I am frustrated and I can’t be the only one. I’ve written about this topic before and it isn’t improving. Either companies should bring their call center staff back to North America or develop better protocols to handle North American customers.
I recently discovered that I must add a state tax feature to those (from my state) who purchase my newsletter e-book online. I added the correct tax information into my profile on Paypal, but when the Pay Now button link was tested, it didn’t work.
I called the toll-free contact number and was connected to a polite man who asked me to wait while he checked into my problem – each time I uttered a different sentence explaining the challenge. He advised me to start all over creating the pay button as it would be difficult to revise what I had now. (In my head, I’m wondering why it’s so hard. Isn’t this designed to be user-friendly?) After 10 minutes or so, he advised that I call their technical support line.
So, I did and got right back into the same voicemail loop I had the first time, only there was no menu option for technical support. A polite lady tried to help me, but I immediately asked for the technical support staff. She said she couldn’t transfer me but would give me the toll-free number. And of course, it was the same number that got me back into their recorded loop.
Next step – ask for a supervisor, which I did. My first question to Supervisor Jeff – “Where are you located?” His response – “The mid-west.” I asked where the other reps who answered my calls were located. He told me the lady was in California and he didn’t know where the man was located.
I don’t know about you, but I believe that anyone who calls me ma’am can’t possibly live in North America unless I’ve traveled back to the 1950s in a Delorean! And all three addressed me that way in addition to using better English sentence structure than most North Americans do.
Regardless, this guy (Jeff) finally advised me that because I used encrypted coding in my Paypal button, I couldn’t make any changes to it so I’d have to start all over again, creating a new button with the added tax feature. How do you think it got encrypted to begin with? It’s an option on their site when you set up a pay button initially. Yikes. I have nothing better to do.
OK, your turn to gripe or tell me I’m nuts.
Tags: customer service, outsourced workers, Paypal
Elaine – I’m SO glad you wrote this! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled my hair out when I get transferred to an obviously non-American customer care call center! I give these people an “A” for effort, but the problem is, they take the language so literal that they don’t catch the jist of what you’re asking and you never get the call resolved. I recently had a similar experience with Orbitz – I was trying to get a flight changed, I was on the phone with this person – clearly from India – for almost an HOUR when he told me he’d have to transfer me to someone else because his CAB was there to take him home! Maybe you and I should start a call center together!
Thanks for the post!
Right there with you, except that you don’t have to travel through time to be called ma’am. Just visit us in the South and get away from the cities.
Amen! However, you are preaching to the choir!
My latest frustration has been in “free subscription” to publications we do need because we place ads for our clients in those publications and like to see the competitors ads. However, if the script doesn’t include an “other” category, the poor person on the other end is “lost” They are unable to handle anything but what is placed in front of them.
Talk about frustration on both ends! I am sure they are equally frustrated as I am. I have had more than once, the call center hang up on me after going around and around in circles in “lack of understanding.” So, how much business is the publication losing over this. It is another case of “Penny Wise, and Dollar foolish!”
Carol Doms
Nicholson Kovac
I agree that the front line customer service folks need to be located someplace in North America as not only does the likelihood that you’ll get someone you can understand (and they you!) increases, so does telephone line quality.
And as Nathan above mentioned, you need to come down South (most anyplace below Washington D.C.) and you’ll be addressed as Miss or Ma’am out of respect and politeness. No DeLorean required! And here we say “Please”, “Thank You” and “Excuse Me” without a grudge as well.
But besides all this, who the heck designs telephone answering systems anyway? Many times it’s almost impossible to get to talk to a person anymore unless you try all other options by a process of elimination. There should always be an easy way to talk to a warm body.
There is another issue, here, and perhaps it mainly applies to small businesses.
We have a customer support team and there is something to be said to knowing them personally. They feel part of the team and there is a sense of having a stake in the firm.
Our company has almost no staff turnover. We have added new people as we have grown but people almost never leave, including customer support.
