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Topic: Is all customer service outsourced to India??!!!
| Author | Message |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 4/20/2007 10:47:18 PM | show profile I swear, anytime I've called customer service for anything lately, the call goes out to India. ANd I have to say that the service has not been very satisfactory. Yes they are polite and sound like they care, but help? No, not a one of the. |
| keltoi | Posted – 4/20/2007 10:54:17 PM | show profile The guys at my local DoughBoys Pizza still answer their own phones. As for anything financial or computer? HELLOOOOO, DELHI!!!! |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 4/21/2007 12:11:14 AM | show profile Anything having anything to do with a computer, airlines, fitness club membership. ANYthing. One guy drove me crazy, I asked if I could be put on the standby list for a flight and he kept insisting the flight was full. Yes, I know that, but I still want my name on the list. No he couldn't do that. But somehow I could do that myself online (for free). Why couldn't he do that for me? Totally useless. Sure they're cheap but as they say, you get what you pay for. |
| mailbag | Posted – 4/21/2007 8:28:11 AM | show profile | email poster WATCH THIS Ugo - get ready to fall on the floor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMDq0njkruk :D :D :D |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 4/21/2007 8:53:05 AM | show profile Is all customer service outsourced to India??!!! actually, these days, a lot of it is actually going to the Phillipines. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 4/21/2007 10:39:14 AM | show profile Mailbag, that was totally hilarious and absolutely captures the problem. Three times recently I've called customer service for three totally unrelated things and three times it's clear the call has been handled in India. These people don't know the business (I'm sure the airline guy I talked to has never flown on United and doesn't really even understand what I'm talking about). Although they don't know how to help, they are very very pleasant and "sound" like they are being helpful or trying to be helpful, while in reality they are doing nothing. Oh and I did get on the flight. No thanks to India. All my call to customer service accomplished was keeping me on hold on the phone for 20 minutes while I was in a hurry to pack my bags. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 4/21/2007 11:41:29 AM | show profile its not like customer service was any better when in the good old usa farmed out to workers making $8 an hour. Was it? |
| Desu | Posted – 4/21/2007 12:24:05 PM | show profile The last Indian tech support guy I talked to couldn't help me with my modem, but before hanging up he said he "had fun talking to me." |
| A~ | Posted – 4/21/2007 1:52:52 PM | show profile I agree that CSR wasn't any better when it was home-grown, either. (A lot of it still is, BTW. Dell just opened a major call center in Oklahoma City where AOL also has a call center.) What I enjoy is listening to Americans kvetch about unfettered global capitalism considering that America has been the cheerleader of such for the past 20 years -- even going so far as to insult its traditional allies for being too socialist and protectionist. You get what you vote for, and in that two-party system both parties are neo-liberal when it comes to stuff like this so it doesn't matter if it's pro-NAFTA (but anti-labor and anti eco-regulations) Bill Clinton or pro-NAFTA George Bush. My 0.02. |
| mailbag | Posted – 4/21/2007 1:54:04 PM | show profile | email poster "questoo1...its not like customer service was any better when in the good old usa farmed out to workers making $8 an hour. Was it?" I think it was. At least you could speak English and they understood the nuances and our subtle boiling point from frustration in dealing with customer support of any kind. If I had the money.... Sometime in '06 cnn.com reported on a town in TN that has lost ALL manufacturing jobs and the town was basically closing down. They were holding town hall meetings on what they should do. If I had the money, I'd have set up the country's largest info / customer support center and farmed those TN folks out to companies needed cheap labor. Those folks would love to have had $8 an hour because they had $0 an hour. You see, I'm a true patriot with that idea - it is a shame I can't afford to set up such a shop. Corp USA however decided years ago it was cheaper to train Indians to sound like Texans (complete with drawl) to trick you and me into thinking they were like us. That is the new patriotism. |
