Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by 4cao on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @07:37PM
(#23253308)
> Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) emergency, our phone lines are currently closed.
Never realized they were contactable by phone until now but in any case why are the phone lines closed because of the virus? Does it spread by phone too?
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by HarryHirsch on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @07:49PM
(#23253385)
Call centers are a most excellent environment for spreading coronaplague. The work takes place indoors, in a crowded enviromnent, with people talking. Of course health authorities would close them down.
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by bigiain on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:10PM
(#23253520)
And more importantly, call centre management are pretty much the greatest source of truth in the "nothing ever gets done unless all our staff are absurdly over micro managed" management style stereotype.
There is very little technical difference between a bunch of call center workers crammed into a poorly air conditioned windowless cube farm, and those same workers safe at home at their kitchen table with their laptop and voip headset.
But you can't stand behind them and publicly berate them for taking 3.5minutes for a toilet break if they're all at home...
(Hmmm, startup idea: A service that provides a live video window that allows managers to humiliate WFH staff - that pops up in a non dismissible dialog box over the top of every other window on non-management employee laptops. VCs please form an orderly queue in my email inbox...)
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by edgefield0 on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:07PM
(#23253499)
Except companies have been staffing call centers from work at home for years. For instance, Jet Blue staffs most or all customer service through work at home and even has a clever method for handling surge capacity through part time staff available on call.
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by bigiain on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:12PM
(#23253532)
If they aren't staffing/closing call centres, then the upthread question "why are the phone lines closed because of the virus?" is even more inexplicable...
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by skookum-skuad on Thursday May 21, 2020 @09:27AM
(#23258038)
Exactly. It seems like corporations are using the pandemic to ostensibly "protect workers" as an excuse in order to save money on paying workers. If customers blindly accept this sort of BS when there is no risk, then they're fools.
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by anonymousiam on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @07:29PM
(#23253249)
I'm not defending PayPal (they suck), but consider this:
It would be difficult to run a business in the financial sector from home. The security requirements probably could not be met by telecommuters. What other choices do they have?
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by pdonis on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:01PM
(#23253456)
> The security requirements probably could not be met by telecommuters.
I don't see why not. VPN plus appropriate admin lockdowns on the computers being used by the telecommuters should work. That's how other security-conscious businesses do it.
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by bigiain on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:15PM
(#23253546)
That assumes the call centre isn't entirely filled with 12 year old ex-governemnt auction underpowered desktop computers running pirated copies of Win7, instead issuing staff with modern remotely managed laptops...
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by prawn on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:22PM
(#23253591)
They've currently locked money of mine due to new identification laws (I assume) in my country. Their online ID service was looping and they refused to resolve it by email There might be some critical support things which they handle by phone only?
Re:Paypal closes its customer service
by heavymark on Wednesday May 20, 2020 @08:08PM
(#23253508)
I think you mean to say PayPal temporarily stops phone support because of covid. They still accept support messages. Their phone support in the past has been aweful so I always prefer their message support.
Never realized they were contactable by phone until now but in any case why are the phone lines closed because of the virus? Does it spread by phone too?
There is very little technical difference between a bunch of call center workers crammed into a poorly air conditioned windowless cube farm, and those same workers safe at home at their kitchen table with their laptop and voip headset.
But you can't stand behind them and publicly berate them for taking 3.5minutes for a toilet break if they're all at home...
(Hmmm, startup idea: A service that provides a live video window that allows managers to humiliate WFH staff - that pops up in a non dismissible dialog box over the top of every other window on non-management employee laptops. VCs please form an orderly queue in my email inbox...)
PayPal just threw their hands up and gave up it appears.
I don't see why not. VPN plus appropriate admin lockdowns on the computers being used by the telecommuters should work. That's how other security-conscious businesses do it.