Work at Home with Benefits at Alpine Access

Updated on: by Amy Kennedy

Work at Home with Alpine Access

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Alpine Access is a company I have been wanting to review for a long while. I am not sure what has held me back but I am glad I am taking a more in-depth look now.

Alpine Access is one of a few web-based companies that offer their work at home employees a nice benefit package. If you can make a phone job fit your life and benefits are important to you, then Alpine Access is where you should apply next!

 

Tell me about Alpine Access

Alpine Access is one of the most notable work at home phone based companies online. If I were to list the top 10 companies, Alpine Access would make that list. Which is why I am surprised I have not reviewed them already! Top of the line Customer Care is the basis of Alpine and it is how they have secured many mainstream clients that you would be proud to work for!

 

What types of jobs are available for Alpine Access Workers?

Alpine Access hires work at home phone agents to answer calls for a variety of clients. From customer service to sales, there are plenty of phone job types at Alpine.

 

Does Alpine Access Hire Employees or Independent Contractors?

Alpine Access hires employees! This is great for those looking for stability over flexibility.

 

When, How and How Much does Alpine Access Pay?

Pay at Alpine Access can very depending on your experience and the client’s needs. In general it is claimed that the average hourly pay is $9.00.  Alpine Access pays every two weeks by direct deposit.

 

Now tell me about these benefits Alpine Access offers!

  • To start, I agree with Alpine Access that the fact you receive an hourly wage is a great benefit. Many home based phone jobs pay only for the time you are on the phone and some only if you make a sale. So, it is a benefit in itself to know that even if you sit with no work- it does not mean you lose money!
  • Alpine Access offers a health plan as well as a matching 401k package!
  • You are not idle! There is opportunity to move up while still working from home.
  • Bonuses and incentives are given by Alpine Access often.

Who qualifies for Alpine Access Benefits?

Alpine explains: ” After 30 days from your hire date, working an average of 20 hours per week with Alpine Access, you will be eligible for our voluntary benefits program that includes medical, dental and vision insurance for you and your family.

For qualified employees (completed one year of service and worked 1,000 hours), we also offer a matching 401(k) plan.”

What is the scheduling like at Alpine Access?

Alpine Access does not have a tremendous amount of flexibility with their scheduling. Every client of Alpine Access has their own operating hours. Alpine says they do have lines that are open 24/7 but that most lines have the following hours:

Monday-Friday, 6am-6pm MT, with 4 hours on the weekend
Tuesday-Saturday, 1pm-10pm MT
Sunday-Thursday, 1pm-10pm MT
Friday-Monday, 10-hour shifts at various times

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Alpine requires you to work at least 1 weekend day a week and a minimum of 20-25 hours with no maximum.

Agents are asked to show their availability a couple of weeks in advance and then a schedule is made where Alpine tries their best to match your availability with their client’s needs. However, it is not necessarily always possible. So, YOU must be flexible if you work at Alpine Access.

 

What type of equipment and requirements to work at Alpine Access?

First, know that if you are offered a position at Alpine Access then you will be required to pay for your own background check. The fee is $45 and this is a very common practice for work at home phone jobs.

  • A computer that meets Alpine Access’ requirements
  • Hardwired and reliable high-speed internet
  • Landline phone service
  • Corded Phone
  • USB Headset
  • Corded telephone headset

Check Alpine’s Site for complete qualifications

How does Alpine Access hire and train its remote agents?

Alpine Access has a rigorous hiring and training process for its remote agents.

They typically require applicants to have a suitable home office setup, including a computer, high-speed internet connection, and a quiet workspace.

The hiring process may involve interviews, assessments, and background checks.

Once hired, agents go through training programs to learn about the company’s clients, products, and customer service best practices.

Does Alpine Access hire in my state?

Currently Alpine Access hires in both the Unites States and Canada.

Alpine hires across Canada and hires in the following 40 of the U.S. States:

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky

Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina

North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming

I think I am ready! Tell me where I can learn more and how to apply!

USA residents who live in any of the above states can visit the USA site. Canadians are invited to visit the Canadian site!

 

 

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Comments

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Morgan

August 16, 2011 at 12:20 am

The one thing Alpine seems to forget to list on the qualifications list is that you have to pass their credit check. This is directly from their website

A: To pass the Alpine Access credit screening we require four or less negative reports during the past four years. Negative reports from a client may prevent you from working with that account. Alpine Access does not consider medical collections a negative report.

