INSIDER AT BP CALL CENTER ADMITS TRUTH (WKRG.COM)

By Lauren Styler

An insider at BP told CBS reporter and former WKRG reporter Tiffany Craig that most of the calls they have been taking never get farther than the operators who take them. The insider says some of the operators aren't even writing the messages down. The identity of the insider in the video is protected because she is scared of being fired. This person is one of a hundred operators at BP's Call Center. "We take all your information and then we have nothing to give them". She says the calls about the oil disaster are non-stop--but operators are just warm bodies on the other end of the phone. "We're a diversion to stop them from really getting to the corporate office to the big people," she said. The calls come in from around the world-- but it's the desperation of those from the Gulf Coast that affects her the most. "I don't wanna get emotional but its so frustrating when these people live right there and nothing is being done to help them". For weeks on end and twelve hours a day-- there is a little secret that she says she's witnessed firsthand. The operators say the calls never get past them-- some don't even bother taking notes. BP officials say they've received more than 200-thousand phone messages from the center in Houston but can't say just what percentage of calls they've returned.