Speak English.... 21

[snootalope]

Wow, I don't know about you all, but I'm SICK of talking to tech support people who can't speak a darn bit of good english.

I spend a reasonable amount of time on the phone with different support teams and every single one of them from Arcserve to Microsoft Windows 2003 have moved all their support stuff out of the country (USA) and into the middle of places where people can barely pronounce the word Windows.. How the heck are we supposed to get something done when we can't even understand what they're telling us.

I've been playing phone tag with one company for three weeks because everytime they leave me a message and tell me to email them something for a particular support case, I CAN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR SAYING WHEN THEY SPELL OUT THE EMAIL ADDRESS!!! Of course, when i call back, i get someone who can even pronounce my 5 letter name, and they can't seem to reach the tech who just called me 5 minutes before...

Anyway.. I just had to vent.

If you ask me, IT is going the way of whatever is cheapest is best. It's BS and not customer friendly at all!! If I call the United States support number, I want to talk to someone who's from the United States!!!

 

[Sympology]

Yes I've called them, they we're ok.

Let's face most support is poor no matter where. The pay is rubbish, the prospects worse. Anyone with half a brain, starts in support then quickly moves on, leaving the dummies behind...

Stu..

PS 100th thread... wahoo..

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[philhege]

We finally cut the cable last night. So I called the friendly customer service folks at our cable provider. After navigating the phone menu and holding for ten minutes, I got a live person:

Brian: "Hi, this is Brian, how may I help you today?"
Me: "I need to disconnect my service."
[at this point, his volume goes down to almost zero]
Brian: "Um, what's the reason for leaving us?"
Me: "I can't hear you now. Your volume was fine when you first answered."
Brian [at the same volume]: "I'm sorry about that, sir. What's the reason for discontinuing your service?"
Me: "I'm tired of paying for cable TV."
Brian: "Hold on, I'll connect you with an associate that can help."
[On hold ten more minutes]
Caitlin: [at normal volume] "Hi, my name is Caitlin, how may I help you this evening?"
Me: "I want to disconnect my service."
Caitlin: [at a much, much lower volume] "What is the reason for discontinuing your cable service with us?"
Me: "I can barely hear you. I'm just tired of paying for cable television."
Caitlin: [silence]
Me: "Hello?"
Caitlin: "Yes, sir, I'm here. Let me connect you with one of our processors."
[on hold for fifteen more minutes]
Sherry: [at normal volume] "Hi, my name is Caitlin, how may I help you this evening?"
Me: "I want to disconnect my service."
Sherry: [at a much, much, much lower volume] "What is the reason for discontinuing your cable service with us?"
Me: "I can't hear you very well. I'm just tired of paying for cable television."
Sherry: "OK, ...." [and finally the deal was done.]

They all spoke flawless English, but that didn't help any. Sometimes it's not just the language, but the level of service.

My US$.02

 

[Stella740pl]

philhege,

I am puzzled, why would Sherry tell that her name is Caitlin? :-D

 

[harebrain]

why would Sherry tell that her name is Caitlin?

It's obvious: when a customer wants to discontinue service, that's when they have to get Big Brother to listen in. Sherry, being tipped off in advance, uses a false name so that when she completes the transaction, she doesn't get the blame for losing the customer.

 

[philhege]

Plus, philhege forgot to paste the right name in.

/Time to go home

 

[Sympology]

And feel sorry for us poor mugs that have to support these call centre. We have one in a offshore location.
The agents speak one language, the managers another and the telcos / service providers a third.

On our system I have, French, Italian, English, Dutch & Romanian speaking agents to support.

You can imagine the emails and conversations that happens if there is a problem!

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[burtsbees]

Que?

 

[gurner]

Que?"

you think these call centre's actually know how to fix something?

their tech when they have a problem is probably back in the UK or US.

Gurner

 

[ajetrumpet]

The sad thing about this whole outsourcing deal is the bottom line that most outsources (especially american companies) want (LOW COST). It tells you two things...