That length of service for the customer support people who have been around a while enables them to develop a level of knowledge that would be very difficult if they were overseas and serving other companies, too. The new employees have mentors to help them.
I think this sort of model could be applied to big companies, too, but I do not have experience working for a big corporation so I am not sure.
Thanks for the comments! Nathan and Mitchell: I realized when I wrote the post that some Americans use ma’am as a sign of respect, especially in the south. However, I notice a distinction in its use in some overseas countries, where it’s added on to almost every sentence. Maybe I’m wrong about this.
Neil, perhaps your experience is directly related to the business being relatively small. I imagine the reason so many large companies have outsourced overseas is because of costs related to recruiting, training and retaining thousands of reps in a call center.
Word Doc and Carol, I agree that these businesses are foolish if they aren’t monitoring and evaluating their protocols and phone systems. There’s nothing more frustrating than being run around in circles.
I’m in the UK and couldn’t agree more.
Ive never had a great experience when my call got routed offshore (or bestshore whatever they want to call it these days). And if it’s not a great experience then surely they have failed!
Here’s the dilemma, and some of the reasons it has occurred.
Often the different functions of a Company have differing and often conflicting Goals.
The finance people (and in these cases often led by change management consultants) put a case forward to increase profits by externalising as many expenses (as they seem them) as possible. They see almost everything as an expense and nothing as an investment.
Customer service probably have some goals that were also put in place by the change management consultants too, often their is a template process they bring in to many big companies.
Where does this leave Marketing? often facing a big headache. And Sales, well often you find that the sales leads are handled by a team who are in your country rather than offshore.
Best way to find out how bad a Company is? ring the support line before you actual become a Customer!
You also find that the direct competitors to the company you have an issue with also do the same thing, what do you do, they have us over a barrel.
I recommend that people vote with their feet, for instance i bank with a company that has vowed to always have its customer service staff in the UK, if they change that then i will go elsewhere (thankfully there are still a few banks in the uk who recognise how important this is).
You’ll also find that they are told not to reveal thier correct location as it is sensitive and annoys Customers! doh, guess what we already worked it out most of the time, so if its sensitive and they cant tell us, they shouldnt do it, in my opinion.
Openness and honesty should prevail so I can make an informed choice for the future.
I hate scripts too, and having to push a combination of 20 buttons on the phone so that I end up in the correct queue as defined by the change management people so the correct script can be read at me. Whatever happened to a conversation?
Sometimes though you may have to be prepared to pay more for a great service, are you ready for that, I am, if its truly remarkable.
On that note, I propose a campaign for “remarkable business”, those giving poor customer service via offshore teams like this will not get a look-in!
Mike Ashworth
Business Development
Brighton and Hove, Sussex, UK
Elaine,
Cost is most certainly the reason they do it but I wonder if they end up with positive ROI?
It would be interesting to see if those who focus on building a strong, motivated team close to home, at a higher cost, actually earns a higher ROI.
I know when I call and get a cheerful, knowledgeable, and helpful person on the phone I am much, much more likely to be a repeat customer.
Whether it is onshore or off shore, if I get an unhelpful grump, or obvious short timer, I am much less likely to do business there again.
The question is whether it is more possible to build such a team closer to home wherever home happens to be. My instinct says yes and that the ROI would end up being higher. There would need to be numbers to prove this, though.
And there are intangibles. It is very easy to build a disgruntled, unhelpful team close to home! You need good management from the top.
Elaine, enjoyed the post. I might offer a contrarian view in that I believe one can still get good quality and knowledgeable service from an off-shore employee. True, sometimes language and enunciation barriers can make me batty, but I’ve found that in some instances I get a better quality of service from off-shore employees.
Bringing back the call centers to NA is a possible solution, but not necessarily the right one in all cases.
You certainly got bad service, but I can’t figure out what any of the issues – badly designed voicemail prompt, badly trained reps, etc. – have to do with location. Especially since it’s not clear that they were NOT in North America.