Negative reports include:

Repossessions
Judgments
Tax liens
Foreclosures
Any collection/charge-off account with a balance due
If you are not sure you meet these credit requirements, please request a free copy of your credit report from a company such as TRANSUNION at http://www.annualcreditreport.com. Review your credit report before continuing with your application.

I am curious to know what your opinion is on so many jobs requiring good credit in order to work for them.

Miranda Grimm

August 16, 2011 at 8:00 am

Well…at one time I could have understood the credit check issue. Those with high levels of debt would be a higher risk for being desperate enough to steal credit card information from the customers. However, with today’s economy—who doesn’t have bad credit?

Keisha Nicole

September 3, 2016 at 1:09 am

I know I’m late but I have to say that this statement, “Those with high levels of debt would be a higher risk for being desperate enough to steal credit card information from the customers.” is absolutely ridiculous. High debt does not equal a theft.

FStewart

September 3, 2016 at 9:29 am

Of course not! But, it is considered one of the risk factors for temptation. That’s all. It wasn’t meant to be a blanket statement:)

Anna

August 16, 2011 at 8:43 am

I have always heard this is a really good one! I hate the credit check thing though 🙁 Seems so unfair.

Jess Weaver

August 16, 2011 at 10:52 pm

I posted earlier but I don’t know what happened to my comment. Blah. Credit checks are not fair and you are right Miranda who does not have bad credit in this economy?!?

TraceyJoy

August 16, 2011 at 11:39 pm

I applied, got hired, went to log into my training could not do so, I emailed to ask what happen and to my horror they rescinded the job offer due to credit check not passing. 2 years out of work due to a back injury my credit was trashed, still hasn’t recovered. They should have checked the credit BEFORE you offered me the darn job. I have a bad taste in my mouth for Alpine Access. I hear really good things about them from others, I won’t ever bother again. I no longer apply for any job that runs credit check like others have said, it’s just not fair anymore. I passed everything else except credit, had a great interview was so excited. This would have been my first WAH position.

Kelly

September 8, 2011 at 8:23 am

I worked for Alpine about two years ago. I was on a project for a vitamin company and that company went belly up so the majority of the people working on that project (including me) got laid off. I have thought about applying to work for them again but I am a little hesitant especially since I had to pay for the background and credit check and then got laid off two months later. They seem like a good company but sometimes you just need to cut your loses and move on.

N

February 2, 2012 at 5:10 pm

I’ve worked at Alpine for 2 years now, and I’m a team lead. It has it’s…uh…special moments, I should say, but it’s steady work and a steady paycheck and if you work hard you do have an opportunity to move up. All in all I’d say it’s a good short term job and it’s a godsend for people who need to work from home like me. It’s by no means a career making job…but it does what it needs to do.

LoveLife

August 15, 2012 at 4:50 pm

I recently heard that Alpine Access has been bought by another company…so maybe the new owner of Alpine Access may change that process.

HomeOfficeBureau

August 16, 2012 at 5:40 pm

I’ve just applied to Alpine Access. I really hope the credit history thing will not let me down. I don’t know what my credit history is, but I do know that I have college loans (if that’s part of it), and an unpaid bill that was sent to the collection agency couple of years ago. I didn’t pay that one because before leaving my previous apartment, I had called the utility company to shut down my service, but it seems like they did not! So I guess the new tenant used it! It’s ridiculous how the bill went high, and I sure won’t pay for that. Anyway, I hope it’ll all go well.

Lisa Mason

January 5, 2013 at 12:26 pm

9.00 is taking advantage of people staying home. Rogers pay thier regular employees 16-17. 9.00 is below minimum wage in canada. Which is against the law!

Elle

June 24, 2013 at 4:33 pm

$9/hour is for Americans, not Canadians. It would not be allowed here, our minimum wage is higher.

Heather

February 5, 2013 at 2:10 pm

Thanks for the blog! Would you say that Alpine access a good option for people who want to work part-time while going to school? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Heather

Miranda Grimm

February 5, 2013 at 6:47 pm

Yes I would.

ronnie

February 8, 2013 at 12:43 pm

do they take taxes out since you said they pay benefits. I would assume that would be a yes but I wanted to double check.

djkjoy

May 23, 2013 at 8:39 pm

Miranda, your incorrect about benefits for health there are none. They have this company that allows you too spend 225.00 only per yr on doctors visits and 50.00 on dental this is a far cry from major medical. 225.00 would not even pay for x-rays. they charge the employees like a hundred dollars or month for that insurance. I know because work for Alpine since 2001. Training pay is only 7.00 an hr. Some programs only pay 8.00 an hr. This is not a career. Its a good part-time job for someone that wishes to pick up a little extra. Just a fyi on the health benefits.

