O/T Companies with foriegn Call Centres

[bhaexpress]

I know this has come up before but when are some of these firms going to realise that having cheap but unskilled labour is a false ecconomy ?

I've had a couple of small problems in the past but up until this weekend I've lived with it.

Well, on Friday I got an email from Waitrose of all people offering a very attractive deal for Broadband. I have been thinking that I could get a better deal so decided to sign up. As it was I started to use their online procedure but the Waitrose system insisted that my line would only support One Meg. Pity about that as it's actually a Two Meg line as my monitoring software told me, (BT have now confirmed that as well).

I called Waitrose and after a fairly lengthy wait I got put through to their call centre, it's in India I found out. Okay, the person who answered the call did speak clear and virtually unaccented English. So far so good I thought. Well I explained that although they reckoned that I could only have a One Meg line according to them I have in fact got a Two Meg line. The woman on the other end asked me for my number and so I gave it. She then told me that I could in fact only have a One Meg line and it would cost me the same as a Two Meg. I politely explained that I already a Two meg line and this threw her. Clearly she was working from a script which had no provision for a situation such as this.

Now at this point I would have got further help from somebody with a little bit more technical knowledge, (in my long and checkered career I've done a fair bit of help desk work). What does this woman do ? Starts to argue and tells me that I don't know what I'm talking about !!!

Needless to say I won't be moving to Waitrose but I wonder if anybody else has had probems with foriegn call centres ?

 

[bhafc99]

Hate them. Had a situation the other month where I needed to know if my bank branch had received a cheque for my account in that day's mail.

In the old days, I'd phone my branch, they'd have a look, and let me know.

But no, now all I can do is phone Bangalore, where someone looks my account on a screen and tells me the cheque hasn't cleared. I know that you muppet, I can see that myself via Internet banking, I want to know if it's at the branch and when it WILL be cleared... xxxxing useless.

What's worse is than when you complain about this state of affairs, it's hard not to sound racist.

But I don't care what colour or religion or whatever the person is, I just want them to be able to help me IN A REAL AND PRACTICAL WAY.

With all due respect, someone sitting in front of a screen several thousand miles away and reading from a script CAN'T help me. They can't tell me anything I don't already know, or deviate from that rehearsed script and actually problem-solve. It's a waste of everybody's time.

(Apologies for SHOUTING CAPS!!)

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I wanted to speak to someone at Lloyds about my account last week and was put through to somewhere in India. After a minute of pointless conversation I hung up and tried again, only to get what sounded like exactly the same woman and I hung up again. I then scoured the phone book for a Brighton number for Lloyds, found one and told the bloke in no uncertain terms that I wanted to talk to someone in THIS country about my account and not to get put through to India again. He was very accommodating and gave me a number that he said he used himself. I phoned it and it diverted me straight back through to India. I am now in the process of moving my money out of Lloyds bank.

 

[Cian]

I do my best to avoid companies with foreign call centres (UK not included). Whats funny is that I find North American and French call centres a lot worse to deal with than Indian ones.

Sky are having terrible problems with people hanging up and redialling and redialling till they get through to Scotland. Made worse by the fact that their own installers have to phone the same people (through a different number), and some of them, at least the ones here, have been told by Sky to just hang up on the Indian call centres.

Theres also a serious legal issue over data protection with call centres being outside of the EU, which I can see exploding in some companies face when someone important has their ID stolen by a worker in a country where he can't prosecute the worker - but can prosecute the company for moving his data outside the EU.

 

[Stevie Boy]

Had problems with my laptop, only 10 months old, rung customer services ad got though to a call cente in india, her english was very poor and didnt have a clue what i was on about, and it was the power socket, It isnt cost effective, people will avoid companys with foregin call centrers, i certainly am.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

On a general point it may not be the case that because a person has an accent the call centre is abroad. Likely I know, but not certain.

 

[looney]

I know this has come up before but when are some of these firms going to realise that having cheap but unskilled labour is a false ecconomy ?

I've had a couple of small problems in the past but up until this weekend I've lived with it.

Well, on Friday I got an email from Waitrose of all people offering a very attractive deal for Broadband. I have been thinking that I could get a better deal so decided to sign up. As it was I started to use their online procedure but the Waitrose system insisted that my line would only support One Meg. Pity about that as it's actually a Two Meg line as my monitoring software told me, (BT have now confirmed that as well).