I’ve seen no real quality difference between obviously American and obviously offshore reps. They’re good, or they’re not good, and it seem to have little to do with location.
Please send copies to Delta Airlines and HP – two companies that tout superior customer service, but fail miserably with their outsourcing.
I have had some major issues with a major software provider that start with an “A”. I have been on call for hours while they switch me back and forth trying to locate the correct department to handle a something that can be flicked on with a switch. The managerial trick is giving the call people autonomy over their jobs — so that they can call the shots and make a decision on-the-fly. But because no giant corporation trusts their own employees enough — bureaucracy is born.
I suspect that it has to do with good management, good treatment of employees, good hiring decisions (and firing decisions for that matter), and good training.
Whether this can be done off-shore or not probably depends on the circumstances. I suspect, but have no proof, that building a good team would be much more challenging off-shore.
One of the keys to customer loyalty is having knowledgeable, helpful front line people (with very high morale) who treat the customers well. That, I think, is key, though I imagine cost savings trump all that for many companies.
They do the calculations and figure they can afford to suffer a bit in up front support without hurting their revenue much relative to the cost savings.
Thank you all for your thoughtful posts. Just a word…
John W. has a good point. Good service can be available in any location. The trouble is that, for some reason, it seems to prevail when it’s off shore. Of course there are exceptions. I once had an amazing experience using Expedia. However, more frequently, the time I spend is a huge frustration.
Neil is also right in that call centers – their protocols and training – depend on good management. Maybe big companies find it challenging to manage overseas teams. Or maybe they’re just not investing enough in making their systems smooth and pain-free. Either way, Mike’s point is valid:
“Openness and honesty should prevail so I can make an informed choice for the future.”
It would be interesting to see if the excellent issues Elaine has brought to light will, or have, resulted in firms bringing their customer support back on shore.
If anyone has any statistical references, they would be be very helpful to this discussion.
I find it unlikely that firms with manifestly bad customer support would, in the aggregate, allow it to continue if it affects revenue versus costs.
Since the transition off-shore or back on-shore, would start to move, it would follow that the trend to move off-shore would slow, too. However, in the case of reversal, there would be a lag as such transitions take time as does turning a giant tanker ship.
In the case of the U.S., the weak dollar would affect the calculations, too, in favor of on-shore.
We need *both* trend lines to know what is happening…
Not sure that you can say for certain that these people wern’t in NA. Sounds like awful service but are you prepared to vote with your feet and go somewhere else which charges more?
My experience with off-shore call centres is almost universally positive now. Certainly there were frustrations in years gone by but as far as I can now tell, service levels are normally decent. My guess is that it was someone from the “1st world” who wrote the protocol which sent you into a spin.
As for the Ma’am, if we didn’t all have an irrational fear of talking to people overseas, perhaps they could be honest with us about where they are.
Hi John and elaine! I’m on one of those offshore representatives. (philippines) it really depend on the location. not being racist you can distinguish whether you are calling india, china or the philippines perhaps. all of them has a communications training specially on accent. and I agree with elaine that they should train their representatives really hard. specially in india. I’m not an indian but i am hurt whenever i have a caller yelling that they don’t wanna speak to an indian. I know they have a good command of english language it’s just maybe on the pronunciation and enunciation that matters.
Hi, Simon. Thanks for adding your comment. You make a good point; it’s all in the training and learning English idioms and expressions that are not that easy to learn, especially as they keep evolving.
I am trying hard to figure out why this post made its way to this otherwise great site. Other than the fact that customer service is mentioned, it is a whine about paypal buttons, ‘ma’am’ vs ‘marm’ vs ‘madame’ and being honest about where he is speaking from…come on who would want to ask that question. Before BPO became a trend I have been in the US for many years and can recount horror stories about customer service. Luckily some of the comments have made this more palatable.
Shekar, the last thing I would want is to be construed as offensive. Forgive me if this is what you read. I am not American and like you, live in the U.S., so I am sensitive to inclusion and diversity.
