Our reviews monitored for authenticity
On SmartCustomer, businesses may not offer incentives or pay to remove reviews. Read more about our Review Guidelines and the process we have against fake reviews.
I applied for this job because it sold itself well.
The application process was ridiculously long firstly.
I did receive a phone call the next day from a woman regarding their needs and requirements straight away. Nothing was said about my suitability or my application or CV, nothing explaining themselves or what they do or the role being offered.
Apparently my office/bedroom was inadequate as a work space. Despite me having worked from home for over 3 years successfully from it.
Apparently they wanted to dictate to me who is allowed in my house /office outside of my working hours 😂 not sure what bills of mine they were paying for the entitlement.
I knew from the phone call this wasn't going to go well because of the woman's attitude and tone.
I shortly received an email to confirm being shortlisted.
In the same email it stated they would be carrying out a check of my working environment 😂😂 Not for £11hr you won't be 😂🙄
Safe to say the invasion of privacy was enough for me to do a simple Google search on them and LOW AND BEHOLD...
Everyone experiencing the same thing! Of course negating the clearly false/fake comments they have added to save face.
To make sure I wasn't jumping the gun I called them to clear some things up in regards to what I had read.
Safe to say these comments here are accurate.
They expected me to fork out every expense including my equipment.
I told them there and then that they should be making that clear before having people go through such a pointless excessively long application. I asked them to close my application as I didn't wish to pursue it anymore.
If you are poor and inadequate just say that Sensee.
What company cannot provide it's remote workers equipment? Then acts all hoity toity over it.
Just stop being a company then and have people in the office. Or is it that you can't afford the equipment there either?
Anyway. Safe to say you are not invading an inch of my home/privacy for your measly pay.
Treat your employees better. Dodged a huge bullet here.
Sensee lacking sense.
Do better.
Want to work for them? Provide your own equipment: pc, desk phone and headsets. Pay for your DBS and be prepared to be micro managed. There is more I can add but simply read the other wonderful reviews.
Sorry to read that you were unhappy at the company but feel that we need to respond to some of the points you make.
Yes, we operate a Bring Your Own Device (BYPD) model but we are far from being the only homeworking company to operate this model. We do so because we believe it is the most sensible system for us and for our employees. Sensée employees benefit from working from home with no commuting costs, no time lost travelling to and from work, flexible working patterns and great career opportunities. However it would be virtually impossible for us to maintain equipment in over a thousand homes that cover the length and breadth of the country. To facilitate colleagues purchasing their own equipment we provide access to a cost-effective source of appropriate hardware and extensive IT support. If the suggested £500 IT bundle is selected, £250 of this is reimbursed after 6 months service with Sensée and full £500 repaid after 12 months service with Sensée.
We are very clear about remuneration in all our recruitment adverts. Sensée is committed to paying the Real Living Wage (RLW) and, on 22nd September 2022, the RLW Foundation announced that the Real Living Wage will be £10.90 for the UK and £11.95 for colleagues within London - with Sensée committed to implementing this increase within the guidelines provided. In addition, for employees outside London, we pay an incentive of up to £1.05 an hour dependant on performance, length of service and client account.
There are absolutely no restrictions placed on what can be discussed within the Social Chat section of LiveDesk. But we’d ask colleagues to remember that posts can be viewed by everyone on LiveDesk and to therefore use appropriate language. There’s no restrictions whatsoever on what colleagues can talk to each other about outside work hours via whatever comms channel they choose.
Dealt with them a few years ago, with a hiring manager who randomly decided to rubbish my antique collection mid interview. There are plenty of better jobs out there. No idea how they have managed to get 7 reviews to counterbalance 21 bad reviews, but people aren't stupid. Get your recruitment policy and staff sorted out, then you might be worth working for.
Sensee is a great company and doesn't deserve all the hate that I have read on this platform. People can be so entitled sometimes!
See reviews of sites as you browse!
Get the Chrome Extension.