| Righter | Posted – 4/21/2007 3:26:58 PM | show profile Yes, and they tell you, Hello, I am John, in an accent that makes it so obvious their name isn't John. There are still a few that are helpful...Dell is one, Capital One transferred me to the US once I told them I wanted to cancel my account. And I called Vonage yesterday, pushed only one number on their automated system and went straight to a real person, in less than 20 seconds. THAT's a real rarity. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 4/21/2007 5:49:49 PM | show profile do you get all bent out of shape when your taxi driver, garderner, or food server speak with with a real thick accent. Oh wait, how about your dr, helpdesk person, or accountant? Welcome to globalisation |
| Righter | Posted – 4/21/2007 6:13:17 PM | show profile I don't have a problem with the accent--what bothers me is the dishonesty. Why bother with a fake name? More than anything it's just ironic. I had a feeling my post would be misunderstood, but I'm the last person who would have a problem with an accent, seeing as how I wasn't even born in the US (though have have lived here most of my life) and most of my family members speak with accents, though their grammar is excellent because they took the time to learn the language when they came here. |
| j.hodl | Posted – 4/21/2007 6:29:39 PM | show profile Foreign Customer Service calltakers are instructed to use an American name to make us feel at ease. Most of the heavy East Indian-accented men tell me their name is Ryan or Luke. A woman said her name was Cricket (no American woman has been named Cricket since ABC cancelled "Surfside Six" in 1962). And most have no real power to solve your problem. An insurance firm sent a check for over $4,000 to my address but for some other fellow I never heard of. I called the insurance firm and talked with "Ryan" who didn't know beans what I was talking about. He told me to rip up the check. I said that might be illegal and the person getting the check might never receive it. So I was on hold for 10 minutes while he consulted his supervisor. His supervisor was no help. So I left my number. Three days later I got a call from the HQ ofthe insurance firm (only 3 miles from my home) saying I should bring them the check. I did! The last time I was called by a political pollster, the fellow doing the call was in the Phillipines. He was polite and asked where my state was. I tried to explain, but his map had not states drawn in, so it was a wash. Interestingly, he pronounced Obama's name right but muffed McCain. The good news on the customer service line situation is that such jobs are starting to be returned to our shores. It seems the "Do Not Call" list threw a lot of telemarketers out of work, and some firms find these people can do the job for reasonable cost. And these ex-telemarketers often work flex time, so calltakers can be stading by 24 hours a day with no need for people in India, Phillipines, Jamaica, Romania and Singapore. |
| mailbag | Posted – 4/21/2007 6:29:54 PM | show profile | email poster this is being bent "questoo1...do you get all bent out of shape when your taxi driver, garderner, or food server speak with with a real thick accent." TAXI I wave on the taxi drivers until I spot one who is black or white. (When I need one, which is rare.) GARDEN I would not hire anyone who is not a full-bred legal citizen, with total comprehension of the English language to handle my yard work. BISTRO If I do not understand a waiter or busboy I will say loud enough for others to hear -- "Don't you speak English?" It works. I will become everyone's worst nightmare who thinks our 'culture' somehow reflects diversity and fairness as is. I will not let up. In fact the older I get the more discriminatory I'll become. In this bloody country you speak English. You also pay income taxes. Nothing is free until it is free for me too. You do not ask me to accept you and a culture you brought with you - you accept me and mine, because I was here first. When I die - do what you want. When I lived in France I spoke French and ONLY French. I abided by their cultural norms. I asked for nothing in return. Period. That is what you do when you visit or live temporarily in another country. "questoo1... Oh wait, how about your dr, helpdesk person, or accountant? Welcome to globalisation" I refuse to see a docta that did not grow up here and graduate from a USA-based University. I will die on the street corner before visiting a doctor who does not fit those qualifications. On help desk support - I hang up - until I get someone who is sitting in the USA. And I can't be fooled easily. "Yes, Mr. Miller, I'm in Denver." "Oh," says I while I'm checking noaa.gov, "And how is the weather there today?" "Fine Mr. Miller, it is sunny today." noaa.gov meanwhile shows it is snowing in Denver. I promptly hang up. Call again and again until I get someone in this country. I will believe in globalization when the EU allows US-citizens to immigrate as they do anyone from war-torn countries or dictatorships. Until that happens (and I predict it will not,) globalization is simply a nice term wiki lists, and excuse for USA-chains to expand to emerging markets. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 4/22/2007 12:21:16 PM | show profile sounds like a speach from david duke or something you'd hear at a skinhead rally |