My rant is the result of a very poor customer service experience at Paypal. Yes, it’s the result of bad protocols and systems. But I am also distrusting of companies that try to pass off their overseas reps as American, when many are not. Why the cover-up?
The frustrations on our side of the ocean are probably twofold. One – North Americans are uneasy about jobs being transferred to other countries. Two – North American idioms and expressions can easily go unrecognized when speaking with a foreign English-language rep who isn’t as familiar with the culture and vernacular. Couple these with bad systems and you see what I mean.
Neil, if you find any data, please share. It would be very interesting to see market research results on telephone customer service in general, wherever call centers are located. If anyone knows of a study, please let us know.
Thanks.
Shekar, I did not take Elaine’s post to be offensive at all. It was a statement of her experience.
The transfer of jobs overseas would be a concern in any country in the world that had that happen to it. It is not some strange quirk of Americans.
Second, the deception of origin she speaks of would be a concern in other countries, too.
I think that one of the great flaws of real, honest conversation in the U.S. is the notion tha certain topics are off limits. When certain conversations are labeled as taboo in some way when someone is saying what they think, the very fact that others think the topic should not be discussed, is a reason to discuss that very topic.
In fact, look for things that others do not want discussed and you will find that it is a topic that is being repressed for some reason. Where you find that, you find a topic that needs to be discussed openly with honest and even viceral reactions, not censor.
Look always for the avoided topic, and there you will find something that needs to be talked about.
It is hear where multiple views presented honestly can shed light but never impune the motives or the posters choice of words.
Respond to the issue directly or do not speak.
I will add, however, that I often address people as ma’am or sir as a sign of respect.
I also never eat before others are seated and served unless they give explicit permission. I open doors for women. I even refer to men as gentlemen in some contexts.
At a conference recently we broke into small groups and I was the leader of mine. I started with a brief overview and then said I turn the floor over to this gentleman (a member of our group) who has something to say on this topic.
I respect my elders and would not call someone of superior age by first name without permission. “Mr. Jones…”
“No, please, call me Bob” would be permission to address my elder less formally.
I say this because protocols of etiquette are not ipsofacto evidence that someone is not American. I am proudly American and proudly adhere to standards of etiquette I was taught. They are natural to me and I wish they were universal.
I do not want to drive a Delorian back to the ’50s, though. Perhaps a better car would tempt me.
3 AM in the morning was probably a wrong time to reply to blogs…I was waiting for a conference call to begin. I may have been harsh, but the point remains that asking for customer service centers to be brought back to the NA is not necessarily the conclusion I would have arrived at. The need for systems, training, back and forth travel of Paypal executives and provider personnel are what is required. Elaine, while my rant seemed to have come from being an Indian, it was more from being a marketer.
Neil: I will keep in mind your admonition about not speaking, if I am not saying it directly. I am new to the blogging world (2 posts young), and am sure will have some missteps. Thanks for the tip.
I understand and empathise with you all who have been facing problems with customer care centers in Asia and other regions.
I am not trying to advocate and justify their presence in these countries, but, trying to look it from a different perspective.
The employment opportunities Outsourcing has generated, has never ever been imagined and thought of.
And,has helped in empowering a lot of people not only in Asia but Other Countries too.
In fact, I have worked for a BPO too and that was one heck of a experience for me.
Its better to ask an indian friend of yours to do the needful, when you call any customercare next time.
God bless.
Varun Badhwar
Shekar, I want to encourage you to speak in this blog.
This issue brought to light by Elaine’s experiences are clearly those about which there are at least two points of view.
The point I was trying to make is that it is more profitable to disagree with the ideas in a post, not attack the post itself or the choice of words (unless they are truly odious). That is, frankly, tantamount to personal criticism of the author, which we try to avoid in our business, online, and personal relationships.
Elaine’s post is my favorite sort of post: a personal experience related in open, honest terms. In so doing she brings to light issues worth discussing.