Sensée is an amazing company to work for with leading brands as their clients. So many jobs were created during pandemic and the company hasn't stopped growing since it was created as one of the specialised in home working. I've worked there for many years and I can say they are the best employer I have had. The low rating reviews may have been due to one off experience but this company is an outstanding one.
Thanks for your review and so pleased to read that you are enjoying your time at Sensée
Once you've got through to training, prepare to listen to trainers personal stories and fake cheer. If you're remotely right of center you're going to hate it.
I resigned after 2 days of stomach churning rubbish, whilst real training took up half 25% of the time. They could do it in 4 weeks instead of 8 if they dispensed with pink hair conversations and general crap. The IT department needs to get a grip. I resigned after 2 days.
I worked here for 6 years and can honestly say I would never work here again. When I first started it was great, management and team leaders really cared about our well being, however that changed a couple of years in, the company really only cares about their clients and could not care less about their employees. I worked on a few different accounts, and they are all truly awful and stressful, targets are ridiculous and booking hours is a complete joke and most of the time you would be left with hardly any hours, therefore team leaders would often add hours for you that were totally unsuitable which resulted in having to ask for shift swaps on a regular basis, good luck with that!
Towards the end of my time here I was feeling extremely stressed and suffered depression, which I mentioned a number of times to management, but they were in no way interested at all. I lost a very close family member, and needed time off, only to be told I would need to call in to absence line every single day I was off to report why! This is a disgrace, bad enough losing someone you love without being grilled every day I was off to explain why, and to add insult to injury, I was asked on my third day off, if I was coming back to work any time soon, appalling. I was even threatened with disciplinary one time for having time off during a very anxious time being tested for cancer, which I find disgusting, by a male team leader with a power hungry attitude who thought he was god!
I can say that some other reviews are wrong regarding not being paid for time on calls outside of their shift, we were always paid for overruns, and we were never forced to announce toilet breaks, so this is incorrect.
There used to be some really lovely, caring people working for sensee, and the team leaders I worked with were fabulous, however sadly I cannot say the same for those higher up the ladder.
To sum up, if you enjoy stress and pressure, and don't mind being grilled when you desperately need time off, then go for it.
Please don't waste your time or money. You'd be better off working in a real prison. Patronising management. Unrealistic targets and they control what you earn as this is based on clients need for staff hours. It's not what they advertise. Only if you're desperate as a stop gap but the reviews about how great it is are exaggerations!
Don't waste your precious time applying to this impoverish company who cares nothing about employee. Total absolute rubbish company that shouldn't exist in the first place.
I worked there 2 years from 2016to 2018 on the Bupa contract and if yoyr contracted for 35 there were supossed to be so mamy high weeks where you worked 42 and so many low week which would be 28 then so many regular 35 hour weeks. It got to the stage you were doing more 42 hour weeks than anything. They could take it upon themselves to change what you were working that week because thats what thr client wanted. Usuallynthis would mean more hours. If calls ran over your break which your not paid for anyway. They dont oay you if your call runs over. I had numerous occassions where i finished at 5.30 and was still on the call at 6.30 your toilet break cant exceed more than 2 mins. Unless you have had special permission from HR for higher which i did because of a medical comdition. This sometimes meant running over that time which i couldnt help. I went down to 30 hours and between the high weeks and low weeks i rarely did less than 35. Most times when i had a day iff booked just to meet my weekly shift allowance. I had to work some of my day off. Bupa close Christmas day and boxing day which means sensee are closed but because they dont inckude those days are part of your hours for that week you then had to squeeze yoyr full weekly hours into 3 or 4 days remaining that week which meant working 12 hour shifts every day and fir someone. Disabled thats not good. If you were not on the ball getting your shifts in then you could end up with big gaps throughout the day but you couldnt. Go amywhere bevause you had to be back in. Time to work again. The worst thing was if a customer got angry at you b3vause they didnt like the fact you were folloing protocall amd shouted at you and demanded to speak to a manager even if you were still polite management made you take the wrap for the customer getting angry and threatened your job if it happened again which then made you scared to take calls incase someone got angry at you again even if you hadnt done anything wrong because you were the one that had to take the blame. So its good to start with and they make everything seem great until you get there. People being promoted to team leaders that were there less time than yourselve but it was because they became friendly with the main account manager even if someone had been there longer and was maybe already a deputy team leader before that person started. If you had to go off for a time for example to have a baby. If you came back they made you go through training again and you lost the position you were in before you left
Worked there for 5yrs. Worked up from agent to management. At first everything seems fine but soon realise there is no consideration for anything other than what benefits the company and keeps their secrets at all costs. Staff are disposable, turn over terrible, not a good environment to work in at all. I'm sure there are still a few good people left but that won't stop the rot as it comes from the top down. No consistency, honestly save yourself the time money and stress.
