Call Centres ? (1 Viewer)

bringbackrattles · Jun 9, 2018

This morning had to phone Credit Card company. Sort out my payments etc. It was like a comedy sketch.I got through after ten minute wait on the line, having to endure weird music, and then finally a woman started talking to me. I say talking to me as I couldn't understand a word she was on about. I said I'm sorry but unless this is a bad line, can you talk slower please ? But she obviously didn't hear/understand me as she then talked even faster ! I said sorry again and asked her where are you from ? She said from the Philippines. Now I know from personal experience that they are smashing people, but I had to ring off in the end as it was a complete language breakdown. But to add to the comedy I received a call from the credit card company, but once again a voice on the other end was trying to apologise for my previous call, but it sounded like another woman from the Philippines, so I said sod this I'll write instead !
Anybody else had this ?

RegTheDonk · Jun 10, 2018

Kind of, with Three and Virgin, not as bad as you're describing mate but both sides needed to speak slowly. Tend to use text chat whenever possible as there's no confusion and you get a log of exactly what's been discussed/agreed.

wingy · Jun 10, 2018

Difficult subject really without sounding Xenophobic or whatever.
Globalised business ,someone makes more money ,jobs are losttat home etc.
TBF I used to have a problem with Scottish and Geordie ones.
Think that's as honest as I can be.

skybluesam66 · Jun 10, 2018

company i work for uses them in India
Accent training is something they are supposed to do - but obviously the more a company pays the more skilled a person is
It is not at all Xenophobic, it is about having the right skill set to do the job
Some of my India colleagues, speak much clearer than me - Others I can only properly communicate by skype text or email

bringbackrattles · Jun 10, 2018

wingy said:
Difficult subject really without sounding Xenophobic or whatever.
Globalised business ,someone makes more money ,jobs are losttat home etc.
TBF I used to have a problem with Scottish and Geordie ones.
Think that's as honest as I can be.

That's why I kept calm and wasn't rude to her. She was trying to be helpful but it was a complete communication breakdown. One of my favourite Zeppelin tracks too !

wingy · Jun 10, 2018

bringbackrattles said:
That's why I kept calm and wasn't rude to her. She was trying to be helpful but it was a complete communication breakdown. One of my favourite Zeppelin tracks too !

Same here, polite as possible ,frustrating as hell .
Customer services as a whole in this country went down the pan sometime in the 70's-80's, when we took the lead from across the pond when it comes to consumer rights.
Usually the person on the other end of the line is just there to filibuster ,frustrate so you give up /go away.
They seldom are able to resolve apart from the most basic issues ,and are subject to a protocol which is far too rigid to be able to resolve, say across a dept etc.
Then you can be there for half an hour or more.

Sick Boy · Jun 10, 2018

Had it before with a Virgin Media-based call centre in India and the service was shocking. The operative actually called me a liar about something or other. I complained so much that I now have a direct email of a woman quite high up at Virgin media who I can just email and she sorts everything out.

wingy · Jun 10, 2018

Sick Boy said:
Had it before with a Virgin Media-based call centre in India and the service was shocking. The operative actually called me a liar about something or other. I complained so much that I have now have a direct email of a woman quite high up at Virgin media who I can just email and she sorts everything out.

That's about where I ended up with 3.

Badger · Jun 11, 2018

Barclays and Virgin - I have had problems understanding both

I had a problem with a hotel booking with Alpharooms and although it seems it sounded like it was in India the man was very clear

Gazolba · Jun 11, 2018

I've worked with several Indians (from India) and some are very hard to understand and some speak better than me. There are lots of different languages in India (actually hundreds) so the accents can be very different. I've also worked with Russians, who are usually fairly easy to understand. The worst in my experience are the Chinese. I've worked with a few and they varied from difficult to understand to almost impossible. I currently have a Chinese co-worker who I dread when she comes over to my cubicle to speak to me. I usually just nod my head and finish by saying "can you email me about that?". But what gets me is that other people seem to understand her ok, so maybe it's partly me.

fernandopartridge · Jun 11, 2018

What I find utterly cringeworthy is this new thing of Indian call centres cold calling you and using an English name.

The company I work for outsources work to India, but is apparently finding it difficult to retain staff there now. I don't think it's necessarily as cheap as it once was and has probably reached its peak.

Covstu · Jun 11, 2018

fernandopartridge said:
What I find utterly cringeworthy is this new thing of Indian call centres cold calling you and using an English name.

The company I work for outsources work to India, but is apparently finding it difficult to retain staff there now. I don't think it's necessarily as cheap as it once was and has probably reached its peak.

Agree with the economy buoyant over there, this type of job will be less in demand. They will probably relocate this type to another part of the world again !

As much as I want to shout and swear at them, I remind myself that they are fully scripted and have to ensure they don’t veer away from it. I used to work for a housing association and had an afternoon on the phones and it was a tough job where people automatically treat you with contempt

Call Centres ? (1 Viewer)

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