Outsourcing to India-grrrrr

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

I think there may be a little bit of truth to that

When I was in undergrad, whenever I signed up for classes, I tried to pick classes that were taught by instructors who had "American" names. I once picked an 8am class over an 11am class because the latter was taught by a foreigner. I'm not a racist, but I do not have the patience to put up with the communication difficulties.

Well, I did too, for the same reason. But this is a little different - I don't get a choice to press one for Susie or press two for Apu. I get who I get, and their using a fake American name isn't going to improve my experience if they can't speak English - nor is their using an Indian name going to make the experience worse for me if they do speak clearly.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Well, I did too, for the same reason. But this is a little different - I don't get a choice to press one for Susie or press two for Apu. I get who I get, and their using a fake American name isn't going to improve my experience if they can't speak English - nor is their using an Indian name going to make the experience worse for me if they do speak clearly.

Yep. And really, how many times when the person says, "Hello, my name is Joubion, can I help you today?" are you actually going to say, "Well, Joubion, my problem is...". I don't think I've EVER addressed a CSRep by their "name".

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Yep. And really, how many times when the person says, "Hello, my name is Joubion, can I help you today?" are you actually going to say, "Well, Joubion, my problem is...". I don't think I've EVER addressed a CSRep by their "name".

You should actually start - I'm serious, too . . . it's the same reason why they call you by name (although they go way overboard), the more you can 'relate' to the agent and make them feel comfortable, the more likely you are to receive service above and beyond the 'normal' customer. It's natural, and it has decades of social science research to back it up - if you separate yourself from the unwashed masses while staying kind and understanding yet firm, you'll tend to get superior service from service workers (even in India).

It sounds lame, but with moderation it works beautifully - sorry for the aside, but it's been a great help for me when poop hits the fan.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

You should actually start - I'm serious, too . . . it's the same reason why they call you by name (although they go way overboard), the more you can 'relate' to the agent and make them feel comfortable, the more likely you are to receive service above and beyond the 'normal' customer. It's natural, and it has decades of social science research to back it up - if you separate yourself from the unwashed masses while staying kind and understanding yet firm, you'll tend to get superior service from service workers (even in India).

It sounds lame, but with moderation it works beautifully - sorry for the aside, but it's been a great help for me when poop hits the fan.

I understand your point, and I agree to a point, however, I tend to call them "Sir" and "Ma'am", and say please and thank you A LOT, and it works for me. If I was using their REAL NAME, I think the psychology would work like a charm, but I just think the sentiment gets muddled when what you're calling them isn't really even their name.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

You should actually start - I'm serious, too . . . it's the same reason why they call you by name (although they go way overboard), the more you can 'relate' to the agent and make them feel comfortable, the more likely you are to receive service above and beyond the 'normal' customer. It's natural, and it has decades of social science research to back it up - if you separate yourself from the unwashed masses while staying kind and understanding yet firm, you'll tend to get superior service from service workers (even in India).

It sounds lame, but with moderation it works beautifully - sorry for the aside, but it's been a great help for me when poop hits the fan.

I don't know if I agree, but it my just be my own personal feelings.

When I worked at the grocery store, we were required to waer name tags. Most people didn't address my by first name, but when they did, it made me feel very uncomfortable.

Please and thank you always works well for me.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Lady Pi Phi

When I worked at the grocery store, we were required to waer name tags. Most people didn't address my by first name, but when they did, it made me feel very uncomfortable.

i'm with you. When a salesman or "customer service representative" I don't know from Adam calls me by name it makes me feel uncomfortable and even a little like they're trying to manipulate me. Call me an outlier on the decades of social science research, but I think it's forced and unnatural -- they're trying to talk to me like we're friends when we're not. That's especially the case if they use my first name. A "Mr. MysticCat" at the beginning and end of the conversation is okay. Anything beyond that is annoying at best.

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Yep. And really, how many times when the person says, "Hello, my name is Joubion, can I help you today?" are you actually going to say, "Well, Joubion, my problem is...". I don't think I've EVER addressed a CSRep by their "name".

True, but I always make a note of the rep's name, so that if there is a problem later I can identify who I've talked with. That, as far as I'm concerned, is the only valuable reason for knowing the rep's name.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

i'm with you. When a salesman or "customer service representative" I don't know from Adam calls me by name it makes me feel uncomfortable and even a little like they're trying to manipulate me. Call me an outlier on the decades of social science research, but I think it's forced and unnatural -- they're trying to talk to me like we're friends when we're not. That's especially the case if they use my first name. A "Mr. MysticCat" at the beginning and end of the conversation is okay. Anything beyond that is annoying at best.