KM Dean

August 7, 2013 at 11:26 pm

I just finished a training program with Alpine Access, if you can call it that. The instructors act like giggly teenagers, most of the training is ‘do it yourself’, there is no support, you try to transfer a customer to a supervisor and no one answers the line. You can wait several minutes until you decide to go back and let the customer know what’s going on, and this is called a ‘warm transfer’. You ask a question and it’s ignored because the ‘trainer’ is more interested in the ‘chatter’ coming from the rest of the trainees. Personally , I’m a perfectionist and when I get on the line with a customer I expect my training to encompass enough information to be able to handle anything that the customer requires. So far in my 5 weeks with this company, it is sadly lacking. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

Jessica

October 3, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Hi Kim. I am applying here, and I am leery from what I am reading. Regardless, I do have a separate question. Can you please tell me how this job would work for a single mom? I have my children most days. I am wondering, if I am home with them, if I get a late shift…would it be really difficult if they woke up or something? I realize I would be taking phone calls, etc, so it is not ideal, I am just wondering if it is possible to make it work. Any feedback from you would be wonderful. I have a phone interview on Monday, and would like as clear of a picture as I can get.

Brittany Thomas

October 7, 2013 at 10:31 am

Jessica, if you don’t have anyone to watch your kids, then this may not be a good job for you. They are very strict about background noises. That will definitely get you fired!!!

Jessica

October 7, 2013 at 4:54 pm

OK. Thank you. I was going to go forward and find out what my schedule would be, and see if it is a possibility, but I think I am looking for something with a bit more flexibility than it sounds like they are offering. Thank you!

Jessica

October 3, 2013 at 11:18 pm

*KM. I am sorry, my last comment, I misread your name:)

Brittany Thomas

October 7, 2013 at 10:28 am

I totally agree with you KM!!!

Tt

January 18, 2017 at 5:17 pm

Ive trained people for alpine in the past and what I realize some of you act as if you want to be spoonfed… some don’t even know to copy and paste… The job is not for everyone. Working at home requires the ability to work on your own most times.

TeaJae

October 4, 2013 at 12:51 pm

Alpine Access and Sykes work at Home have now merged together so It’s Sykes work at home powered by Alpine Access

Brittany Thomas

October 7, 2013 at 10:26 am

I worked for Alpine Access for 5 weeks and it was terrible!!! Poor training and buggy computer systems. There is a lack of understanding from managers and trainers that make it an unhappy place to work–even if you do get to work from home. They don’t even want you to step out to use the restroom if it’s not break time. I had such a terrible experience working here. They are not family friendly at all!!!! I was terminated because I missed 1 day because my kids were home sick with a virus and I missed another day because I became sick with the virus also. They don’t care anything about anyone or anything else besides those calls. Who wants to sit in front of a computer for 8 hours with TWO 10 minute breaks?!?!

Jessica

October 7, 2013 at 4:53 pm

Thank you for your feedback. I am going to do the interview, as it starts in 10 minutes, but my gut is telling me not to do it! It sounds like a company I would not be happy with.

joe davis

November 9, 2013 at 11:48 pm

So I am confused..on the main intro it says there is health benefits..in a previous comment aboveI saw there is not …could you plse advise ..thanks

Maria

February 24, 2014 at 3:03 am

Okay well I have worked for this company now since November of last year. I work in Canada so the wage is based on the minimum wage in your province. Also I didn’t have to have a credit check done just a criminal check.

Training was about 4 weeks online and then you go for 3 weeks of actually taking calls while still in training. I did find that there was lots of support while in this period. Lets face it, you aren’t really going to learn about the job until you actually do it.

Once you get into production things do change. There are strict metrics you are suppose to meet along with doing sales. “Well there are too many variables in place for these metric to be 100% and they change weekly depending on the circumstances of the calls and their system. They do surveys and if you transfer a call to another department and they get a bad review it goes on your name. And sell sell sell is another big thing and I don’t care what they say it affects your metrics and it just too scripted for me. It’s no wonder the customers get frustrated with this company as when you are too big on the sales customer service falls. It’s just a given. And because you are limited to what you can do for the customer you end up having to transfer all over the place.