I called Waitrose and after a fairly lengthy wait I got put through to their call centre, it's in India I found out. Okay, the person who answered the call did speak clear and virtually unaccented English. So far so good I thought. Well I explained that although they reckoned that I could only have a One Meg line according to them I have in fact got a Two Meg line. The woman on the other end asked me for my number and so I gave it. She then told me that I could in fact only have a One Meg line and it would cost me the same as a Two Meg. I politely explained that I already a Two meg line and this threw her. Clearly she was working from a script which had no provision for a situation such as this.

Now at this point I would have got further help from somebody with a little bit more technical knowledge, (in my long and checkered career I've done a fair bit of help desk work). What does this woman do ? Starts to argue and tells me that I don't know what I'm talking about !!!

Needless to say I won't be moving to Waitrose but I wonder if anybody else has had probems with foriegn call centres ?

I can get you a good deal on broadband if you want? PM me.

 

[Cian]

On a general point it may not be the case that because a person has an accent the call centre is abroad. Likely I know, but not certain.

True, but when their English is extremely bad, they usually are...

 

[king Wombat]

had alot of problems with tiscali about my broadband.

at the time i was paying for 512kpbs service and was receiving on average about 8..

had many a good ding dong with their indian call centres but finally had enough when one of their indian operatives tried to tell me that using broadband at 10.45 am on a wednesday morning was a peak usage time in the uk..

 

[Sonic]

I wanted to speak to someone at Lloyds about my account last week and was put through to somewhere in India. After a minute of pointless conversation I hung up and tried again, only to get what sounded like exactly the same woman and I hung up again. I then scoured the phone book for a Brighton number for Lloyds, found one and told the bloke in no uncertain terms that I wanted to talk to someone in THIS country about my account and not to get put through to India again. He was very accommodating and gave me a number that he said he used himself. I phoned it and it diverted me straight back through to India. I am now in the process of moving my money out of Lloyds bank.

May I recommend First Direct. Been with them about 13 years. They are great at everything they do, and I've never known another bank to be so accomodating. If I ever meet anyone else who has an account with them, they are always full of praise. No doubt some other NSC'ers will back me up on this.

 

[zefarelly]

I hate call centres, I bank with HSBC who use them I think BUT, I can call my bank at my local branch and speak to the manager anytime, thats the only way I'll have it.

we've just stopped all the crap calls coming through at home now so I actually use the phone now !

 

[GUNTER]

I was put off buying a Dell computer a couple of weeks back. Unfortunately, the service I received from the operator in India where he didn't send me the invoice he promised he'd send me (despite two chase up calls) - so I thought stuff it and bought a HP computer instead.

I refuse to deal outright with any company who move jobs to call centres offshore - the service is usually poor.

 

[bhaexpress]

Couple of points, first of all I knew that the Waitrose call centre is in India as they told me. The fact that the person who answered me unsatisfactorily is no reflection on the individial but very much on who set the parameters of their role.

However, as I was peeved I sent an email to Wiatrose's costomer service and I was actually called back WITHIN FIVE MINUTES of my email being sent. The guy that answed was not only horribly apologetic but has put my migration on priority and it will be identical to what I have but at £7 a month less plus the first three months free. That's good, very good in my opinion, Also, Waitrose donate the profits from there ISP to charity, hard to refuse really !

 

[itszamora]

May I recommend First Direct. Been with them about 13 years. They are great at everything they do, and I've never known another bank to be so accomodating. If I ever meet anyone else who has an account with them, they are always full of praise. No doubt some other NSC'ers will back me up on this.

Very very true, First Direct are very good.

 

[fatboy]

National Rail Enquiries.

I hate the way that they cannot deviate from their script.

 

[Cian]

I was put off buying a Dell computer a couple of weeks back. Unfortunately, the service I received from the operator in India where he didn't send me the invoice he promised he'd send me (despite two chase up calls) - so I thought stuff it and bought a HP computer instead.

I refuse to deal outright with any company who move jobs to call centres offshore - the service is usually poor.

You know where HP's tech support is?

France

 

[Gully]

...haven't a clue but I rang up about a mortgage and now own a large block of flats in Bombay and a fleet of taxi's in Bangalore...

 

[Springal]

National Rail Enquiries.

I hate the way that they cannot deviate from their script.

they are in newcastle....

 

[fatboy]

they are in newcastle....

They have outsourced most of the calls handled in Derby, Newcastle, Cardiff and Plymouth to Bangalore, India.

 

[Caveman]

zorri i dnot undresatnd can soembdoy trnasltae tihs itno Paiksatn? Tanhks.