Having completed hours of online tests and had a video interview i was told i would be perfect for BUPA because I have a medical background. Then to be told by someone i had never met or spoken with that they had decided no i could not have that contract as there was a conflict of interest! There was NO conflict of interest.
I was then provisionally offered another role with them and was obliging with regards to hours etc only to be told again that there is no job! This time the client had changed their mind! I am a highly professional person who has worked within the customer service arena for many years and to be frank from what I have seen this company is a shambles.
Very low pay. They ask you to spend a fortune on a computer, you pay for your telephone line - you pay for your DBS check, you pay for head phones and they pay you barely above minimum wage.
My advice AVOID.
They do not bother about the staff and pay is very poor. For some reason the management seem to think that staff are disposable and they have a high turnover off staff. So this speaks for itself. Do not take this job seriously, there are better elsewhere
On the down side the hours booking system is awful and you have to be very flexible and there are no benefits as such, on the plus sisde the management are awesome and you get all the support and encouragement you could ever need with lots of opportunities for progression.
On its surface, Sensee's business model is compelling: no more commuting is something everyone wants.
However, read (and pay heed) to the raft of negative reviews here. Sensee is not your traditional callcentre: Sensee are beholden to their clients, and they promise their clients a number of hours which are fulfilled by you, the agent, and your colleagues.
In practice, this means the following:
* No real flexibility. Mandatory hours exist. Each week, the hours are released, and there is a mad scramble to book the hours you want. If you can't get those on time (and sometimes they don't appear when they ought to), you can wind up with a patchwork quilt of hours which leave you 'commuting' to your home office multiple times per day.
*Taking holiday during busy periods (e.g. Term time) you may as well forget. Only a certain number of hours are provided as holiday hours, and once they're gone, unless you can beg for a shift swap with someone else, they're gone. MONTHS in advance. I have never seen anything like it.
* Shifts can change at short notice. The only way to protect yourself is to book holiday, but refer to the above as a warning. It is the most inflexible company when it comes to booking holiday I have EVER worked for. They simply don't hire enough agents to create enough of a buffer to provide holiday unless it's outside of peak periods. If you holiday in the winter and your sister's wedding is in the winter, you're ok!
* Interaction with management occurs online and mostly via text conversations using software tools - there are often many people asking questions and not enough senior team members/managers to answer these quickly.
If you are on a part time contract, don't have any commitments which you must attend at particular hours, and don't mind not taking any holiday at busy periods unless a kind soul offers to swap with you, Sensee might be worth it for you. It is not entirely the fault of the company, as they are tied to their clients. As it stands, working for Sensee means you bend to their requirements -- it is not at all as flexible as it is made out to be.