I have recieved tech pay for issues I’ve had and even though I get 30 minutes lunches and two 10 minutes breaks I still take washroom breaks and have never been told I couldn’t. I just make sure I use personal time. Have had sick days and can use my emergency province days so I haven’t been canned for that.

This isn’t a job you can do with your kids around as any back ground noise would get you immediate dismissal and the calls are basically back to back.

This job is great if you want to work from home, but can be lonely if you need people around you.

There are pros and cons to this job, if anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them.

Miranda Grimm

February 24, 2014 at 2:55 pm

Thank you for being so helpful!

Maria

February 24, 2014 at 3:57 pm

No problem! Like I said if anyone has any questions they can ask. I could go on for pages as there as things that bug me and things that I like, so it is just easier to answer questions. But this company is legit and it is not a scam that is for sure.

Megan

August 17, 2015 at 10:11 pm

I know it’s been well over a year since you posted this but I figure whats the hurt in trying? I was wondering how you know you didn’t have to do a credit check? and also how long did it take to get the results of your background check?

Bronwyn

March 13, 2014 at 8:49 pm

Thank you for all the great information, Maria! I have a question. Can you CHOOSE which company you work for with Sykes? I did the assessment and was told that here was a position available. I’m not overly excited with the schedule, but it’s doable. I wasn’t expecting a sales type position, nor do I want one. How do you find out what position they are trying to get you to consider?

Okay, that’s two questions…. lol sorry.

Maria

March 15, 2014 at 4:26 pm

It depends if you are in Canada or US. Not sure how it works in the US. In Canada there is only one company which is Rogers so no choice there. What normally happened was you would interview for something specific, like cable, tech or customer service. Most of these jobs are also really sales jobs hidden behind fancy words. Yes, you are a CSR, but they want you to sell sell sell as well. That is what I am finding anyways. When I first started they told me that I would be expected to upsell on every call which is fine, however it has become more than that.

I am okay with the job, however, I don’t plan on making a career out of this. There is room for growth in this company if you work hard and sell.

Rayna

March 6, 2015 at 11:21 am

Maria, with all due respect you are the exception. It is important to know more about these companies before they are promoted on anyone’s site. The reasons I say this is because a lot, and I’m sorry to say ALOT of these work at home companies are legit only because you are indeed working from home but they are not family friendly, they will require the same as an office job, and not all but most use the bait and hook. With this one particular company (above) I was offered a full time 40 hr week as I was looking for full time as my current employer’s contract went down to part time. Not only did I go threw all the training just to be lied to, apparently my wage changed as well and I didn’t even know it. I E signed my offer letter agreeing to MY states minimum wage for training only then 9.25 after training ( still low) when i resigned within the first 2 weeks of production ( I’ll explain) I requested their copy of my offer letter ( i just had a bad feeling) apparently it had been changed to $8.00 an hour which was not only NOT what I e signed, it was not MY states minimum and that it not what I e signed. That type of activity has a name to it doesn’t it? So going back to why I resigned, well after resigning a contract for part time in search of full time, the assignment that i took for 40 hours turned out for all of us working less than 2 hours a day ( due to lack of call volume is what we were told) the first day i said “no Biggy” then the next, then the next- I reached out to my “navigator” told her “I can’t live off 10 hours a week what is going on”? ( they were called jump offs, we had them DAILY and if you didn’t they threw you off) she emailed me in return? “sorry there is nothing I can do” this is the true company ethics once you get on board. I see these jobs posted on these Blogs and Web sites for these Work at home companies for stay at home moms, the disabled, and seniors to supplement there income and I don’t believe there is enough research out there on them before they are given this free “plug” on these sites. Granted, I’m glad to see most of these “mommy work at home website allow for the readers to post there ( not so positive ) reviews as well. I’m glad that they are being fair and open as I might mention this Site is it is important to know both sides and weight them. There is an account of a woman that had a very bad experience with this company it is on the internet if you look. The best Advise i can give is do not ignore the reviews- I know we should all see for ourselves and not be guided to make decisions based on another and sometime as you read the reviews you find that the employee took a lot of time off, wanted to have a more flexible schedule after taking the job etc,. and you say “well, there may be more going on there, so this might not be a fair review”. However; in between is other Ex-employees also posting to warn you of the troubles to be anticipated, so have a back up job. These companies that do “group” interviews- BEWARE? Think about it folks there is no need to speak to you or have a personal dialogue with you because your just a warm body for the time being, your helping them met there service level for the client and when you get feed up there will be another to take your place it is really no big deal. Its about the client and the money they make with them it is not about you at all, sadly. Now if the client demanded explanations for turn over and seemed concerned with happiness of the Contracted staff just as much as they are concerned about the bottom line the Contracted saves them. ALL these companies would be the best, there is no doubt on that. Its a shame it is not that way, a client should advice the Contracted to make sure that Attrition is not a problem, Attrition equals Bad customer Service a child knows that. Thus the world we live…Be mindful people some of us HAVE to work from home for various reason we are just not able to obtain employment out side of the home don’t let a company take advantage of you because you need them to draw a paycheck; you have rights, keep all your documents that you e sign with them ( so important) keep all emails, everything keep it and have a plan B. Good Luck!

