Call Centres

[cybercoma]

Well, I've been calling around today to change my address and I noticed a trend with call centres. RBC, ScotiaBank, Telus and Cogeco Cable were all answered by people who I could hardly understand through their thick accents.

This doesn't make me racist, does it? I mean....is it too much to ask to be able to talk to someone whom I can understand? It's very difficult trying to do business with someone who can't understand you and whom you have a difficult time understanding.

[lost&outofcontrol]

Well, I've been calling around today to change my address and I noticed a trend with call centres. RBC, ScotiaBank, Telus and Cogeco Cable were all answered by people who I could hardly understand through their thick accents.

This doesn't make me racist, does it? I mean....is it too much to ask to be able to talk to someone whom I can understand? It's very difficult trying to do business with someone who can't understand you and whom you have a difficult time understanding.

Welcome to (Washington's)globalization, where labour capital is marginalized every day.

[Shakeyhands]

but the cost savings are making a lot of people money on their stock dividends.... aren't they???

Sam Palimassano (CEO and Chairman of IBM) made $26M last year, I know personally of about 20 (out of 100's) people who lost their jobs there last year in what are simply called "Job Actions" IBM has new call centers in India, Brazil and Argentina replacing them. We won't talk of the sale of IBM's PC division to Lenovo.

[Riverwind]

This doesn't make me racist, does it? I mean....is it too much to ask to be able to talk to someone whom I can understand? It's very difficult trying to do business with someone who can't understand you and whom you have a difficult time understanding.

Outsourcing to India is the latest fad and CEOs feel compelled to do it even if it does not make long term business sense. In the perverse world of CEO compensation, a CEO is better off if they outsource to India and have it fail miserably than keep the jobs where they are because cost savings due to lower costs show up immediately and are more obvious than revenue losses due to bad service.

[cybercoma]

I'm not altogether convinced that these were even call centres IN India.. Instead, I think they were call centres in Canada, employed by people of those ethnicities whose accents I find incredibly difficult to understand. It just makes doing business incredibly difficult.

[Renegade]

I'm not altogether convinced that these were even call centres IN India.. Instead, I think they were call centres in Canada, employed by people of those ethnicities whose accents I find incredibly difficult to understand. It just makes doing business incredibly difficult.

You should complain. Not because you are racist but because clear communication is a fundamental requirement for a call center. Regardless of the race of the operator, the company operating the call-center is expected to man it with competent staff who can communicate clearly with their customers.

If you don't complain, how are they going to know?

[GostHacked]

I work in a call center for a major ISP in the US. (But I am in Ottawa Canada).

HA you think some of us have bad accents? Ever talk to Memphis? Carolinas? Mississippi? FFS I have conversed with BOOMHAURS (King of the Hill).

Alot of the people you talk to are in North America, and some are immigrants who do have accents. On my team there is about 15% that have some type of accent. It happens. It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

PLEASE pronounce your words correctly. Do not get pissed when I ask for your information 3 times because I could not understand you and I need to get the CORRECT information.

I could go on, I know where you are comming from though.

[Renegade]

It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

Customers do not have a choice in the channel they use to contact you. There is an expectation on clear verbal communication for you as a Call Center operator, you can't expect the same level for customers.

[GostHacked]

It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

Customers do not have a choice in the channel they use to contact you. There is an expectation on clear verbal communication for you as a Call Center operator, you can't expect the same level for customers.

I can and do. How do you expect me to support you properly when you :

A) cannot pronounce things correctly

don't know what your talking about (and give me crap when MY answer is not good enough for you)

Remember you CALLED ME for support. So be clear on the issue and your words. It is not about the only channel they can use to contact you. I am talking about speaking clear and consice. If I cannot understand you, how do you expect me to support you. And vice versa. Think about it. Try it, mumble your ass off the next time you call in for some support. See how far that gets. Frustration on both sides will be had.

This is comming from a person who has 4 years in a call center environment working on several contracts. I know what I am talking about here.

Most of us in call centers are on a time restraint, usually it is an agreement between the call center and the client (like and ISP) We have service levels agreements to adhear to. I make it a point to be clear to my customers. Most of them are clear with me, and things flow smoothly. Issue gets resolved faster when both parties comminicate properly.

