Rant on Outsourced Customer Service - GoFuckYourself.com

WonderWoman · 04-24-2007, 11:47 AM

Normally I dont do this but after talking to 3 different people from Travelocity to try to change one flight I have lost all patience. I remember a while back someone posting a thread about Dell's customer service in India and how horrible it was. I dont know about you but nothing annoys me more than someone that is just reading off a script word for word with no concept of the question you are asking them. I almost want to slam down the phone and forget abotu the whole thing. And for chrissakes people, we know your name is not George or Kathleen, or Bob. Whatever happened to proper customer service with some intuitiveness?!?!

I want to start a list of well known companies, banks, etc people do business with that are using customer service outsourced to India where people have had horrible experiences.

So far I have:

Citibank
Dell
Travelocity
HP

Please add to the list and share your experience.

WiredGuy · 04-24-2007, 11:51 AM

Ask to speak to supervisors right away, Dell is the worst and I can't understand half the english their support is speaking anyways. Just keep escalating it until they send you back to an American.
WG

Barefootsies · 04-24-2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Ask to speak to supervisors right away, Dell is the worst and I can't understand half the english their support is speaking anyways. Just keep escalating it until they send you back to an American.
WG

Exactly.

Most of those companies DO have American support people. However it's at the 2nd or third tier. So you have to get it escalated from first level script readers back to U.S. support.

A lot of the companies are set up this way, so you just have to know this, and make sure you escalate it so you can get to American customer service support.

WonderWoman · 04-24-2007, 12:18 PM

Thanks for that tip. I will be sure to use that next time before I lose my mind and throw the phone.

Barefootsies · 04-24-2007, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WonderWoman

Thanks for that tip. I will be sure to use that next time before I lose my mind and throw the phone.

More then welcome toots.

pornguy · 04-24-2007, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiredGuy

Ask to speak to supervisors right away, Dell is the worst and I can't understand half the english their support is speaking anyways. Just keep escalating it until they send you back to an American.
WG

Which seems to be getting harder and harder.

I think once the tax break is repealed for outsourcing, a lot of the companies will bring that stuff back to the US.

WonderWoman · 04-24-2007, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

More then welcome toots.

Wow I cant remember the last time I was called "toots". You know what... I think that may be a first.

TroubleTonya · 04-24-2007, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WonderWoman

Normally I dont do this but after talking to 3 different people from Travelocity to try to change one flight I have lost all patience. I remember a while back someone posting a thread about Dell's customer service in India and how horrible it was. I dont know about you but nothing annoys me more than someone that is just reading off a script word for word with no concept of the question you are asking them. I almost want to slam down the phone and forget abotu the whole thing. And for chrissakes people, we know your name is not George or Kathleen, or Bob. Whatever happened to proper customer service with some intuitiveness?!?!

I want to start a list of well known companies, banks, etc people do business with that are using customer service outsourced to India where people have had horrible experiences.

So far I have:

Citibank
Dell
Travelocity
HP

Please add to the list and share your experience.

To this list I'll add AOL- They started out sourcing all their inbound service before I quit. Now you are lucky to get an english speaking person no matter what you need. I have no problems with them having a job making a living as long as they can effectivly DO THIS JOB. Don't read me a script and pick up RIGHT where you left off when I ask a question. Thats really one of my most unfavorite things about calling major companies. Do you know why so many companies have decided to do this? George W Bush gave tax credits to all companies that out sourced their employees. Now how is that supposed to be good for our country? Dirty rotten bastard.

/end rant

CCBill Paul · 04-24-2007, 12:54 PM

I believe Sprint is the same way too.

I often call our own support just cause I love it when someone answers on the first ring!

ztik · 04-24-2007, 12:56 PM

Yeah, indian call centers make me loose faith in the company. Hate "talking" to those people

Sprint has both Indian and US, you just have to call the US support number.

tranza · 04-24-2007, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WonderWoman

I want to start a list of well known companies, banks, etc people do business with that are using customer service outsourced to India where people have had horrible experiences.

So far I have:

Citibank
Dell
Travelocity
HP

Every single company out there with phone customer support are outsourced.

Wizzo · 04-24-2007, 01:00 PM

The only bad experience in recent memory was with NON-outsourced customer support for Comcast. A neighbor's internet wasn't working, so I went over to have look and everything was setup correct, but just couldn't get any connection. So I called them they had me go thru a bunch of worthless hoops, then attempted to ping a website it failed which I had already tried, so sent me to someone else who could ping the modem from their end and said everything was fine and they only provide support to the modem and that if the computer won't connect to the modem they have no solution... haha

AZSarah · 04-24-2007, 01:03 PM

US Airways

And yes, ALWAYS, ask for a supervisor immediatley.

baddog · 04-24-2007, 01:08 PM

Hate to break it to you, but many companies that don't outsource, use scripted flow charts for their customer service.