Maria

March 30, 2015 at 5:29 am

Hi Rayna,

Yes I certainly do agree with a lot of things you said, please remember I posted that review last year. I was just posting my experience and mostly letting people know that this job is legit and not one of those scammer jobs. I did read all the reviews before I signed up for it and yes most of them are bad lol.

This is definitely not a job I would make a career out of and yes I am still doing it, however, at the end of the day I could care less if I do a good job or not because there is absolutely no incentive to do any better. I posted that review last year so I will give an update on how it is it now as now it is over a year since I posted that.

As I said no raise, I am still making minimum wage. Apparently you get a 15cent raise after working 3000 hours. I won’t spend that all in one place. If you do sign up for certain hours, chances are they will change them later. They make you put in bids and they base it on your metrics and your tenure. So you might have gotten days and now you are on nights. I like working nights so this hasn’t been an issue for me, but I know it has for others.

Vacation is hard to get approved you have to ask 2 weeks in advance and sometimes you don’t get approved till the day you want it. In fact don’t get me started on that.

Your TL will change constantly and if they don’t like you then you will be harassed by the, listening to your calls and messaging you while you are on them telling you what to say or giving you crap. This has happened to a few of my co-workers and they were literally in tears. If your TL likes you then you are lucky.

I have seen favoritism and you can recommend friends for this job and you get a bonus and you will see them move up off the phones, however these other jobs really don’t pay you that much anyways.

I don’t have a lot of tech issues but I can still say that when I do I do get paid for them. And I have not gotten in trouble yet for taking personal time to go to the washroom. And my pay cheques always been correct.

The only real incentive to do this job for me is the fact I can do it from home. That is really it. This is not a company that really cares about people or how this job is effecting you and your family or your health. They really don’t care. If you are sick too much or had to take too much time off and used up all your emergency days, you would be canned. I have seen some people have tons of issues and don’t get fired and then you see the few that do.

And if you do work for this company you need to make sure you print off things if you have to especially important emails. Cover yourself like you would any other job.

I will do this job till they either can me or I find something else. I also don’t have little kids or a husband to worry about so that makes it easier on me, however this can be difficult if you have kids and family stuff you need to do as they do NOT work the schedule around your hours, you work around theirs.

There is lots more I could post, but right now this is a book. I think it is important for anyone who goes into a job like this to make sure you always have a back up plan and definitely don’t go into this with your eyes closed. As I said this job is not one that you would make a career out of, I did read all the bad reviews and took the job anyways. Am I sorry I did? I will say not for now as like I said it is not a career and it allows me to see my grandkids and I have made a few life long friends from this job as well.

If you are expecting big bucks from this job, you won’t get it.

And again if anyone has any questions I am happy to answer them :).

Maria

March 30, 2015 at 6:07 am

I also want to say when I say scam I mean they don’t make you pay 300 dollars and you never seem again. However Rayna is right in the sense that they are really not upfront how things are. And you will just be a number to them at the end of the day.

And Rayna I am sorry about your experience, I have heard it from other in regards to hours getting cut. And even though I haven’t had issues with tech pay, I do know that others have. And yes I am familiar with “jump offs”. However I usually request them cause I get tired of the crap I have to say! LOL

I know I am probably not the norm, who knows, what will happen a week from now. Believe me I have no illusions about this company. It is also hard to write everything as it would be pages and pages of things I could say that I don’t like about this job.

