customer service representative

insurance advisor

conseiller en sécurité financière

service à la clientèle

customer service/sales representative

Optima Communications international Inc

This is gonna be a long review, for anyone who doesn’t wanna read all of it here is a TLDR; ( too long didn’t read )

Bad management, bad pay, bad bonus, no benefits whatsoever, bad hours, bad office environment, barely any amenities, no incentives or rewards. The list goes on.

Now for the actual review, 

First, the easier details; pay, bonus structure, benefits, incentives & rewards. 

Pay; normally you would expect a low salary if you have another way to compensate for it for example, commission, bonus on an x basis of time. Unfortunately none of these options are present. Base pay is very low and if you do advance in the company as a “ specialist “ or leadership / management position... it’s a raise of not even a dollar... not a competitive salary at all. You can easily get paid more just for simple customer service anywhere else.

Bonus structure; let’s just say the bonus isn’t even enough to cover a coffee per day. And even then you most likely will never get the full bonus so you couldn’t even get a chocolate bar per day with the bonus. 

Benefits; From what I recall it’s not even a quarter of a dollar an hour that goes into a health spending account and that is it. If you have a large operation to do, good luck, it would take 3-5 years to accumulate a good sum of money to have a serious operation. And you cannot use the money before having the actual operation or whatever you are going to use the money for. No, you need to pay it out of your pockets first and THEN give receipt and they reimburse.. which takes months. 

Incentives & rewards; none whatsoever. They offer small incentive when people are struggling to get sales as they think you aren’t trying hard enough. In their mind a few more dollars will make the difference but it doesn’t do much to improve results. Every 4-5 months they decide to reward Montreal team with food and stuff, however in Whitby and Toronto they get it on a regular basis, they don’t care a lot about the Montreal location unfortunately.

Environment, amenities, hours, staff;

Environment; toxic. There is barely anyone employed in Montreal as everyone quits faster than they can recruit people. It is a very dead air environment with barely anyone in the office. The people there are fine though, nice people overall in the office except for management which appear nice at first. Their relationship with employees is toxic and they stress people a lot. 

Amenities; no wifi, no cable, no games or stuff, actually scratch that.... they have chess! And that’s it. No water filter, no plants, no decorations, no coffee machine, nothing to make tea or anything UNLESS you buy your own and bring it to the office. Apparently, the building isn’t equipped for wifi and cable.

Hours; now this depends on you, some people may like the hours some may not, it ranges anywhere from early in the morning around 10-11 to very late in the evening. It feels awful to get up when everything is opening and going back home when everything is closing. Also you cold call people at hours at which they’re eating with their family in the evening, putting their kids to bed etc. Just very bad hours for selling, from my experience most other sales place seem to close early.

Staff; there is no staff and no resources within the Montreal site. Simply put, it’s dead. And when you make comments about what they could improve they either rebuttal you for hours or nod and do nothing about it. There is no desire to grow this place. I tried to improve the office as much as I could and this was the response I was told “ you are not here to reinvent the wheel “. Optima communications is anything but progressive.


And last but not least, management issues, I could go on for days.

It is normal for people to disagree, to argue about things, at least in a civilized manner but this is just not it. You will experience management arguing with each other all the time and screaming at each other like children, receiving 2 completely different orders, at least when you are in a management position yourself and they can never agree on which direction to go to. They like to fight for power, and if they are losing they will take it out on you. I have been harassed so many times that I had to submit a complaint about a manager taking out his bad days on me due to being unprofessional about it, and the result was said manager getting even and firing half the staff while I was away for a week. Needless to say I quit after seeing that abuse of power. 

Overall review & final words; 

This is a decent place to work at for a first job, there are advancement opportunities because there are so many holes within the company and barely any staff so they are desperate. I would recommend not staying any longer than a few months or maximum a year. 
This is a stepping stone or can be an in between job while searching for better but never EVER stay here.

Some may say I might be exaggerating and that any job has their pros and cons, which is true however I am only doing what I think is right. At least anyone who reads this review will be warned to stay away from this subpar workplace or not stay too long.