These are issues about which there is considerable disagreement, which is good and healthy. You clearly have knowledge and experience that would be very valuable to this discussion and to others.
Varun, yes, yours is a very valid perspective. The outsourcing to India and other countries has created great opportunities in these countries.
India is poised to become an economic powerhouse in its own right. India is democratic, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and many educated people.
I am *not* an expert on India but I think it is the Indian governments — national, regional, and local — that hold back the Indian Renaissance.
We in the U.S. would benefit greatly from having a thriving, democratic, and dynamic trading partner in South Asia. I think things are moving in that direction.
Interesting page., bro
Neil, you open doors for women? Are you married?
I have some single friends. Thanks for all your amazing comments.
Shekar, we welcome you to dialog anytime. Neil’s a good blog teacher. We were all new at one time.
Varun, I’m sure that outsourcing has brought its benefits to countries like India. You say you’ve had first-hand experience. Can you share?
Elaine, I have been divorced for more than two years. It was an amicable divorce but painful nonetheless.
Of course, you must introduce me to your single friends.
The thing is I live in Portland, OR, which I would think rather inconvenient for these friends of yours.
Elaine,
unless some major changes are made in corporate america- dont expect call centres to be coming back anytimes soon. It is much cheaper to outsource them, and most corporations are just looking to make a buck. And yes, its true- the customer service we receive from overseas is frustrating at times. Ofcourse there are going to be things that they dont exactly understand- due to cultural issues, etc- and the fact that these people work ridiculous hours just to make a measly fraction of a paycheck. I think we should give them some credit. I used to work in a call centre- for 2 years- servicing America, and any americans overseas. And we also had a location in India. I cant tell you how many times americans told us that they didnt want to talk to any non-americans, (which like you said- they spoke better english than the customer) and this was always after we had greeted them, and they asked us if we spoke english. Thats besides the point.
Call centres wont be brought back to north america- technology will create a more detailed VRU system- and youll never have to talk to a human being again. just a robot. And trust me- at that point, we will all be praying for someone in india to pick up the phone.
I’m sorry but I just can’t agree with the idea that overseas call centers are such a problem. Yes, there are plenty of automated attendant and call center issues that are negative, but these pervade North American call centers too. So there are language nuances that we’ll have to stumble over at either end. We need to get over that. I worked in a call center in a major West Coast city for many years, a city in which 25% of the population was Vietnamese. Several of our staff, who didn’t want to be patient, would hang up on these people when they called. “They don’t speak good English,” they’d complain. “How much Vietnamese do YOU speak?” I’d counter with. More power to these people for learning our language while we arrogantly insist not to learn theirs.
I’d like the call centers to be in the U.S. because I’d like the jobs to be in the U.S. But I relish diversity, even if it’s in a phone conversation. And I think a lot of times we assume someone is overseas because of their accent and we’re wrong. I just don’t think it should matter much.
A question:
how many people would be willing to pay a fee to get service from a higher-cost US call center? How much?
Emma, the future sounds grim the way you describe it. In the meantime, I have compassion for people overseas who are putting in incredible hours to make a living. I can be patient dealing with language and cultural issues, but not with poor systems that send me on wild goose chases.
Sharon, your point is well taken. I adore diversity – that’s the one thing I miss moving away from Toronto, the home of hundreds of languages and nationalities.
John, you make a strong case. We whine but we’re not willing to spend more. That’s the paradox.
Well, I’m not really making a case for moving call centers to the US. I’d much rather see money spent on testing usability of voice menus, better training for operators, linking disparate telecom systems so you can be transfered to tech support (with all your case notes following), and that sort of thing. I’m unconvinced that there is any inherent problem in offshore call centers, simply because I experience similar levels of incompetence right here at home.
.
I was just trying to point out that if you really believe that putting call centers in places with massively higher labor costs will improve service, you should be willing to pay for that (either by paying for support or paying more for the products and services being supported)!