Rina

October 3, 2015 at 6:13 pm

I hope that people get the chance to read this. I blog about WAH job some are getting bad review because people are looking for a fake job not a real one. I have work from home for companies where you are sitting on the phone for hours and not get one call and may not get paid. But there are companies that whether I get a call of not I get paid. There are very few WAH companies that are real jobs. You are not on a contract but you are an employee. Too many people are demanding too much out of these companies. For the company they are not sad to see you leave because that means, “you are not the right fit”. I’m going to break down the customer service in-house (brick and mortar job) and the customer services at home (work at home job)

Pay – There are brick-and-mortar job that will pay you minimum wage and most at-home job start of minimum wage too. My first call center job that was 60 miles away from my home paid $8.50 hour.

Merit Increase – Since 2008 many jobs have frozen increasing in pay. I have read review from many people that are making promotions and receiving merit increases in at-home jobs.

Vacation (PTO) – Many jobs have a bid for PTO time. You don’t get to just take it when you want to. HAHA. I think everybody would want that job. I worked at a brick-and-mortar job that on January we bid for time off for the rest of the year. It wasn’t on first come first serve; seniority had first pick so many new people didn’t get time off they wanted. Plus it all depends on the program and how many people are allowed off each day. In my brick-and-mortar only 2 people was allowed of M-F. Only 1 person was allowed off during black out days. Doesn’t seem much different in an at-home job.

Hours – At my brick-and-mortar job there was not a choice on hours, and remember I was driving 60 miles for work one way (120 miles a day) training hours was 8 am to 4:30pm and production hours 12pm to 9pm. I have children so I have to get people in place for pick up and daycare.

Stat- At the my brick-and-mortar job your stat were base on the top performers. You have to have a low average handle time. Low or no wrap up time; they stress the information on “typing while on a call”. An absolutely no unavailable time; this could lead to termination asap. Management monitored your stat every month and your goal could change based off the top performers. If someone was real fast on the phone under three minutes, you needed to be close to or under three minutes. Or it was coach time and after 3 months not meeting your metrics you are termination.

Team Leader and Management – How many companies do you know that management know your job? If you watched undercover boss it is an eye opener to management and to employees that management really doesn’t have a clue. They are looking at figures on a paper. Unless you are an over performer all the time you may not be notice and feel like another number. I have had some awesome supervisor and so not so awesome supervisor that just comes with the territory; not everybody is going to like you. It is important that you take action for yourself. Some people get power and run a power trip. I just don’t care I’m there to do my job and I’m going to do my job. It is going to show in your stat. So let your stats speak and if they give you feedback that you don’t agree with take it with a smile. You never know one day you may have to give someone feedback and they may think the same of you.

Favoritism – Favoritism is in every job and I don’t know one job that I didn’t work that there was not some form of favoritism. It just part of the job.

Work Balance life – Every job preaches about work life and home life but really there is no home life. That is the same for a brick-and-mortar job. Remember I was driving 120 miles a day; 4 hours of my day was in traffic not working. Then another 8 hours at work. I didn’t get to do many things with my children because I had to work. They were strict on adherence. And as I stated above PTO was a joke. There was no incentive for me work at brick-and-mortar job accept the paycheck every two week.

Training – Training was a joke, not because of the trainers but because of the information that you have to know. Every call center rep in a brick-and-mortar job or at-home job knows that once you are in production everything in training is not the same. There is no possible way they can get you ready for everything. In a brick-and-mortar job and at-home job you have to be self –sufficient. There is a test that you have to pass in my brick-and-mortar job and if you fail you were terminated. Before we made it to OJT they had a meeting to explain that they are looking for the best of the best that can handle call without the help of management. That we needed to know how to find the answers; policy and procedure portal was available and the rest of it is common sense. Once in OJT floor support was clueless. They would call for a manager and no one would come. Then they want you to make up something to tell the customer to get them off the phone. Can we say “that is not good customer services.”

