The Outsouced Call Center Madness

[Seraphim]

Anyone else having difficulty lately accessing intelligible information over the phone about their bank account and credit cards? Whether it's PayPal, Chase Manhattan, or my local savings and loan bank, each time I call these institutions I seem to get the same woman from India with poor broken English, on the other end on the line. The bank is US based, the account is US only issued, all banking operations are done in English only, but I have to understand Hindi to get information about it. Then there seems to be the problem of security clearance, most of these call centers can't seem to get full security clearance over my account, thus I walk away with half of my questions unanswered.

God bless cooperate greed. What's next, credit cards made out of African clay, bank statements scribbled on tree bark? :grumpy:

 

[domainah]

The problem is all those call-center workers have a list they go through, BS like..oh I am sorry you cant log into your account, then they are going to ask you 20 questions what your mothers maiden name is and if you are sure about your dogs name being sparky..all stuff that just annoys the shit out of people since you already typed in your account or ATM number 15 times over the phone...eventually they will tell you that they cant help you since they cant give out any info over the phone..then they put you on hold until a guy identifies himself as John Smith speaks with you although he sounds like Apu's brother and the guy you just talked to..he will ask you the same 20 questions before telling you that he cant help you either and that you probably have to fax our drivers license to some location in Nebraska and wait for a couple of weeks to retrieve your new password in the mail because you cant remember the emergency phone pin they set up for you 17 years ago when you opened the account..

 

[carlton]

Anyone else having difficulty lately accessing intelligible information over the phone about their bank account and credit cards? Whether it's PayPal, Chase Manhattan, or my local savings and loan bank, each time I call these institutions I seem to get the same woman from India with poor broken English, on the other end on the line. The bank is US based, the account is US only issued, all banking operations are done in English only, but I have to understand Hindi to get information about it. Then there seems to be the problem of security clearance, most of these call centers can't seem to get full security clearance over my account, thus I walk away with half of my questions unanswered.

God bless cooperate greed. What's next, credit cards made out of African clay, bank statements scribbled on tree bark? :grumpy:

I nominate this DNF post of the week!

 

[Seraphim]

The reason I started this rant, is because I just got off the phone with PayPal, and it sounded like the "customer service representative" was standing on the trading floor of the Indian Stock Exchange. I swear to God I heard a chicken in the background. Next time I'll just call the local curry diner for my account balance.

 

[carlton]

The reason I started this rant, is because I just got off the phone with PayPal, and it sounded like the "customer service representative" was standing on the trading floor of the Indian Stock Exchange. I swear to God I heard a chicken in the background. Next time I'll just call the local curry diner for my account balance.

:lol: Seraphim - Have had that same experience a few too many times which is why I find it so funny. It is becoming epidemic in America.

"heard a chicken in the background" ... LOL!

 

[VioxxLawyers]

Yeah, i agree 100%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8d_OpneZAQ

A crazy guy who travels half the world to get his comp repaired

On the other hand, you have newspapers like the Washington Post telling Americans that THEY are in fact THE problem, and outsourcing to incompetent Indians is not the issue here.

Clients don't save money and get horrible customer service, but bank managers get bigger bonuses every year!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56474-2005Feb26.html

India Call Centers Suffer Storm of 4-Letter Words
Executives Blame American Anger Over Outsourcing

What a big f.... joke!

 

[Seraphim]

It's always the same line, "we have to send away the jobs Americans don't want".

This call I made to PayPal today was the last straw for me. From now on if I can't understand the person, I'm going to submit a complaint.

 

[gemsergio]

Don't worry about it the situation is changing very fast.
Looking at the US economy in a few years it will be the Indiands that will make this kind of thread:

I cant stand it anymore - everytime I call Dell India a guy with the nameof joe from texas answers the phone and I cant understand a word of what he is saying.

 

[Seraphim]

Don't worry about it the situation is changing very fast.
Looking at the US economy in a few years it will be the Indiands that will make this kind of thread:

I cant stand it anymore - everytime I call Dell India a guy with the nameof joe from texas answers the phone and I cant understand a word of what he is saying.

I'm not bashing foreigners here gemsergio, I've lived in Europe for the last 10 years. Assuming your profile is correct, imagine you call your local Hungarian bank, and someone named Joe from Texas answers the phone. I think you misinterpreted my point.

