel Johnson could afford it! …. wining and dining the debutantes … no doubt.

[6xXKesXx9]

[6xXKesXx9]