The moral to my rant is that WAH customer services jobs and Brick and Mortar customer services jobs are the same. If you have worked in customer services call center and enjoy it then you will probably fly through promotion at a WAH call center job. But if you just applied to a WAH call center job because you are tired of the 9-5 and you had never work a call center job it is going to challenging. You need to get yourself prepare for a culture shock. Many of these reviews are from people that never work in a call center setting or did work at a call center but didn’t experience the ups and downs. The shortest period that I have been at a call center job is 3 years the longest was 7 years. The last call center job I enjoyed, there was so bad oh yes a lot but there was some good too. I would have stay at the company and retired but my husband job moved us out of state. Call center always have a big turnover rate because people are excepting someone to hold their hand. The Call center business is smart, they are weeding out the people that don’t need to be there; that is not really vested in the company. But if you stick in there and apply yourself it will paid off. You have to work to get to where you want to be. There many people that started with this company for a job because of relocation, children at home and many other reason, but they are now a team leader or recruiter and are making a decent living. With any job you have to make the best of it, take responsibility for you career, and follow the rule.
P.S. I can tell you one thing I don’t miss the politics of the high school work environment. Or the he said she said crap. Or the potlucks every month. Or the business attire that cost money. Or the wear and tear and gas on my SUV. Or number one, in my face micromanaging. I hope this help people to understand you are the only one that can make the best out of any situation.

Maria

October 6, 2015 at 5:35 pm

Hi Rina,

I am glad you posted this as I do check back here from time to time. You do make some very good points. I do realize that my posts mostly focused on the negatives, so I will note some positives about this job.

I love working from home and I am willing to take the minimum wage in order to do this. There is a lot of things that I don’t have to worry about because I get to do this at home. If I have an early shift I don’t have to get up 2 hours earlier, get dressed,and get out the door at a certain time, or fight traffic. I just get out of bed, make some coffee and set up my tools and away I go. And when I am done, I log off and just have to open my office door to be “home”.

I get direct deposit for my pay and it has always been on time and I have always received any tech pay due to me that wasn’t my fault or issue. And I am able to track my hours and I do get overtime if I go over my end time due to a long call. And I get paid for my shift no matter how many calls I get and I do get my commission.

I can also say that I do get great support during my shift if I run into issues, have questions etc. And I can agree that most Team Leaders or managers in any job never truly understand what you do. I can also say that I have had some really good TL’s and I have had bad ones. It is in all how you handle it and manage it yourself and your attitude. It amazing how much a bad manager can turn your attitude into crap and I agree that is really on me if I choose to make it negative.

Yes favoritism does happen in any job, you are right about that, that isn’t Alpine exclusive. I myself have been lucky with this one as I had a great TL and she recommended me for another program, so I am lucky in that sense.

My stats have always been pretty good, I don’t have hold times or use wrap up call time. The frustration really is with what the client wants you to say, adding more things and your AHT goes up. And yes this isn’t Alpine’s fault it is the clients, so you are right, need to keep that in perspective. I have to say that all my TL’s have always been willing to work with people on this and the other metrics.

Out here in Canada we don’t bid for PTO time, it is unpaid vacation as they give us Vacation pay, however, in the province I am in they are required to give me 2 weeks of vacation a year. And I for one realize that I can’t have it necessarily when I want it like during a black out period, however, I disagree with the way this company does it. You don’t approve a week of vacation for someone when they are going out of province or town and tell them that the one day in the middle of your vacation didn’t get approved and then you have to be a no show, use an emergency day or “wait” until that day to see if they approve it or not. At some point it is up to them to ensure that you get the vacation time you are required by law. This is legislated. I have been working for over 20 years and never have I had to use emergency days or apply for LOA to take my vacation. However I know the US and Canada do things differently. Having blackout periods in a call centre makes sense, not giving you your vacation is not call centre exclusive.

Personally I thought the training was well done and there was lots of support during the nesting phase. There is only so much you can do in a classroom, however, your real training comes when you start answering the phones and actually using the systems.

The hours work for me, but they are not up front with their advertising of “create your own work schedule etc.” sure you get to pick the hours in the beginning but they do blind side you later on. People with kids have a harder time just switching their days and times at a moments notice. I just think they need to be more up front with that.

I have been here now for 2 years and I will continue to work here. I know I am good at this job even though I have never worked in a call centre before. And yes there is a very high turner over rate and I think too that some people expected the job to be different and yes some do have a sense of entitlement. Like those people that just decide to leave their shift early or just don’t show up for them.

I thought your post was great. No one is forcing me to do this job, I definitely do it by choice and I can make it positive or negative.

adj82

June 25, 2014 at 12:40 am

How far back does the criminal background check go because I got into some trouble as a minor(under 21) but never since i dont want to waste my time or money

Maria

July 1, 2014 at 6:12 am

Are you in the US or Canada? I’m pretty sure if you were a minor it won’t show up on a criminal check. Not 100% sure though.