But whining is our birthright
Every country should look after its interests.
I do not know but would not be surprised at all if there were elements of our tax code that actually acted as incentives to ship jobs overseas.
Our political leaders should make sure they are *not* providing such incentives to corporations through the tax code and otherwise.
I am against government command and control (outsource if you want) but I am concerned about the influence of lobbyists on the tax code and other aspects of public policy. This influence results in distorted incentives and mis-allocated resources.
There are countless examples I know about of policies formulated to benefit a company, industry, etc., while the costs are born by others. If anyone knows of where the incentives are with regard to outsourcing, it would interesting to know more. I highly doubt the incentives are neutral on this matter.
BTW, I do not think I used the word outsourcing properly above. Outsourcing, I think, simply means work done outside of the company for the company. If you outsource payroll to a firm down the street that is outsourcing.
What we are talking about in this thread is shipping jobs to other countries.
I would think that the people and governments of all countries would be concerned about such things…
Hi Elaine,
I have had some very traumatic and some very funny incidents.
Personaly, I would say, I had tough time dealing with Southern Accent and there were Indian Customers too, who wont budge but would want their call to be transfered to a U.S location.
But there were some good ones too, when customers would ask you, hows the weather in India and “Havin curry in your lunch..? I love it too.”
Elaine, I totally endorse your point, it should not be at the cost of good customer service.
I think,this problem is not concentrated at few places but prevalent all round the world where co.s dont consider good customer service as a means to retain their existing customers.
Dell has been the best.
Thanks.
Varun Badhwar
Neil, I’ll bet there are countless government policies that stick it to certain sectors or industries. Many lobbies and special interest groups in America are so influential because of the power they yield in the political process. The public needs to learn more about this from our media. We may be giving with one hand and taking away with the other in many areas.
Varun, thanks for sharing. Poor customer service seems to be pervasive in many places. I just don’t get how big companies can turn a blind eye to it or not care enough.
I think this should be taken on as a great project by our media to expose how our political leaders distorts the market and the allocation of resources often in ways that are counter to the public good. Much of it still goes on in the proverbial smoke filled room (without the smoke these days).
The light of day needs to be shine brightly on this process. That would be make a big difference.
hi
Hi guys,
Its a very good topic to talk about.Well, I work in a Call Center too and never had worst experience then working there. Firstly, we work during nights to serve the people we dont even know and get paid what? Penuts. Its not always that we dont understand them or they dont understand us. Sometimes its just the attitude problem. They just dont want to talk to us though they can understand us JUST b’coz we are not Americans. I have not seen more patient and polite rep’s then Indians are. Its not thet all the customer’s are bad. Some of them are so friendly and nice to us but sorry to say this most of them are rude.Talking about the accent…if you go in diffrent part of america you will find so many diffrent accents that an American can get a problem to understand the other American. so why cant the Indians have??? for whom English is suppose to be the second language. I hate to say this but some times when I say “my name is jessica parker” they ask me to spell my name…who’s first language is suppose to be English. And talking about the automated system who made it anyways????
Good points all, Jessica.
I think we should all be respectful to everyone out there doing the best they can in this world.
There is behavior and words that deserve our censor but certainly not someone just trying to do their best. Such censor is misplaced and mis-directed. That is a sad commentary when the relatively low-paid front line people just trying to make a living, have to put up with rudeness for situations created by forces beyond their control.
Rudeness of that sort is completely unacceptable and I am for ostracizing those who are rude or disrespectful to those who have done nothing to deserve such treatment.
Well put Elaine. I was recently on the phone for over 1 hour with one of the largest airlines trying to reschedule my flight on account of an issue with the plane. One would think calling would be faster than waiting in the line of over 50 people to get a new flight. NO…you would think speaking coherent english for a customer service job would be a pre-req. I ended up waiting in the line and 1.5 hours later I had my new ticket. WOW…bring call centers back to North America!