I used to work for the phone company, and for a short while was placed in the service office where all the paperwork is done. In an effort to make sure I understood every facet of the operation I arranged to have myself trained for every department, including sitting in as a 611 repair clerk.

Having worked outside, actually fixing the problems people were calling in reporting to 611 I was astonished at the inaccuracies of the flowchart and the questions we were supposed to ask depending on the previous answer.

It made me at least understand why the repair ticket I got in the field had nothing to do with the actual problem the customer was reporting.

baddog · 04-24-2007, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranza

Every single company out there with phone customer support are outsourced.

maybe in Brazil

96ukssob · 04-24-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ_Sarah_Maxcash

US Airways

And yes, ALWAYS, ask for a supervisor immediatley.

OMG yes they are the worst IMO. Ive had horrible experiences while dealing with them. every phone call is at least 45 minutes, mainly repeating myself 8 times. They fucked up my tickets last november to fly home and see family and charged me $600 more for a flight, to which im still waiting for a refund (that ill probably never see)

the only way i have found to deal with someone that can understand english is to ask for someone in the "internet claims devision" or "accounting." they will be confused on why you were transfered there, but tell them you have been on the phone for over 2 hours and asked to speak to a manager about your problem... they will most likely help

back to the topic... in a corporate world, it saves a LOT of money. in most cases people call in for questions to things that they can most likely figure out on their own. Linksys customer support is probably the best outsourced support ive had to deal with

04-24-2007, 11:47 AM	#1
WonderWoman Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: LA Posts: 1,439	Rant on Outsourced Customer Service Normally I dont do this but after talking to 3 different people from Travelocity to try to change one flight I have lost all patience. I remember a while back someone posting a thread about Dell's customer service in India and how horrible it was. I dont know about you but nothing annoys me more than someone that is just reading off a script word for word with no concept of the question you are asking them. I almost want to slam down the phone and forget abotu the whole thing. And for chrissakes people, we know your name is not George or Kathleen, or Bob. Whatever happened to proper customer service with some intuitiveness?!?! I want to start a list of well known companies, banks, etc people do business with that are using customer service outsourced to India where people have had horrible experiences. So far I have: Citibank Dell Travelocity HP Please add to the list and share your experience. __________________ Lubna ICQ: 321946016

04-24-2007, 11:51 AM	#2
WiredGuy Pounding Googlebot Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 34,484	Ask to speak to supervisors right away, Dell is the worst and I can't understand half the english their support is speaking anyways. Just keep escalating it until they send you back to an American. WG __________________ I play with Google.

04-24-2007, 12:18 PM	#4
WonderWoman Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: LA Posts: 1,439	Thanks for that tip. I will be sure to use that next time before I lose my mind and throw the phone. __________________ Lubna ICQ: 321946016

04-24-2007, 12:54 PM	#9
CCBill Paul Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cardinal Nation Posts: 1,005	I believe Sprint is the same way too. I often call our own support just cause I love it when someone answers on the first ring! __________________ Paulk @ CCBill.com \| icq 248615940

04-24-2007, 12:56 PM	#10
ztik Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Nomad Posts: 5,196	Yeah, indian call centers make me loose faith in the company. Hate "talking" to those people Sprint has both Indian and US, you just have to call the US support number. __________________ .

04-24-2007, 01:00 PM	#12
Wizzo 2011 GFY Hall of Fame! Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Back in Texas! Posts: 15,224	The only bad experience in recent memory was with NON-outsourced customer support for Comcast. A neighbor's internet wasn't working, so I went over to have look and everything was setup correct, but just couldn't get any connection. So I called them they had me go thru a bunch of worthless hoops, then attempted to ping a website it failed which I had already tried, so sent me to someone else who could ping the modem from their end and said everything was fine and they only provide support to the modem and that if the computer won't connect to the modem they have no solution... haha __________________ Looking for Opportunity!

04-24-2007, 01:03 PM	#13
AZSarah Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The Bird, AZ Posts: 1,651	US Airways And yes, ALWAYS, ask for a supervisor immediatley. __________________ Icq- 470-936-598

04-24-2007, 01:08 PM	#14
baddog So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: the beach, SoCal Posts: 107,089	Hate to break it to you, but many companies that don't outsource, use scripted flow charts for their customer service. I used to work for the phone company, and for a short while was placed in the service office where all the paperwork is done. In an effort to make sure I understood every facet of the operation I arranged to have myself trained for every department, including sitting in as a 611 repair clerk. Having worked outside, actually fixing the problems people were calling in reporting to 611 I was astonished at the inaccuracies of the flowchart and the questions we were supposed to ask depending on the previous answer. It made me at least understand why the repair ticket I got in the field had nothing to do with the actual problem the customer was reporting.