- 2,055
Sorry for the long ramble, but I hope this makes sense.
This past AEP I worked part-time to supplement my income at a large, local call center (through a staffing agency) as a temporary W-2 employee. I was NOT employed by the call center, but through the staffing agency.
It was difficult to find a program for me to work on as I have independent broker contracts with all the big national carriers. This call center does telesales for a couple of them. I made it very clear to the staffing agency back in June that I could not work on either of them, but a regional carrier would be OK. Dingbat recruiter excited to make a big commission called a few weeks later and excitedly said I had been assigned to one of the carrier accounts I specifically told her (verbally and in email) I could not work for, as I represented them and it was a conflict of interest. I’m not naming them here as I don’t know if they read this board or not.
My phone/email/text blew up all summer long from the call center itself and other agencies, in a desperate scramble for licensed agents to fill their seats. Finally they had openings for a regional carrier and I started work on October 10th, through the agency I had been dealing with.
The first sign of trouble should have been a few weeks later when I went to order supplies from another carrier. I saw in the drop-down box I was supposedly appointed and licensed to sell in MD. Alarmed, I jumped onto NIPR and saw I had five other non-resident licenses. Upon closer inspection, I saw they had been purchased by the call center on September 27th, which was about two weeks before I started there. These particular licenses weren’t needed for the program I was assigned to, and what was even odder was I agreed to go back to the call center on October 8th, not in September. I just thought my name had been on a long list of agents and someone there dropped the ball and bought me licenses by mistake.
Fast forward to the day before Thanksgiving. I had a new client who needed a Part D with the carrier effective 12/1. When I logged in to broker portal, I kept getting messages stating I wasn’t “ready to sell.” I called the carrier, as I was current with both the 2018/2019 certs. When I finally got through to the help desk, they told me the email and address I provided them were wrong – and that I needed to talk to my new upline – the call center – who had moved me from my existing hierarchy, effective October 2nd (again, before I even started working there!). They have a telesales department onsite at the call center.
I made multiple calls to the carrier, who said they were in a “blackout period” until 1/1/19. They advised me to have my client enroll with them directly. Yes, I would lose the commission, but if I had them enroll under me, the call center could hold me for six months and not release me if they didn’t feel like it. I also lost out on a MAPD due to this, but luckily I was able to put the client with another carrier.
As I worked odd hours at the call center (weekends and evenings), I was only there once a week during business hours. I couldn’t call and speak to anyone as no one has phone extensions. The next time I worked I told my program supervisor what happened and he emailed the call center’s licensing department for me. I went in a few days later to that department and the supervisor very nonchalantly said she had emailed the carrier and hadn’t anyone contacted me yet? I called the carrier every few days for an update and of course, they had nothing. Finally, I went to my program’s HR manager who hand-delivered a letter to the PM of the carrier’s telesales department.
After more phone calls to the carrier, they finally said that my contract is slated to be returned back to the correct FMO effective January 1st.
Is there anything I can/should do? If I had written business with this carrier within six months of October 2nd, the call center wouldn’t have been able to move me. I’m angry at myself for working there (no idea this would happen) and furious that no one there cares. I don’t think it was done maliciously or deliberately with intent to harm, but this did cause me to lose business.
I thought about reporting them to the DOI, but my State doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe the Department of Labor? Or the carrier’s corporate office, for sure to complain about the shoddy business practices of one of their telesales centers?
This past AEP I worked part-time to supplement my income at a large, local call center (through a staffing agency) as a temporary W-2 employee. I was NOT employed by the call center, but through the staffing agency.
It was difficult to find a program for me to work on as I have independent broker contracts with all the big national carriers. This call center does telesales for a couple of them. I made it very clear to the staffing agency back in June that I could not work on either of them, but a regional carrier would be OK. Dingbat recruiter excited to make a big commission called a few weeks later and excitedly said I had been assigned to one of the carrier accounts I specifically told her (verbally and in email) I could not work for, as I represented them and it was a conflict of interest. I’m not naming them here as I don’t know if they read this board or not.
My phone/email/text blew up all summer long from the call center itself and other agencies, in a desperate scramble for licensed agents to fill their seats. Finally they had openings for a regional carrier and I started work on October 10th, through the agency I had been dealing with.
The first sign of trouble should have been a few weeks later when I went to order supplies from another carrier. I saw in the drop-down box I was supposedly appointed and licensed to sell in MD. Alarmed, I jumped onto NIPR and saw I had five other non-resident licenses. Upon closer inspection, I saw they had been purchased by the call center on September 27th, which was about two weeks before I started there. These particular licenses weren’t needed for the program I was assigned to, and what was even odder was I agreed to go back to the call center on October 8th, not in September. I just thought my name had been on a long list of agents and someone there dropped the ball and bought me licenses by mistake.
Fast forward to the day before Thanksgiving. I had a new client who needed a Part D with the carrier effective 12/1. When I logged in to broker portal, I kept getting messages stating I wasn’t “ready to sell.” I called the carrier, as I was current with both the 2018/2019 certs. When I finally got through to the help desk, they told me the email and address I provided them were wrong – and that I needed to talk to my new upline – the call center – who had moved me from my existing hierarchy, effective October 2nd (again, before I even started working there!). They have a telesales department onsite at the call center.
I made multiple calls to the carrier, who said they were in a “blackout period” until 1/1/19. They advised me to have my client enroll with them directly. Yes, I would lose the commission, but if I had them enroll under me, the call center could hold me for six months and not release me if they didn’t feel like it. I also lost out on a MAPD due to this, but luckily I was able to put the client with another carrier.
As I worked odd hours at the call center (weekends and evenings), I was only there once a week during business hours. I couldn’t call and speak to anyone as no one has phone extensions. The next time I worked I told my program supervisor what happened and he emailed the call center’s licensing department for me. I went in a few days later to that department and the supervisor very nonchalantly said she had emailed the carrier and hadn’t anyone contacted me yet? I called the carrier every few days for an update and of course, they had nothing. Finally, I went to my program’s HR manager who hand-delivered a letter to the PM of the carrier’s telesales department.
After more phone calls to the carrier, they finally said that my contract is slated to be returned back to the correct FMO effective January 1st.
Is there anything I can/should do? If I had written business with this carrier within six months of October 2nd, the call center wouldn’t have been able to move me. I’m angry at myself for working there (no idea this would happen) and furious that no one there cares. I don’t think it was done maliciously or deliberately with intent to harm, but this did cause me to lose business.
I thought about reporting them to the DOI, but my State doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe the Department of Labor? Or the carrier’s corporate office, for sure to complain about the shoddy business practices of one of their telesales centers?