Rising levels of call centre staff being abused and even stalked

With the approach of Christmas, the levels of staff abuse, including stalking, are rising says Chris Pitt of First Direct.

Front-line workers are experiencing more aggression as a result of Covid, Brexit and stock shortages.

Mr Pitt told the BBC's Today programme the vast majority of First Direct's customers were "brilliant most of the time".

But he said that some became "abusive, swearing, and quite personal" when they felt complaints had not been resolved.

"In one example they actually found the rep on Facebook and rang them up and told them they knew what they looked like and where they worked," he told the BBC.

"We've also had a customer who failed security and had to do an extra verification. That customer then rang up over 150 times over the next couple of hours and was abusive to everyone they spoke to."

According to new research from the Institute of Customer Service, 60% of customer service workers have experienced hostility in the past year. And nearly half of those who had faced abuse said customers were becoming more aggressive because of stock and staff shortages.

Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, told the BBC: "Workers are saying that people are becoming more aggressive, and there is a huge concern that actually this is going to get worse as we build up to the pretty challenging Christmas period.

She said staff and product shortages caused by global supply issues were a legitimate concern, but added: "There's an important difference between you and I as consumers getting a little bit frustrated, and some of the abusive behaviour that we're seeing."

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Source: BBC News