With regard to US based companies sending employment opportunities abroad, I'm not at all ashamed to say I feel that is f#cked up from top to bottom. Free markets are kept in check by the consumers that drive them, and my 1 economic vote goes to companies that keep money in the country where they reap their harvests.

If roles are reversed in my life time as you predict, outsourcing jobs would be one of the chips of marble falling to the ground.

 

[gemsergio]

I understood you were not bashing foreigners but I was kind of serious myself.
Some part of the Us have the weirdest accent ever, sometime is easier to understand someone from Bangalore than another from Lousiaaaana

 

[DomainMagnate]

Wouldn't you outsource everything if you can pay 10 times less to Indians :yes:

~MG

 

[Seraphim]

Wouldn't you outsource everything if you can pay 10 times less to Indians :yes:

~MG

The real question is would I compromise the quality of the services I offer to save money? If I was rich at the end of the day, probably. But, in the same whim, I would also chose to do business with a US based company that doesn't outsource jobs, over one that does. It's a contradiction I'm comfortable with. To further the philosophical knot tying, I'm also an American expat living in Poland. While I'm a guest here, I make sure to go out of my way to support Polish businesses only, if I can help it. Say what you will, but my money is paint, and the world my canvas. I'm pro self styled wealth distribution.

...?

 

[HomerJ]

good thread

each time I call these institutions I seem to get the same woman from India with poor broken English,

My GOD YES! .. and no undertone of prejudice whatsoever, some of my best friends happen to be indian, probably the only thing saving me from pulling my hair out when i'm on the phone w/ some of these reps.

but honestly, i've had worse experience dealing w/ foreign CSR's through email, ... try *reading* broken english, sometimes they can't form proper sentences nor articulate their points in a non-confusing manner,

but ... i'd probably take either over an automated voice recorded phone system, where i never get to speak with a human being, get cut off half the time 2/3s through the call and have to start over, get routed to the wrong departments, etc... oooohhh ya dern tootin! I go yosemite sam on that sh**

 

[Seraphim]

good thread



My GOD YES! .. and no undertone of prejudice whatsoever, some of my best friends happen to be indian, probably the only thing saving me from pulling my hair out when i'm on the phone w/ some of these reps.

but honestly, i've had worse experience dealing w/ foreign CSR's through email, ... try *reading* broken english, sometimes they can't form proper sentences nor articulate their points in a non-confusing manner,

but ... i'd probably take either over an automated voice recorded phone system, where i never get to speak with a human being, get cut off half the time 2/3s through the call and have to start over, get routed to the wrong departments, etc... oooohhh ya dern tootin! I go yosemite sam on that sh**

With regard to the financial institutions I'm dealing with, it's the worst of both worlds, extremely redundant automated voice recording, and customer service reps who speak crappy English. The American based CEO of the bank might as well pick up the phone line and tell me to go f#ck myself, as it would save me the time of running through the gauntlet to nowhere.

 

[GAMEFINEST]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8d_OpneZAQ


that is hilarious...

 

[VisualDigits]

Seraphim, are you of Polish descent? I was born and raised in Poland and I'd rather live here in America than in my motherland and overpay for every quality product. What city do you live in? Warsaw? Krakow?

 

[DomainMagnate]

My ancestors came from Poland.. I think

~MG

 

[GAMEFINEST]

mine are from india...

 

[VisualDigits]

I found a really funny call center video:
http://www.callcentermovie.com/

 

[Seraphim]

Seraphim, are you of Polish descent? I was born and raised in Poland and I'd rather live here in America than in my motherland and overpay for every quality product. What city do you live in? Warsaw? Krakow?

No, I'm of Irish heritage. I live in old town Kraków, about a 2 minutes walk away from the Rynek Główny and Wawel. When I first studied here about 8 years ago, the dollar was extremely strong at about 1 USD to 4 Złoty. Now, food and consumer goods are generally more expensive here, but overall living costs are substantially cheaper as compared to my home town in Portland.

I would chose Kraków over American suburbia any day of the week. Most Poles I meet prefer Poland as well, but the choice is immigrate and maybe get your own house someday, or stay in Poland and live your life in a small apartment with 4 generations of family.