| mailbag | Posted – 4/22/2007 3:04:57 PM | show profile | email poster Wouldn't know... have never experienced one. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 4/22/2007 4:50:10 PM | show profile Mailbag, we agree on many issues but on the "speak english" issue you're starting to sound a little like my mother. I know what you're saying, but I don't really think any new immigrant here is proud of the fact that he/she can't speak English well. Also, keep in mind that at one time much of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California were part of Mexico. And I don't think the native americans native language is English. I know I'm going back quite a way with all of this, but it just reminds me of the quote from Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas, who supposedly once said "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas." |
| olegna joven | Posted – 4/23/2007 2:27:05 AM | show profile "Why bother with a fake name? More than anything it's just ironic." It's common, actually for people in Asia to take on a gringo name, esp. in business relationships. In most cases it's not dishonest but to spare you the need to say or write down Suhabrata Thiruvananthapuram. |
| DHernandez | Posted – 4/23/2007 10:04:42 AM | show profile Customer service for the cell phone I owned a few years ago was outsourced to Canada (New Brunswick). |
| DHernandez | Posted – 4/23/2007 10:19:55 AM | show profile >>In fact the older I get the more discriminatory I'll become. In this bloody country you speak English. You also pay income taxes. Nothing is free until it is free for me too. You do not ask me to accept you and a culture you brought with you - you accept me and mine, because I was here first. << Hey, mailbag: Nidibe t'aa'altso yoo iikaah. So there -- you were not here first, you big bully and maker of blanket assumptions. Nyah! What I speak in my home is my business, not yours. As for income taxes -- hell, if they're paying income taxes using forged Social Security numbers, so be it, and half the freelancers you know are madly figuring out how to pay as little as possible every spring! The rest of your stuff is nonsense not even worth addressing. |
| TruthOut | Posted – 4/23/2007 11:28:17 AM | show profile I love the fake American names too Like I can't tell that someone is in India and that there name is Not Chris or Bob or Ted or Amanda or Kate? It's ridiculous. But I have to say that before call centers were outsourced to India, I seldom found the American operators/tech support much help either. |
| mailbag | Posted – 4/23/2007 7:59:24 PM | show profile | email poster belinda - go fix mexico "belinda --So there -- you were not here first, you big bully and maker of blanket assumptions. Nyah! What I speak in my home is my business, not yours. As for income taxes -- hell, if they're paying income taxes using forged Social Security numbers, so be it, and half the freelancers you know are madly figuring out how to pay as little as possible every spring! The rest of your stuff is nonsense not even worth addressing." Thank you Belinda for setting the world straight. You are not appointed queen. I expressed my view, and as usual blanket assumptions are made of that view... But you tell me why I had four emails from here essentially saying "right on." Read Ugo's comments. There is a way to address different points of view... in English, we call it "having some class." Ugo has it. Fill in the blank for who does not, imo. First, I'm older than you - and yes I was here first... born in East LA. (Not joking.) Second, you and I have gone round and round about this... only intelligent posters with class grab my attention. We come from different worlds. Mexico has destroyed the city of my birth and the city I once loved. France did not. Germany did not. Canada did not. It was Mexico. Rather than making Mexico a better place, those people took the easy way out and crossed the border to change 'our' way of life to suit their needs. Not the way to go. |
| Desu | Posted – 4/23/2007 9:23:56 PM | show profile "Mexico has destroyed the city of my birth and the city I once loved." Los Angeles has been destroyed?! Ay Dios mio! I mean, uh, "Oh, my word, what a sticky wicket, that." Also, I meant to say "The Angels" instead of Los Angeles, since I'm guessing that's what you call it. And by Mexico, don't you mean "New Spain?" |
| Desu | Posted – 4/23/2007 9:44:04 PM | show profile I'm sorry, I just caught this: "Rather than making Mexico a better place, those people took the easy way out and crossed the border to change 'our' way of life to suit their needs. Not the way to go." If you're white, that's exactly what your ancestors did at some point from the early 17th century on instead of making Europe a better place. And I think it would be difficult to claim that they did not "change" the Indian "way of life to suit their needs." Certainly seemed like "the way to go" then, didn't it? |