They have a high turnover of staff for a reason. You are required to work for nothing at times and pay for everything yourself. As they are so short staffed, you will not be able to take holidays
AVOID if you can
Terrible company. They do not care how they treat you training is awful management is terrible. They dismiss you for reasons which are beyond me. You try and contact hr to speak about problems they do not respond. Never known a company like it. Do not waste your time and work here the training manager does not know what she is doing and has very little respect and will not help you in anyway. Or give you answers you need. And will tell you. You cannot appeal. You ask her questions she cannot answer very unprofessional. Terrible company
I have never left a review of a company before but feel in this instance I need to. I pretty much agree with all the other negative reviews and in fact question the true authenticity, all be it few reviews that say how great the company is! No management support, poor training, poor pay are just a few of the issues. No pay for downtime when the company deems the issue is that of your computer (which is most of the time). Every issue I had was due to the companies applications not wanting to work, usually when windows updates had been done (which you are encouraged to check before every shift, along with running a ccleaner). You end up waiting usually hours for what normally is a poorly trained IT operative to fix the issue remotely which isn't always successful. This then affects your adherence bonus for the month which is set at 99% even though you are at work wanting to do your job, so you lose all of that as well! I have communicated with numerous management individuals both within the account I worked on as well as HR and the COO and in my opinion they are all as corrupt and nasty as each other. I could go on and on but if by writing this review I have prevented someone from wasting their time then it has been worth my time!
Don't be drawn in by the 'no commute' slogans because seriously that is the only thing this company has going for it. There are good reviews on here it's a shame they have been repeated verbatum on other review sites which smacks of a little attempt of damage recovery in my opinion. Ok down to basics,
.your commute is the time you log on which has to be 30 minutes before your paid shift starts
.if you have down time that is your fault you will not be paid even if it is a few minutes note the onus is on you so it will take everyones systems to go down to prove that, even if you know different
.personal breaks can be no longer than 2 minutes and you have to announce to all and sundry in live desk before you go, anything longer than 2 minutes is unpaid and is monitored
.Any downtime or absence is not only unpaid but affects bonuses and is also deducted from your leave entitlement pro rata down to the minute
.when calls or chat or emails run over the end of your shift you are not paid for that time, and they do often
.you will be constantly monitored with hard to reach kpis which affect bonuses
.pay is minimum wage for majority of contracts
.you don't have a say where they put you
.shifts can be moved around without consultation
.unreasonable hours and any work life balance is unachievable as when booking hours it is a free for all so you can end up with hours spread all over the week/month with no proper break
.sitting tied to your pc for hours at a time the company tell you to book in breaks unpaid naturally but this is not only impractical but not enforced, there are some very unhealthy people slogging away at sensee 24/7 to make ends meet
.you are expected to check emails/messages and often complete other work related tasks out of work time which is unpaid
.management support when you have a problem is little to none
.has a climate of 'if your face fits'
.pay is not often calculated correctly
I could go on and on but the bottom line is this company pay low and work you hard for their profit and that of the clients. They do not care about the welfare of employees which is why there is a constant high turnover of staff. If you value you personal free time, humanity and self respect and don't want to be treated like a child do yourself a favour and avoid
Hello Jane D and thank you for your review, although we are sorry to hear that your experience with Sensée has not been positive. First of all, I hope that you will see this post! We take all feedback very seriously and felt that it was important to address your concerns, so I am posting on behalf of Sensée.
• First of all, in any workplace, it is expected that employees start work on time, and indeed it is also Sensée’s expectation that HomeAgents are ready to start their shift on time. This does mean logging onto all required systems in advance so that you are ready to start work at the start of your shift, but usually, this should only take a few minutes. Furthermore, given that our employees are based from home, while systems are ‘firing up’, people are free to make a cup of tea, listen to music, read the news or even set off the washing. Many of our colleagues find logging onto a system from home much more preferable to a commute to work – in fact, in our recent ‘Homeworking Happiness’ survey, nearly ¾ of our workforce stated that ‘not having to commute’ was a key benefit.
• I would like to clarify that there is no time limit on personal breaks. To be clear, HomeAgents do not need to announce when they are going for a personal break, however, they do need to set their status to ‘break’ on the telephony system so that there is no disruption to service. However, for operational and efficiency reasons, we do need to identify if employees take excessive personal breaks to ensure fairness and consistency among employees and also provide us with an opportunity to identify any underlying welfare issues.