PROS: Most staff are friendly & understanding. Work is easy & not boring if you have the right mind set. Downtown near subway station. Good for a first job. Livable pay if you are renting a cheap room & share an apartment with roommates. There may be a chance for advancement but maybe not. Generally you are just working in different departments more or less doing the same type of work calling customers on behalf of major banks to sell insurance and following a strict script to do so. They hold an annual Christmas party but it wasn't my thing so I didn't attend them. The cafeteria has plenty of microwaves and a fridge to store your lunch just be mindful to store your food according to directions.

CONS: One time when I was sick I didn't know about the new call in number that I was to report to so I called the old one and left a message. Long after I left the company I discovered that one of the Supervisors left a note on my file stating that I didn't call in sick so when I went to reapply there they wouldn't' take me back. Supervisors need to be on top of their notes. This is the only company where I worked where i got a pay decrease and so did everyone else who was a Customer Contact Agent. Others were upset about it too as you can imagine (this happened several years ago. I was there from 2007-2011). Scripted answers to commonly asked questions didn't make sense to me. Two of the Supervisors had a terrible attitude towards me. Action plans are issued if you are not doing well at meeting daily targets. They don't do anything to help they just stress you out to perform. A man on the cleaning staff would not do his job properly: he took my perfectly good food from the fridge to throw in the garbage. He even dumped an entire bottle of my ice tea. 

To start with, the best part of this company is being provided the ability to excel and grow at a rapid pace.  You are given the ability to learn new skillsets from management individuals who have acquired a great deal of knowledge throughout their experiences and cannot wait to teach you something new.  These individuals listen to your need and find a way for you as an individual to flourish in the organization. You are then given the chance to put these newly acquired skills to test/work on a daily basis and show what you can bring to the table and in turn you are rewarded with a growth opportunities within the company.  There is also major efforts placed into building a career for those who take an interest.  

Another great part of working for this company is that it does not feel like you are an employee but rather part of a family. You know that there is always someone there to help you with your questions and guide you in the right direction. The management teams always make sure that the agents and their hard work are noticed, acknowledged and appreciated. 

The company has a highly skilled sales force professionals along with customer service based individuals who are passionate about what they do and the quality of service that they deliver. It is definitely a pleasure to work in an environment where you learn a lot from others who are supportive, listen to your ideas and allow you to contribute to a team as part of the company’s overall betterment. 
Remember - Passion is the difference between having a job and having a career

The job generally sucks.  It's low pay, and you get screamed at on the phone.  If you can tolerate that, or you are just desperate for work that's understandable. A good manager helps make the job easier which was usually my experience.

However, the turning point for me happened on one particular campaign where the trainers did a horrible job with training. They  Could not handle the slightest bit of criticism/or questions with regards to the material they taught (which they did rather poorly).  The head trainer expected everyone to sing praises to them and nothing else.  Could not handle the slightest bit of questioning, or uncertainty that their trainees had.  Accused of negativity if you pointed out the obvious, or asked a question they answered incorrectly.

Watched like a hawk on bathroom breaks.  Bathrooms are so disgusting it looks like people wiped their hands on the walls instead washing them and drying them off properly.  

Bullying trainers who think it's all about them and cannot handle an ounce of criticism or questions make for a miserable work environment.

Hours are long about 9-10 hours per day which they don't particularly make you aware of during the interview. You get 2 15 minute breaks that are scheduled an a 30 minute lunch that is also scheduled. There is no time for other personal duties as it always seems as if youre working. Constant calls with only a 2 minute break after each call. If you want to avoid feeling stressed an overwork avoid this job at Ll cost. The only thing I liked is when the call queue is not busy they ask agents who want to leave early but it's on a first come first served basis. Most times they ask when you are only 3-4 hours into your shift so that means you will be cut significantly. Also for the agents that remain that means no break between calls as the queue will be even busier due to less agents on. This job is not worth the pay. Also for some projects they will require u to use your personal cell phone to take calls. This was a hard no for me an when asked to cross train for the other project I declined. There is also no equipment provided by this company. If your head set is not working they will blatantly tell you to purchase another one.