I always make a note of the rep's name, so that if there is a problem later I can identify who I've talked with. That, as far as I'm concerned, is the only valuable reason for knowing the rep's name.

As far as your first paragraph, I completely agree. This insistence on using first names at all, not to mention repeating it over and over, is very offensive to many older people (I mean senior citizens, not me). And don't get me started on people who keep calling me "Mrs" when I've made it VERY clear that it's "Miss." That just shows me you aren't listening to me at all.

If I'm calling on something that I feel the name to write the rep's name down, I'll probably ask them to spell it, no matter what nationality it is, just so I'm clear. Those call centers are noisy and someone can be speaking perfect English and not be heard clearly.

[AlphaFrog]

I love you dearly, S, but you set yourself up too perfectly for this one.

Originally Posted by 33girl

(I mean senior citizens, not me).

What's the difference?

[DaemonSeid]

I remember seeing a report on 60 Minutes about this.....here is the written portion

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in590004.shtml

[33girl]

Paula - you really should take your story to one of the local newspapers or television stations. I don't even have the words for how wrong your experience was.

I honestly think companies are going to start suffering a backlash from this.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Yep. And really, how many times when the person says, "Hello, my name is Joubion, can I help you today?" are you actually going to say, "Well, Joubion, my problem is...". I don't think I've EVER addressed a CSRep by their "name".

I never really paid attention to names of the customer service reps until recently. Then I had a dispute on my credit cardthat was supposed to be resolved (as told to me by "Jennifer"), but then the charge was back on the bill the next month plus a service fee. Well, when I called back I could tell them who I spoke to (I had doodled the name on the bill while I was on the phone) and it was taken care of very quickly. Now I always write the name down as well as the time and date.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoses

I never really paid attention to names of the customer service reps until recently. Then I had a dispute on my credit cardthat was supposed to be resolved (as told to me by "Jennifer"), but then the charge was back on the bill the next month plus a service fee. Well, when I called back I could tell them who I spoke to (I had doodled the name on the bill while I was on the phone) and it was taken care of very quickly. Now I always write the name down as well as the time and date.

I think most credit card companies and such have the same type of system as I did when I temped at a Credit Card Counseling Service. When they type your account number and bring up your account, it shows all of the credit activities and payments, as well as a log of your phone calls. When "Jennifer" talks to you, she will Timestamp your account and type in the highlights of your conversation. So, when you call the next time, the rep can see all of your activity and all of the phone calls you've ever made. Normally, when they say "Give me just a minute to bring up your account", they are actually taking that "minute" to quickly review the information from your last few calls, especially if the calls were recent.

[ForeverRoses]

^^^
I know they probably have a log of my calls, but I want them to know that I also know when I called and who I talked to. That way they can't lie and say they don't know what I am talking about! I've developed trust issues with call centers!

Which reminds me-- my sister sent me a Christmas gift from Amazon.com. When I opened the box the gift was there, plus another toy that was not on the packing slip and wasn't ordered by my sister. I assume the order filler messed up and gave me an item from someone else's order. I reallly don't feel like messing around with a call center to explain what happened-- or trudging to UPS to send it back!

[Kevin]

I called tech support a couple of days ago for something to do with my xbox360. I hadn't registered the system yet, so I did that. I gave my street info, city, then she asked me what "region" I lived in.

Region questions are very confusing to Oklahomans. We're not exactly a part of any particular region, so I asked her what she meant by "region."

The poor girl hazarded a guess -- that Oklahoma is in California.

I had to explain to her that no... Oklahoma is a state. In the United States, there are 50 separate states. That Oklahoma is just like Texas and California -- a state. I explained that if she click on the drop down menu by city, there would be a list of two-letter codes and that she should choose the letters "OK."

It got really interesting when I had to explain to her that I lived in a city called "Oklahoma City" in the state of Oklahoma. That was apparently very confusing.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I called tech support a couple of days ago for something to do with my xbox360. I hadn't registered the system yet, so I did that. I gave my street info, city, then she asked me what "region" I lived in.

Region questions are very confusing to Oklahomans. We're not exactly a part of any particular region, so I asked her what she meant by "region."

The poor girl hazarded a guess -- that Oklahoma is in California.

I had to explain to her that no... Oklahoma is a state. In the United States, there are 50 separate states. That Oklahoma is just like Texas and California -- a state. I explained that if she click on the drop down menu by city, there would be a list of two-letter codes and that she should choose the letters "OK."

It got really interesting when I had to explain to her that I lived in a city called "Oklahoma City" in the state of Oklahoma. That was apparently very confusing.

If she gets a call from someone in Indiana, PA she'll probably stab herself in the eye.