• On occasions, HomeAgents may work beyond the end of their shift, primarily because they are engaged on a call with a customer. Clearly, we cannot hang up on customers simply because our shift has come to an end! However, we do pay HomeAgents who work beyond the end of their shift (this is called overrun time).
• Regarding pay, Sensée remunerates HomeAgents above the national minimum wage. In fact, on every single account, Sensée pays above the national living wage after the paid training period, and on many accounts, also offers a pay rise upon successful completion of probation. Last but not least, a performance related bonus is also offered on every account. To conclude, HomeAgents do not incur commuting costs, which many of our employees consider to be a great benefit (77% of our recent survey respondents ranked ‘money saved by not having to commute’ as the biggest benefit of homeworking).
• Regarding client account allocation, we always try to take personal preference into account. However, sometimes it’s simply not the right thing to do as each trainee has specific skills and aptitudes which may mean that they are better suited to another account – one which will allow them to thrive and be happy.
• Regarding shift changes, despite our best efforts, it is inevitable that shifts may, on occasions, need to be changed. If this happens it is generally due to changes in customer call demand or other unavoidable operational reasons (absence, for example) and we always do our best to provide as much notice as possible and systematically secure the agent’s consent before publishing the revised shifts.
• We firmly believe that homeworking offers additional benefits to those previously stated. Indeed, our own internal surveys (please see freshbusinessthinking.com and contact-centres.com on 14th June 2016) and indeed many 3rd party surveys, reveal that people find that homeworking offers greater flexibility vs. traditional bricks and mortar workplaces. However, we recognise that not everybody is suited to homeworking, which is why we have developed a particularly rigorous recruitment process, in order to ascertain suitability at the outset.
• You mention that pay can be incorrect, but we have systems and processes in place to prevent this from happening. First of all, pay data is derived from the statuses recorded in our internal systems. Then, prior to payroll being run, a breakdown of payable hours is sent to each agent to be checked. Clearly, this provides employees with an opportunity to raise any concerns which are addressed before payroll is run.
• To conclude, we take our duty of care extremely seriously. For example, agents are not encouraged to check emails, nor undertake any type of work outside of their scheduled hours, except under extremely exceptional circumstances. We continuously review employee support structures and make changes if improvements are required. We invest time and effort to enable our managers to be good managers, hold regular coaching sessions with Team Leaders, and regular account reviews between HR and Senior Management. Staff turnover is monitored and reasons for leaving reviewed and discussed. Any concerns are investigated, and we apply lessons learned as appropriate. These are just some of the examples of governance that enables us to identify and deal with issues quickly and appropriately, and to ensure that there is fairness and consistency throughout the business.
I hope that these explanations have addressed your concerns. Of course, if you would like to discuss any aspect in more detail, please do get in touch with Zoe Stewart, Head of HR, who would be very happy to speak to you.
I applied for a position with sensee in August 2016. I had an initial online interview with a nice lady. I was emailed to say that I passed the 1st interview and was invited to a second interview and assessment. I thought great sounds very promising. I had an online assessment which was through Adobe connect and was almost 5 hours of watching video's of the clients they were currently recruiting for. It was also a one on one interview where a chap interviewed me and then a series of online tests which you had to complete before the assessment ended. I was then contacted by email to say I passed this stage and to move onto the pre employment screening stage!