Am I just extremely lucky? When I get reps on the phone with Indian accents, they usually speak perfectly fluent English; they might miss a colloquialism here and there, but so what?
I’ve also managed to get pretty good service from French-speaking reps in Paris (I do not speak French, I am the American customer from hell and I understand that).
Am I just extremely fortunate?
this topic is really
interesting since i myself is working for the same industry, call center industry…..
so as an agent i perfectly understand your complaints…
i am actually working offshore fr. the philippines
and we cater american customers as a telemarketer. and to tell you guys,
we really don’t want to bother you all just to sell you stuff but it’s our job and becos you are a customers the reason we are keep calling…..i just want to tell you that telemarketers do consider customers side and feeling let’s say you don’t want to be called everyday, before meal, when u r very busy etc. but ofcourse we don’t know things you were doing before we called so we are also asking for your understanding and you can always tell us the right time and convinient time to call you guys back or you can also tell us if you never want to be contacted cos we feel bad as well when you shout and say bad words to us……
and for your information,
we are knowledgeable on what we are doing and we are monitored in all calls we are doing we have “quality assurance people” who handle
monitoring calls as in every calls……not only telemarketer but customer service account who you are calling if you have problems……….
so call center agents,
no matter where and what country you are calling philippine, india, france, etc…we all have same goals to serve our customers w/ satisfaction…….
Well put, Rain, everyone in every country wants to do the best possible job at what they do.
I think that striving for excellence is the only option that a person has.
I am writing a business plan trying to get financing for new software I am developing. I am passionate about keeping my customer service call centers in the USA. However, how much do they cost compared to international call centers? Also how do I find them, because after looking on Google, not many exist?
Thank you Elaine for your input on this problem. Mine differs from yours in a way but its still has the same route of frustration. I wanted to call about internet service and ask why my Broadband was not working well. I had to ask the rep to repeat herself several times and I can hear her sigh with this loud rude voice as if it was a hearing issue rather than her thick Indian accent. So tired of this crap! xcuse my french.
Thanks for sharing your frustration, Alex. Since I wrote this post, I must say that I’ve experienced a few positive customer service calls from overseas. Maybe companies are investing more in training. Although, it can still use improvement. Thanks again.
Yes, I agree. All I get from larger companies are offshore people who want to look at all my information, including my credit card data. They can’t understand you, and I also feel uncomfortable letting them view my information, and refuse to allow it unless I get an agent who isn’t offshore, which is usually difficult since they will act like they are transferring you only to disconnect your call on purpose. Yes, I said on purpose. I find it very unlikely that 4 people from the same location offshore can disconnect a call just because I demanded to speak to a manager located in the US. I know hat goes for people in the UK and other places. If you get someone where you are, you get the service you require and also you don’t worry as much about your information since you countries law protect you. If someone steals your information offshore and you discovered this, you can’t do anything to them period. However, if someone stole your information in your country and you discovered it, you can hand it over the the authorities and they would be arrest for their crime.
I understand your concern about identity theft. It makes me wonder what companies have done to ensure security in their overseas call centers. On the other hand, since first writing this post, I have had many positive service experiences with overseas employees. Who knows, maybe they read this post!
LOL
Hi Elaine, I do not agree with you. Countries like India, China or the Philippines have different companies who offer outsourcing. It depends on the “Client”(american company) in selecting the right company to get their process outsourced.
There are many companies, and different companies have different ways to train people, so if the Client is looking for a good service then he should opt for a good company which will cost him more than the company which is giving him poor service.
I spoke to a rep from India(plaxo), and he explained me about this, he was very friendly, polite and had a very good American accent, he honestly told me that he is from India, Bangalore. My issue is resolved and I am happy.
This is business guys, its all about ways to earn.
Thanks for weighing in, Alex. Since I wrote this in 2008, and commented again in 2010, it seems that things have changed. I, too, have experienced some excellent customer service from outsourced call centers. Perhaps North American companies have invested in better training, especially when it comes to understanding our idioms and expressions.