Definitions by Spirit Bear

Disassociative Service Breakage 

This term speaks of any issue where a customer can't get help because no one in customer service knows how to fix the problem because they never talk to the people who solve technical problems; the customer keeps getting bounced between providers for what appears to them to be the same service to them; or both of those issues.

The problem is that the customer can't get help. No one they can talk to knows who owns the problem, or has any information about it. The people who know how to fix the problem are so far seperated from the customer service team who provide support for the customer that the customer's issue will never be resolved. So they continually insist that the problem lies not with them, but with the other provider.

This also happens with DSL customers who have a problem with their service. They'll call their Internet Service Provider, who will perform basic troubleshooting, then tell them to call their line service provider. The line service provider will perform basic troubleshooting, then send the customer back to their ISP.

I'm experienceing disassociative service breakage with my Ineternet service because Earthlink says the problem is with Qwest but Qwest says the problem is with Earthlink.

A customer has copied their favorite soap opera to DVD and played it on their portable DVD player for a long time. Then recently Comcast upgraded their cable box, and since then everything they record on their Tivo DVR is copy protected, so they can no longer use the service in the way they are used to using it.

Disassociative Service Breakage by Spirit Bear August 12, 2006

The Call 

The Call usually comes around 9am on Friday, or an hour or so before your shift starts. Most commonly you get The Call when you're working for a temp agency, but sometimes with call centers. Temp agencies and call centers are notorious for firing employees with a telephone call, and they usually do it on Friday because statistics have shown that fewer people go postal when they're fired on a Friday.

"Hello, this is blah blah with blah blah staffing. We're calling to inform you that your contract with Foo Inc has been terminated. Do not return to Foo Inc, we will arrange for your posessions to be picked up at our office."

The Call by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004

bang on 

Exactly right. Origin: British english. Also "spot on."

Jane's prediction of fourth-quarter earnings was bang on.

bang on by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004

MUCK 

May also be called Multi User Collective Kingdom or Multi User Construction Kit, depending on who you ask. The most common is Fuzzball MUCK, an open-source project. Two popular MUCKs are Tapestries and FurryMUCK. It is a text-based roleplay environment simmilar to a MUD but without the requirement to kill things and level.

Kevin has thirty-five alts on Tapestries MUCK.

MUCK by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004

floor 

The place where call center agents work. Usually the largest part of the call center, composed of sprawling rows and columns of cubicles that stretch so far that you can see the curve or the horizon before the back wall.

Mike went out onto the floor after a week of training.

floor by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004

wrap 

The time in between terminating one call and recieving another. It used to be short for "wrap up."

John's wrap was way too high this week, so he's working with the mentors to bring it down.

wrap by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004

average handle time 

One of a call center's metrics that defines about how long it takes you to handle one call. Usually abreviated called AHT and run together so it sounds as a single three-syllable word.

Rob's AHT was pretty high because he had to do The Big Nasty a bunch of times this week.

average handle time by Spirit Bear October 28, 2004