1)Companies are uncertain they can keep their competitive advantage.
2)Corporate environments, in general, are greedy entities.

Usually, the thought of "being rich" superseeds rational decision making, which is one of the reasons more and more people become deprived of great living conditions....That really disappoints me, but not because people are naturally greedy, but because people are too IGNORANT to FORSEE the CONSEQUENCES of their ACTIONS. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this behavior has not been around since the beginning of time, I'm sure it has.

I have also spoken with many people (especially in India) in call centers, and not all foreigners are ignorant in their business, even if they don't speak good English! I try not to take my frustration out on them when I absolutely HAVE TO CALL a center, because I know that most of them are working in such facilities as a result of greedy corporate environments.

If one company initiates a drastic move like outsourcing, the rest have to follow to survive because of the nature of human beings. I believe this concept is know in the retail world as "the downward spiral of pricing". Keep doing this, and eventually you get a world that lives on welfare. But we don't have any forsight, so how do you stop that from happening? Answer me this...

-J

 

[snootalope]

If one company initiates a drastic move like outsourcing, the rest have to follow to survive because of the nature of human beings." - What?

If I'm the president of company A and watch company B make a move like outsourcing their support to India, I'm thinking sweet, they're struggling and trying to make ends meet and they just made another step in the wrong direction. That's just my opinion..

Just goes to show ya, you can give anyone in the world a degree or certification and the book power to do something, but it still doesn't make them knowledgeable.

 

[ajetrumpet]

You're right about that snootalope, but let me throw something else at you.

Outsourcing = Lower payroll cost = Lower production costs = Lower consumer prices = HAPPIER consumers = MORE customers.

If you're in company A and you start losing customers to company B because of lower prices, what do you do to COMPETE for the business!? Why do you think Wal-Mart is a muti-billion dollar company?

Another scenario for you
_______________________________________

Boost standard of living in countries with high populations = potential LOYAL consumer base + large number of consumers = REPUTATION = repeat customers = corporate growth = rising stock price (BOTTOM LINE to most CEOs!)

GENERAL Human Nature=Take first, then give, if give at all!
My opinion on giving (not JUST money, but contributions to society in general) = You can get a lot more from life by contributing at least the amount you get from it (money, energy, care, understanding, etc...)
-J

 

[snootalope]

I see what you're saying, and it's definitely true. However, I see it as a double-edged sword. Their customers are happy to buy something from company B instead of company A because it's cheaper. Nice. However, what happens two months later when something goes wrong and you need help? Hello international circus IT support show. Suddenly, the customer who was happy as could be two months is now pulling their hair out by the handful and swearing on their dog that they'll never buy from this company again. Ahhh, and it's all word of mouth and downhill from there for company B. So, myself at company A, who still has the outstanding awards for support cause we take care of our customers properly, continue to charge the extra $50 or $150 per system because we know that people like issues resolved as soon as possible with as little talk as possible. Not an education in the Hindu language or whatever it is...

Just like you said, REPEAT CUSTOMERS, you take that out of the mix and it's only a matter of time before you're calling the lawyers and looking at the paths of bankruptcy. Where as Company A is choosing which path to take as far as new outstanding sales and deals to pick up the folks that company B just lost. The curtain can only hide the show for so long....

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!

 

[ajetrumpet]

Good point snootalope!
Sorry....I'm referring to society as a whole, not to certain industries such as IT management, where your customer base depends almost entirely on SUPPORT. IT is so complex and confusing....that is a necessity, of course! But see, most corporate businesses outside of the technology sector can afford to sacrifice customer support because their sales are entirely dependent on WANTS of people or TRENDY cycles. Don't need much knowledge swap there! All you need is the desire to "keep up with Jones family" (to quote a popular phrase). The corporate world loves TRENDS, because it means high probabilies of sales and profit!
Proctor & Gamble is a perfect example of this...they are capitalizing on the explosion of Non-profit entities and the diminishing view by society, regarding profit as HIGHEST priority. Their biggest selling point is the humanitarianism and increase in quality of life that's happening in Africa because of their business (ex-the PUR water filtration product).