Ginger

August 3, 2014 at 7:23 pm

I have an interview tomorrow night with them…THe more I hear the more I’m not liking it. I am looking for something flexible that I can do from home while my kids are in school (no weekend work) or only picking up nights when they are out of the house..and one that won’t be hard if I need time off b/c my kids are sick or I am sick.

My current out of the house job is killing me with stress so I was hoping at home work would be easier.

Maria

August 18, 2014 at 6:45 am

Ginger how did the interview go? Just wondering.

Mary

August 30, 2014 at 2:52 pm

I started Aug 25th for GE with Sykes working for synchrony credit cards for Walmart and SAMs club. The training I have to say us really bad and haven’t really learned much. Spent first 3 days dealing with technical issues. 40 people in my class and a lot were having problems connecting to certain programs we had to use. Did not learn anything during this time. We are off for 3 days for the holiday and were told not mandatory but highly recommended we do the training resources on our own since we didn’t learn to much in actual training. So on my time off I have to do practices and if don’t do well on calls because of lack of training could be dropped. Seems like I will enjoy what I do but training is a joke.

kia mack

September 2, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Can you elaborate a little bit mor on how the training is actually run. I start mine on monday and trying to get a vision of what it is going to be like is it like going thorugh slides with someone talking, what?

Heather

September 7, 2014 at 12:20 pm

Yeah this one was a big old waste of time. Hours are a bit inconvenient and after ALL of that testing (over an hour) they offer 9.50/hr. Just not a reasonable wage for anyone who needs to live off the income. Oh well..better luck next time!

Shawnee Stelee

September 30, 2014 at 8:14 pm

Hi! I applied with this company and just have the background check left. I have a duo that was dropped to Neg 1 driving, do you think this would bar me from employment?

Summy

February 14, 2015 at 9:48 pm

Hello

I got selected for ccp for Rogers waiting for training upto one week ,when will they start training.fed up of waiting . Then I have two kids one is going to school other at home will This be tolerable for me.if they put noise in other room will they tolerate that or terminate job.

Maria

March 30, 2015 at 5:38 am

Have you started training yet? yeah you can’t have any back ground noise AT ALL. That is grounds for immediate dismissal. This job is probably harder for parents as they will not always work with you in regards to child care etc. They don’t care. You will get to pick a time frame to work and then boom, it gets changed and you can’t do anything about it.

Paula Connors

July 19, 2015 at 7:32 pm

I’m very disappointed with this company. I was hired to start March 30th 2015, then they changed the date to April 28th 2015 because “the needs of the client had changed” (Rogers). Then they pushed it back again to May 12th 2015, saying again that the clients needs changed. I was notified of both of these changes well in advance, so when May 8th rolled around and they were talking about having a virtual open house, I was quite relieved. Then on May 9th they said that they weren’t sure what was going on, but training was not starting on the 12th and they were tentatively pushing it back to the 19th.

On the 13th I received an email saying that the training, and my job was cancelled all together. They offered other tech jobs (I was hired for CCS) that were opening up in the coming weeks. Well those tech jobs, were filled by CCS employees who lost their positions due, once again, to the changes in the needs of the client.

OK, that’s fine, shit happens. I wasn’t happy, but what pushed me over the edge was that at the beginning of June I saw an ad on indeed.com saying that they were hiring 300+ by the end of the month. I emailed my recruiter and she denied that they were hiring, and pushed it off on that it was Sykes that was hiring, not Alpine Access. I sent her the link, which took you to the Alpine Access web site to apply, but she never bothered answering me, and subsequent emails I was given the reply that she was “looking into it”.

Megan

August 17, 2015 at 10:32 pm

I am currently waiting on my background check to receive the green check mark. But I am kind of worried because I didn’t notice they do a credit check until after I had submitted everything. I have terrible credit so I am worried that I will be turned away….

kendria

October 11, 2015 at 12:15 pm

Did your background come back before you started work? Because I am suppose to start tomorrow but mines haven’t came back yet. if it didn’t did u not start work.

Jana

September 23, 2015 at 8:11 pm

Hello everyone. I have already done my group interview and did all the paperwork and stuff needed I got all blue check marks beside everything including background does that mean everything came back ok and I am set to start training now? thanks