extremely negative rant.. consider yourself warned!

[WeeHippieElf]

i want a job working at the CIC call center. i want a job where i get paid decent money to do absolutely nothing, answer absolutely no questions, and know absolutely nothing about the service and system i am paid to explain. every call i've made to CIC has been upwards of 20 minutes, and i have never gotten a single piece of useful concrete information during any of them. why does the call center exist? if the agents are not able to answer specific questions, why is CIC spending money on them when they could be funnelling it into Visa Offices to hire a few more agents to process applications quicker? i am so extremely frustrated with this process i can't even put it in words!

 

[Aquakitty]

What happened? Yes I know it's ridiculous for sure. Sometimes you'll get a good agent though.

 

[Ineffable]

i want a job working at the CIC call center. i want a job where i get paid decent money to do absolutely nothing, answer absolutely no questions, and know absolutely nothing about the service and system i am paid to explain. every call i've made to CIC has been upwards of 20 minutes, and i have never gotten a single piece of useful concrete information during any of them. why does the call center exist? if the agents are not able to answer specific questions, why is CIC spending money on them when they could be funnelling it into Visa Offices to hire a few more agents to process applications quicker? i am so extremely frustrated with this process i can't even put it in words!

I feel this way, too. Genuinely. I also would like to meet someone that works at the CIC, and grill them and yell at them ask them about their job.

 

[govind2015]

I understand your frustration. There is a way you can get better response if you have exhausted contacting CIC call centre. Seek help from your sponsor's area member of parliament. Some of my friends have done so and it really helps.

 

[WeeHippieElf]

each time i've called, the agents have either directed me to their website (as if i chose to wait on hold for 15 minutes to ask them something i didn't check the website for first : ) or have sent me 'useful emails'. i say that sarcastically. when i called to ask them about paying RPRF fees - since the website says to print the receipt and attach it to the letter we received and snail mail it back, when we only received an email - the agent couldn't tell me how to do it and instead sent me an email about how to demand a refund for our RPRF fees now that our application was refused. helpful. thank goodness for this forum where i found out we could just email the receipt - sometimes i feel like the people on this forum are the ones CIC should be paying! today i called to ask about a change on our ECAS, and was sent an email explaining how to contact CIC about technical issues uploading documents on the website.

i work a very similar job to these people and you can rest assured that i would be fired faster than you can dial their number if i were as incompetent as most of them have been. credit where credit is due - one of them was very pleasant and happy when i called in to find out the decision about my Sponsor Approval (i was impatient and couldn't wait for the email hahaha) but even she was like, "well it's probably accepted because why wouldn't it be?" without being able to actually confirm it. so why are these people employed and taking up financial resources if even the most helpful one was not able to actually give concrete information?

 

[WeeHippieElf]

I understand your frustration. There is a way you can get better response if you have exhausted contacting CIC call centre. Seek help from your sponsor's area member of parliament. Some of my friends have done so and it really helps.

thanks for the advice our application isn't at the point in the processing timeline where contacting our MP is a viable option yet.

 

[Sunset0505]

each time i've called, the agents have either directed me to their website (as if i chose to wait on hold for 15 minutes to ask them something i didn't check the website for first : ) or have sent me 'useful emails'. i say that sarcastically. when i called to ask them about paying RPRF fees - since the website says to print the receipt and attach it to the letter we received and snail mail it back, when we only received an email - the agent couldn't tell me how to do it and instead sent me an email about how to demand a refund for our RPRF fees now that our application was refused. helpful. thank goodness for this forum where i found out we could just email the receipt - sometimes i feel like the people on this forum are the ones CIC should be paying! today i called to ask about a change on our ECAS, and was sent an email explaining how to contact CIC about technical issues uploading documents on the website.

i work a very similar job to these people and you can rest assured that i would be fired faster than you can dial their number if i were as incompetent as most of them have been. credit where credit is due - one of them was very pleasant and happy when i called in to find out the decision about my Sponsor Approval (i was impatient and couldn't wait for the email hahaha) but even she was like, "well it's probably accepted because why wouldn't it be?" without being able to actually confirm it. so why are these people employed and taking up financial resources if even the most helpful one was not able to actually give concrete information?

Our case sat for 9 months with no action other then me requesting case notes so I feel you...I know of no other business in the world that does not have somekind of follow up set up on the computers...it really is insane...

 

[Aquakitty]

And the ironic thing is these issues actually affect our lives, a lot more than if our internet goes down or we have a mystery charge on our credit cards. You'd think they would endeavor to educate these people who have such important information at their fingertips.

 

[SenoritaBella]

First off, sorry about your experience. Check if the CIC website has a section for complaints/suggestions about services offered by their helpdesk (call centre). It may help to actually put it in writing (nicely ofcourse). It's quite frustrating and I suspect they don't have access to much more information than us(applicants) but do not let on to that for some reason. Sometimes you can get a helpful one, so keep trying.
Lastly, have lots more patience because the immigration process can get challenging otherwise.

