Remember last week when I posted about the differences in clients I was set up to work between the Holland America Line through Arise and Assurance IQ through Liveops? Remember how glowing and optimistic I was about my prospects, as I saw them then, with the Assurance line?
Well, now the other shoe dropped and I see it for what it really is...a brutal modern-day analogue of a God Corporation's sway over the fate of the naked masses of its Wailing Workers. A few will be selected, according to a strict set of rules and prohibitions, to dwell with the Angels in Heaven, yet most will be stricken down to suffer the depths of Hell Incarnate.
I spoke last week about the Tier System Assurance had created in order to offer better quality leads and more available hours to its most desired workers. My newbie status was ordained Tier 7, the first step onto the Golden Stairway to Heaven. But either by luck, misapplication of my skills or perhaps, predestination, by week's end I found I had plummeted to a Tier 4.
Now below what's considered acceptable since my transfers haven't converted enough into sales once handed over to the agents, my stream of calls had both suffered in speed of procession and quality in dramatic fashion. Not only was I waiting longer, unpaid, for a call to pop-up, but those that did were either immediate VMs, hang-ups or blocked number disconnects (unpaid) or screaming swearing pick-ups, usually demanding DNC listing (DNC requests that exceed 45 seconds count as a ding). The few calls that answered calmly denied making any requests for insurance at all and said they've told this to other callers many, many times.
Today, after a bit of a conniption fit and sleeplessness over this situation I dove in again...for half an hour. Now, it seems, perhaps due to several missed commits in the past few days, I've been downgraded to a deeper level of this hell, who knows what tier number, only getting auto insurance calls which, I figure, are likely the poorest performing of the lot of them, not even a bullshit "Flex Card" hookup to lure them with.
That $26/hr. rate I figured was a doable average? With the dreg I'm offered now, I figured I'd be making about $8/hr. at best but likely closer to what I figured I made in today's abrupt shift, an average of about $4/hr. with no real prospects of transfers, never mind the reduced rate on those since zero is zero regardless. Maybe if I beat each of these motherfuckers that dared stay on the line with me for anything more than a few seconds down to a submissive nub with countless hardball rebuttals I'd be able to wrestle one or two to a transfer and pray they actually, and miraculously, turn into a sale with the agent. Then, and only then, would I even begin to ever-so-slowly crawl my way out of the dark and smelly abyss towards the golden glow of an imagined Heaven.
Fuck this shit. You'd think I was experienced enough to not fall for this scam. I'd be a fuck of a lot more pissed right now if I wasn't kicking myself for my own stupidity and self-deception. The red flags were there. I chose not to heed them.
Some would say this whole experience is so analogous to my life in general. Poor choice after poor choice, despite repeated signs of caution. So some would say too that as such, my fate my well be similar to the lower section in the depiction above. If that's the case, then I guess life in general is the real scam here.