I had a funny/weird experience with tech support today (Symantic Norton Antivirus)

Anway, I had to call 3 different times, and I ended up speaking to about 6 different agents. They were all obviously from India, but they all had such "American" sounding names like "John", "Peggy", "Alice" and "Dave".

These are obviously not their real names...but I think the reason Symantic re-baptised them is that the average middle American would be scared off if they heard names like "Rajvinder" or "Arun" or "Baljit".

I felt bad for them...it must be humiliating having to hide your real name.

wow that's awful.

The company may have done it to make people think before shouting, "PUT ME ON THE PHONE WITH SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS FUCKING ENGLISH!" Everyone I know who works in a call center deals with that now.

But really, it is humiliating for a company to do that.

That's why it pays to have friends in IT.

I mean this in as non-racist a manner as possible, but I find it incredible that so many companies move their call centre operations overseas to any (largely) non-English-speaking country. Don't get me wrong, if it improves the standard of living for those people, I do find it hard to object. What concerns me is that the call centres are always for customer service purposes and you'd think that any company would be interested in having the most well-spoken people manning the phones as possible (I suppose that probably rules out half the UK population as well).

Even regional differences in accent here in the UK can be difficult. I've heard about English customers' calls going through to Scottish operators, and even that can prove a challenge for both parties. It can't be easy for an Asian operator to deal with a British customer, and vice-versa.

Am I the only person that thinks this way? You're paying people to speak to your customers, wouldn't you want the most capable people for that job?


But yeah, it's incredible that they'd have their Asian operators be known as western names. I wonder how many Asian operators' lives were made a misery by ignorant customers before the people at the top reached that solution. And it's likely still a fairly miserable job when you can't even be addressed by your own name. It blows my mind.

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Deux hommes font une promenade amicale. L'un des deux porte un parapluie à son bras.
Il se met à pleuvoir. L'homme n'ouvre pas son parapluie et l'autre lui demande pourquoi.
- Parce que ça ne servirait à rien, lui répond son ami. Il est plein de trous.
- Alors, pourquoi l'as-tu pris?
- Parce que je ne pensais pas qu'il pleuvrait.

why does dell hire people in india to do the customer service for americans? i called them and couldnt understand a thing they said, it was quite frustrating

I guess because they're cheaper to employ and intelligent. It's quite sad though.

I send anyone who can't understand English through to interpretive services. Because I'm the one answering phones to people who have just emigrated from like Afghanistan and shit and want the internet.

Mostly the interpreters are just as hard to understand as the customer.

The phone sucks because at least face to face you can play charades.

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I had a similar exp. today as well...i was changing some flight reservations through Expedia..and i kept having to call back because they would never send me my Email confirmation to confirm my updated flight...and each time i explained what my problems was..they all answered with the exact same response, in a generic sounding accent. It really pissed me off, because they couldnt understand fully what my problem was..so then i asked to speak to a manger of some sort...AND SHE WAS THE EXACT SAME WAY!!

It only pisses me off because there are a million Americans looking for jobs..but alot of companies outsource their work.

Whatever though, right? Im still pissy from the situation though.

This makes me laugh.

lolololoolol.

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CELL NUMBER 1-780-861-1326

I can lead the nation with a microphone. I can split the atom of a molecule.

heh heh watch this

http://www.friendsoffoamy.com/index.php?id=144

lovely foamy the squirrel

i'm just sick to death of having calls from people quite obviously from india with fake american accents who call me ma'am (only word i can understand, really) and say i've been chosen for a free digital camera. i start speaking french or danish when i realise i've got one of those calls now, then hang up. seems to be the only thing thats works, no matter how many times you say "not interested" or "fuck off" ARGGH!!!



oh yes in reference to large companies moving thier customer service etc offshore to places like India, the Indian privacy laws are alot different to what is in place in western countries - your personal details are going there, possibly being sold. I'm sure you all know though, it's been well documented recently.

i so love that video. i have a foamy soundboard.

my friend rob works/ed in the call centre for AOL. when he started there he had to go on a course to learn how to speak in an american accent. for reals. and if someone asked where he was frm he had to say america somewhere.


lol english is his first language etc but anyway. it's pretty funny

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you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking

Did you know, just for those people tio have that call center job, they are required to have a bachlors degree for it?

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lol. i doubt that.

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you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking

I rather doubt that too. Here in the UK you can leave school with fairly standard qualifications and walk into a call centre job.

__________________
Deux hommes font une promenade amicale. L'un des deux porte un parapluie à son bras.
Il se met à pleuvoir. L'homme n'ouvre pas son parapluie et l'autre lui demande pourquoi.
- Parce que ça ne servirait à rien, lui répond son ami. Il est plein de trous.
- Alors, pourquoi l'as-tu pris?
- Parce que je ne pensais pas qu'il pleuvrait.

Now that is sick!

eek

i think its one of those urban legends that people in the third world are either so desperate for jobs that someone with a degree has to work in a call centre because shitty work thrown at them from america is the only industry in the country and golly gee they're just so grateful for it or an indian bachelors degree is worth so little the only job it will get you is one in a call centre.

but really, the few people with degrees can get good jobs easily. there are loads of rich people in even the poorest countries. it's the millions who have no education that are unemployed and starving

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you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking