Your Opinion Is Wrong™

So, I start work on Tuesday after over a week of absolutely no word from work - no calls, no messages, no sky-writing, nothing. Even though the girl taking Craig's job is supposed to at least let me know when there isn't any work so that I don't sit around waiting all afternoon for a call. So I get sent a few customers after getting my area (Bondi - hooray for easy parking!). I get a message which includes the letters H L T $200 Mobile for the customer's plan. The %200 Mobile thing I get, it's a promo that's been running a while, but the H L T is totally new. I assume the H stands for Home and the L stands for Line (as per most Telstra plans), but the T doesn't match up with anything that I knew about. I go over all the little check-boxes on the forms to figure out if I'm missing something...and I don't seem to be.

I message the New-Craig. She says: 'home line together [rattles off rates]. Got it now?'

As if anyone's even bothered to tell me this before?

Not only that, but it's obvious that with new rates, I'd definitely need new forms for it too. The customers have to sign their consent for us to switch them over to said plan. I can just write 'H/Line Together' next to the number to be switched, but the rates for that plan need to be somewhere on one of the forms for them to read over. This is even more of a problem, because the first customer I get didn't actually agree to switch over when she was speaking to the tele. She wanted 'to look it over'. Maybe if the rates were on the forms, I could just negotiate a deal where she signs, takes the forms, reads them, and calls up to cancel if she doesn't like what she sees. But there's nothing to read. They're on my phone though, courtesy of New-Craig. I don't even bother attempting to just read them out to this customer from my damn phone, so I just explain to her what's happened, apologise for the inconvenience, and arrange a call-back.

I message New-Craig, telling her that I just can't read rates out from my phone and hope a customer buys it. I need them to have everything explained (which is what's supposed to happen anyway, I'm never supposed to answer questions, just collect signatures). Are the teles selling properly? Make sure they are. And one other thing, I ask: I assume this new thing means there are new forms which I haven't been told about...what's up with that?

I get no answer from her. I call her up. I tell her what's happened. I tell her I can't sell anything, partly because

a) I have no paperwork with the right dollars and cents on them, and

b) Partly because my state manager, upon hiring me, stated that I am 'Not To Answer Any Of The Customer's Questions - I Just Collect Signatures'.

She pauses. Then:

'So she didn't sign?'

'No'...

'OK, just send it back to me in a message so I can put it through as a no-sign'

I tell her 'I should have obviously called Mish about this instead, but she never answers her phone (understandably, she's usually too busy babysitting the teles), so I was stuck with calling you'.

'Yeah, OK, just send me the message'

I hang up.

I've run out of forms, so today I come into the office to pick up some more and drop the signatures off. I tell Mish by sms that I'll be late (very, VERY late), but I'll be there by 3.40. I get no response from anyone. Probably no work anyway, I assume.

When I finally get there, I learn from Mish that there was indeed work. She didn't check her phone. I was assigned an area, I learned. New-Craig had teles calling my area, I learned. New-Craig didn't sms me about any of this. Luckily, the reason I didn't find out was because they didn't happen to be selling anyway, so I didn't have any customers to go to.

Mish realises that New-Craig hasn't done her damn job, and just tells me I can go home. Woo-hoo! Happy ending!

(oh, I also picked up the new forms. The Homeline Together forms. And the new forms that replace all of the old ones that I've used for the customers the day before, which turn out to have completely outdated information/rates on them due to the re-jigging of even the old plans. Wouldn't be surprised if all of those customers call up to cancel once they notice that what the tele said and what the paper said don't match up too well.