I’m currently still employed at the whitby location. I’ve worked at Optima for 4 years and I’ve always been made to feel important and valued. Not to mention, having an amazing manager that has done nothing but work with me and my schedule since I decided to go back to school and achieve a diploma.

Co-workers have turned to family and working here has been a great experience for me and has acted as a stepping stone to where I’ll end up in my future career.

This call centre has many different clients. So depending which one you work for you could be dealing with inbound customer support or doing outbound sales like myself(which isn’t for everybody). They are willing to shift you around if you show interest or if another client is in need which gives individuals the opportunity to find what is best for them. 

All and all, my experience at Optima has been amazing, I mean, it’s  like any other job, if you show up and put your best foot forward and take the job seriously then you’ll be successful.

The only positive things were the location and some of the staff. 

There is clear favouritism among the managers, and you very easily feel a cold shoulder should you fall out of favour with a supervisor.

The pay is not good enough for the hours, which offer no room to balance your life between familial obligations or social activities. Giving up Saturdays is not ideal either. 

It is also no wonder that the customers are so frustrated, given they are repeatedly hounded for a product they more often than not do not need. Additionally, there is a steep incline in sales pressure, with strict consequences and constant "team meetings" to discuss how quotas are not being met. They will frequently say "You get 200 calls a night. 4 sales isn't too much to ask", but given how many angry customers are dealt with on the phone, especially during a global pandemic, that can be quite a lot to ask for.

TL;DR - Too much pressure for sales, terrible pay, obvious favouritism, bad hours and not enough rewards for good work.

This is one of the worst places I have worked for in a long time. First of all, the company is very disorganized. There were so many technical issues - it was ridiculous. So much time is wasted just troubleshooting. The team leaders and trainers are unprofessional and are never on the same page so you're always left wondering what to do next. 
You are basically paid to harass clients to buy a product. You are told that you have to ask them numerous times even if they continuously say no. I felt awful disturbing so many people. There was also a lot of abuse coming from angry customers. 
They also stress that not only are you not paid for breaks, but if you run into a technical issue and are unable to keep working until it is fixed, you don't get paid for that as well. This is absurd because the issues are their fault.
I would never recommend working here to any one. Getting paid barely over minimum wage is not worth it.

I have been employed at Optima for approx 4 years - during this time period, I excelled from an agent to a team lead and now manage a team of 20+ agents. 
The office has a very positive, welcoming vibe which allows the agents to bond and build a relationship as not only co-workers but as friends. 
The company its self is very understanding to your needs and the higher management members help you with any problems that arise (whether it would be child care or family emergencies or etc). 
The president visits the site (there are 3 offices) regularly and builds a relationship with the agents, greets them, takes part in conversations and asks about how they are doing which would not happen in most call centers or even corporate offices. 
The management team is always striving to find ways for success when it comes to the agents and has created a culture where we always promote from within. 
I have worked for call centers before but none that would consider or treat me in a professional and a respectful manner or pay me appropriately for the role that I am in like Optima has.

Optima Communications is a third party communications vendor running campaigns for some of Canada's top companies like Scotia Bank, Dun & Bradstreet, Ace etc.
Optima offered a very comprehensive training program. The taught rookies the art of selling and made you a champion.
Foer a licensed agent , the day consisted of handling outbound calls that have been converted into sales and require a licensed agent to verify and close the sales. 
The environment was of that of dedicated selling and that each outbound call was to be treated as a prospective sales opportunity. 
What wore you down was the negativity of the individuals who you called.  Some had an extreme dislike for telemarketers. I survived it all and regularly met my sales targets. It was a learning process that stood me well in the future. 
The company was an equal opportunities employer and offered coaching, LLQP opportunity to staff to enhance their careers. I for one, took the opportunity and got my LLQP at Optima.

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