As the technology sector expands and more possiblities come into play within that sector (products, services, explorations, research, etc.) I think the value of your strategy will increase dramatically. I think you're absolutely right. You certainly don't want to adopt a Wal-Mart type slogan (Always low support, ALWAYS!)

=) =) OOPS! Can you hearing that on the automated system when you call a support desk!?

-J

 

[ajetrumpet]

I was watching CNBC a few months ago and apparently an oil company (I think it was ExxonMobile or Chevron) REJECTED a proposal by environmental lobbyists to "go green" (whatever that means...) because they explicitly stated at the conference that their purpose is to MAKE MONEY and doing so would reduce the benifits of their shareholders! How do you like that!? If they were in the retail industry, they would probably lose customers, but the oil industry...well...everyone needs to be driving a car at some point, and they know this. Even if they do take a hit, it probably won't be much due to the needs of their product!
-J

 

[jsteph]

The problem, in my opinion, has to do with the short time frame in which the cost savings are realized. Many CEO's are incented on a quarter-by-quarter or year-by-year. And then look at the length of time most CEO's spend with a place--less than 3 years on average would be my guess.

So they make these decisions knowing that sure, there may be long term losses due to lost customers (due to bad service, etc), but in the short term they get the 7-figure bonus for the short term profit boost, and they get big kudos in the business mags. Then they get offers from the next company, and there gone by the time any ramifications from the axing and outsourcing starts making a dent in the bottom line.

However, when everyone follows suit, then the general level of service goes down across the board, so from a relative standpoint maybe that company doesn't really lose market share. If you get upset with Company A's outsourced help, you may get the same from Company B, and you'd be going from the frying pan into the fire.
--Jim

 

[burtsbees]

Hi---my name is Bob, and I am from Guatemala. Please reboot your machine and please to do the thing to is be I am to how to please and what to call back when you are done. Thank you for choosing AT&T---please to be on the telling me to how did I do with all of telling you on the to be in the help part of this call. Please for you in the thing to be on the part when you to be on a have a nice day."

Thank goodness I'm a technician and not a doctor!

Burt

 

[ajetrumpet]

Was all of that just for rebooting your machine?
I can only imagine what you could muster out of someone like that if you had a question about the I-Phone...go AT&T!

 

[burtsbees]

The reboot thing is their answer to everything...
"My car is smoking a lot..."
"Try to please be on the rebooting please."
At least tell me to ask my car to try and quit smoking, or take its cigarette money away...ha ha.

Burt

 

[snootalope]

HAHA, that always cracks me up... "please reboot or restart..." "Do that and call us back if it doesn't work" - yeah sure! I'll do a 40 second reboot after sitting on hold for 52 minutes just to get back on to hold for another 50 minutes!

I love saying "...you honestly think I sat on hold for almost an hour to have you tell me to reboot something. Um, no"

Oh well, i guess they gotta start somewhere...

BUT HEY! This thread was created for complaining about people who can't speak english when an english person calls to get support from the english dealer they bought it from in the english speaking country they live in!

I wonder how many of those foreign techs remember people's information and how ignorant they are and go home and use their info against them.....it's probably scary.

 

[ajetrumpet]

Well, the initiator of this griping pool returns to the scene of the crime....

I was talking with a co-worker today who told me that Dell lost a whole lot of business or had many upset customers or something because of their outsourcing frenzy. And the issue was understanding of the tech help.

I also read an article just today about India...apparently the outsourcing gig is now backfiring against companies, especially those who have tech people in India. I read that analysts are predicting a 50-100% increase in wages in India over the next year or so. If Indian people are smart, they've realize how the corporate world has taken advantage of the. Either that, or corporate America has taken capitalistic wisdom into other countries and have gotten taken over by the intelligence they brought into the places to begin with. If the article is right, Indian people now have enough knowledge about technology (thanks to corporate business) to demand outrageous wages (in their eyes) just like we do. If that's case, now where do they go to lower costs?? Somebody has to do the work!
Answer me this....