I would like to clarify that you need a desktop pc which is no older than 4 years old and has to pass their tests. I was contacted to arrange an engineer to remotely install their software on my pc. I had to purchase a brand new pc which cost me £400 from pc world. You also require a headset for your second interview/Assessment which I also purchased for £25. Already adding up the costs so far? Anyway the engineer phoned on the date they arranged and installed all the software on my brand new computer which was used soley for this purpose and installed bupa software as this was the contract I was offered. Then comes the screening process... I had to pay £25 to have a basic police check so I did that with Scotland. Great that came back rather quick to my home address. Then you have to fill out a credit check online form with experian. So I also completed that for them. You have to send a recent bill in your name and current address so yes I printed that and had that in the pile to post to them. You also have to complete a 3 year work history and provide evidence to this effect whether bank statements or a letter from the employer to verify dates! Now hold it right there just to let people know a letter signed by an employer is not enough. It has to be on headed paper with a logo! I sent to signed printed letters which were signed by two people confirming dates from two years ago and it was not good enough? It did not have a logo? A small farm does not use a logo or have headed paper? It was a letter from the owner signed. You also have to purchase a phone which is compatible with a headset before your training date. So today I spent running around and I purchased a £50 BT phone and an additional phone headset for another £30. Plus an office chair for another £50 which I was told in my second interview I also required. And a desk because I needed one for my office set-up. So get the time now and costs so far? I sent off all my documents by special delivery costing £7 as also contained bank statements and other id documents. I was sent an email a few days later to say my letters from previous employers were not good enough as not on headed paper? I stated that it is to verify dates and was printed off by myself and personally signed by them confirming this? You can contact them directly if you wish? But it is all I have from them. I had an e-mail confirming my start date of training and the woman who is training for the next month as it is two months intense training! To confirm that Monday the 10th Oct 2016 I start training. I recieved a call when I got home from shopping on Friday the 7th Oct that they are withdrawing my employment offer because the letters I provided from certain dates are not on paper with a company logo? I was shopping with the farm owner this very day? They dont have a logo. They then wanted bank statements from three years ago? I dont have access to this account as was with my ex partner. But I was told they are very sorry and been a delay in contacting me? I said well It was confirmed my training on Monday and I bought all this equipment which you asked me to do? Just a sorry? Avoid this company. They have cost me not only my time but a lot of expense I did not have to purchase those items. I just put the phone down in the end because I was at boiling point. I now have a pc that I don't need as I have a great laptop. Which their bloody software installed on. They then sent me an email to state I got to remove their software off my pc? I have never been through a process like it for employment before. I even turned down a job as I thought I invested in this I will run with it. I spoken to my previous employer who wanted to contact them directly as they are appalled too.
I do not recommend risking if you have to buy the equipment to do so. They should do the paperwork first not expect people to go through this expense. A waste of space.
It’s disappointing to read your review and to hear about your experience. However, there is nothing underhand about the way we operate and I am very happy to clear up any misunderstandings.
Our recruitment application process is deliberately comprehensive because we are looking for the right people for our client work, and it has been designed to ensure candidates are properly and effectively reviewed, including an assessment of whether they are suitable for operating in a WFH role. When we take on a new employee, we also take on their working environment. By which I mean, as part of our onboarding process, we need to ensure that their workplace meets our comprehensive health, safety and security criteria. Without this, we would not be able to provide jobs working for the calibre of blue chip clients that we do. Where you say "they wanted to dictate to me who is allowed in my house /office outside of my working hours”, we do not place any such restrictions.
With regards pay levels, we are open and honest about this throughout the application process - starting with our recruitment advertising. Sensée pay levels are typically higher than industry averages and we are supportive of the Real Living Wage (RLW).
Where you say "of course negating the clearly false/fake comments they have added to save face” we never post fake reviews on Employee Review sites and do not incentivise employees to leave reviews.
With regards providing equipment, we operate a Bring Your Own Device model. Again, we are very open about this throughout the recruitment process. We believe that it is the best model for both our business and its employees. Sensée employees benefit from working from home with no commuting costs, no time lost travelling to and from work, flexible working patterns and great career opportunities. From a company perspective it makes sense because it would be virtually impossible for us to maintain equipment in over a thousand homes that cover the length and breadth of the country. To facilitate colleagues purchasing their own equipment, we provide access to a source of appropriate hardware and deliver extensive IT support - with the purchase cost of this equipment returned to the employee up to a £500 limit (50% after 6 months and 100% after a full year’s service with the company).
If anyone reading the reviews on this site is looking for a work-from-home (WFH) contact centre role and would like to make their own mind up about our credibility and credentials, then we’d encourage them to contact us at [email protected] as well as check out employee reviews on Glassdoor and other sites.