 

[mpottier]

Yes the CIC call centre is rubbish. Also the fact that you can't call IMMIGRATION Canada from outside Canada is the very definition of farce. There is a reason that it the only call centre I have ever seen that has a warning not to harass or abuse their agents. You know your service is inept when you put up a recorded warning to stop abuse of agents, rather than just fix the system in place so harassment wouldn't happen.

 

[WeeHippieElf]

And the ironic thing is these issues actually affect our lives, a lot more than if our internet goes down or we have a mystery charge on our credit cards. You'd think they would endeavor to educate these people who have such important information at their fingertips.

right?! i work for Crime Stoppers and can tell someone in my sleep when and why the program was created, exactly why we ask each question we ask, how the system works to keep callers anonymous but still get them the reward, how the reward amount is determined, and what will happen to the information after we get off the phone.. i know the ins and outs of what type of crime goes to which department, when it needs to be called out to the authorities immediately and when it can be held for business hours, and where to find all the information i need to complete the report. and more often than not, i am doing this over and over and over for people wanting to report that their next door neighbour smokes marijuana a few times a week.

THESE. PEOPLE. HAVE. REAL. LIVES. IN. THEIR. HANDS. how do they take it less seriously and know less about their jobs than i do about mine?!

 

[Ineffable]

each time i've called, the agents have either directed me to their website (as if i chose to wait on hold for 15 minutes to ask them something i didn't check the website for first : ) or have sent me 'useful emails'. i say that sarcastically. when i called to ask them about paying RPRF fees - since the website says to print the receipt and attach it to the letter we received and snail mail it back, when we only received an email - the agent couldn't tell me how to do it and instead sent me an email about how to demand a refund for our RPRF fees now that our application was refused. helpful. thank goodness for this forum where i found out we could just email the receipt - sometimes i feel like the people on this forum are the ones CIC should be paying! today i called to ask about a change on our ECAS, and was sent an email explaining how to contact CIC about technical issues uploading documents on the website.

i work a very similar job to these people and you can rest assured that i would be fired faster than you can dial their number if i were as incompetent as most of them have been. credit where credit is due - one of them was very pleasant and happy when i called in to find out the decision about my Sponsor Approval (i was impatient and couldn't wait for the email hahaha) but even she was like, "well it's probably accepted because why wouldn't it be?" without being able to actually confirm it. so why are these people employed and taking up financial resources if even the most helpful one was not able to actually give concrete information?

Am I reading that your application was denied? (Or was that the RPRF payment that was denied.)

 

[WeeHippieElf]

First off, sorry about your experience. Check if the CIC website has a section for complaints/suggestions about services offered by their helpdesk (call centre). It may help to actually put it in writing (nicely ofcourse). It's quite frustrating and I suspect they don't have access to much more information than us(applicants) but do not let on to that for some reason. Sometimes you can get a helpful one, so keep trying.
Lastly, have lots more patience because the immigration process can get challenging otherwise.

i promise i just need a vent right now and then i'll be okay but you hit the nail right on the head, and it's exactly my point: why are we spending money to have call center agents who don't have access to much more information than we do? what a waste of resources. either don't bother having a call center or allow the agents access to information so they can answer our questions.

Yes the CIC call centre is rubbish. Also the fact that you can't call IMMIGRATION Canada from outside Canada is the very definition of farce. There is a reason that it the only call centre I have ever seen that has a warning not to harass or abuse their agents. You know your service is inept when you put up a recorded warning to stop abuse of agents, rather than just fix the system in place so harassment wouldn't happen.

yes. all of this.

 

[WeeHippieElf]

Am I reading that your application was denied? (Or was that the RPRF payment that was denied.)

no, but please don't jinx me! hahaha

no, i had called them to ask how to pay it, the agent didn't know, so he sent me an email with what he said would be instructions on how to pay it - but he sent me the wrong email, he sent an email that had instructions on how to get a refund for the fees, not pay the fees. that's what i mean by incompetent. he couldn't answer my question and he didn't even send the right email.

 

[Ineffable]

no, but please don't jinx me! hahaha

no, i had called them to ask how to pay it, the agent didn't know, so he sent me an email with what he said would be instructions on how to pay it - but he sent me the wrong email, he sent an email that had instructions on how to get a refund for the fees, not pay the fees. that's what i mean by incompetent. he couldn't answer my question and he didn't even send the right email.

Phew! I about had a heart attack. I got DM the day after you, and I'm thinking, naturally, of the worst case for the both of us. This is what happens to your nerves after 6 months of waiting, knowing that the people in charge of your future are particularly inept.

Thrilled to hear that I misread that.

Have you located the proper way to pay the fees? I seem to remember having an email from the CIC showing me how to do it. I can pass it along if need be.