[Renegade]

It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

Customers do not have a choice in the channel they use to contact you. There is an expectation on clear verbal communication for you as a Call Center operator, you can't expect the same level for customers.

I can and do. How do you expect me to support you properly when you :

A) cannot pronounce things correctly

don't know what your talking about (and give me crap when MY answer is not good enough for you)

Remember you CALLED ME for support. So be clear on the issue and your words. It is not about the only channel they can use to contact you. I am talking about speaking clear and consice. If I cannot understand you, how do you expect me to support you. And vice versa. Think about it. Try it, mumble your ass off the next time you call in for some support. See how far that gets. Frustration on both sides will be had.

This is comming from a person who has 4 years in a call center environment working on several contracts. I know what I am talking about here.

Most of us in call centers are on a time restraint, usually it is an agreement between the call center and the client (like and ISP) We have service levels agreements to adhear to. I make it a point to be clear to my customers. Most of them are clear with me, and things flow smoothly. Issue gets resolved faster when both parties comminicate properly.

Ok let's say the customer doesn't speak english as a first language, how do you expect him/her to get support? I would bet the ISP doesn't make it a requirement for their customer to have english as a first language before they sell them the product.

[GostHacked]

It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

Customers do not have a choice in the channel they use to contact you. There is an expectation on clear verbal communication for you as a Call Center operator, you can't expect the same level for customers.

I can and do. How do you expect me to support you properly when you :

A) cannot pronounce things correctly

don't know what your talking about (and give me crap when MY answer is not good enough for you)

Remember you CALLED ME for support. So be clear on the issue and your words. It is not about the only channel they can use to contact you. I am talking about speaking clear and consice. If I cannot understand you, how do you expect me to support you. And vice versa. Think about it. Try it, mumble your ass off the next time you call in for some support. See how far that gets. Frustration on both sides will be had.

This is comming from a person who has 4 years in a call center environment working on several contracts. I know what I am talking about here.

Most of us in call centers are on a time restraint, usually it is an agreement between the call center and the client (like and ISP) We have service levels agreements to adhear to. I make it a point to be clear to my customers. Most of them are clear with me, and things flow smoothly. Issue gets resolved faster when both parties comminicate properly.

Ok let's say the customer doesn't speak english as a first language, how do you expect him/her to get support? I would bet the ISP doesn't make it a requirement for their customer to have english as a first language before they sell them the product.

You are right about that. And the ISP does not really care if you do not speak English. Also if you are in the US or Canada, you should make it a point to learn the language. It helps. If I was to move to Germany, I should learn the language to make things easier for me.

Some companies have multiple language support. In Canada you can get service in French or English. In the US most companies offer English and Spanish. But if English is not your first language, you may be better off having someone else call in to relay the issue. I am not required to give you support in your native language, chances are I don't speak it. But if you accepted the terms of agreement in your ISP contract, you would already know (hopefully you read the Terms of Service Agreement which 95% of us do not) that the support would be in English only or you would know the list of languages supported.

English is the main language we use and support. Companies cannot spend and pay for certain employees to speak a certain language for a small customer base in regards to the overall scheme of things. Cost effective to have support in one or two languages.

Most of the contracts we have are in English and Spanish. The Spanish support is small overall compared to English.

[Renegade]

You are right about that. And the ISP does not really care if you do not speak English. Also if you are in the US or Canada, you should make it a point to learn the language. It helps. If I was to move to Germany, I should learn the language to make things easier for me.

Some companies have multiple language support. In Canada you can get service in French or English. In the US most companies offer English and Spanish. But if English is not your first language, you may be better off having someone else call in to relay the issue. I am not required to give you support in your native language, chances are I don't speak it. But if you accepted the terms of agreement in your ISP contract, you would already know (hopefully you read the Terms of Service Agreement which 95% of us do not) that the support would be in English only or you would know the list of languages supported.

English is the main language we use and support. Companies cannot spend and pay for certain employees to speak a certain language for a small customer base in regards to the overall scheme of things. Cost effective to have support in one or two languages.

Most of the contracts we have are in English and Spanish. The Spanish support is small overall compared to English.

I am not suggesting that support be provided in the caller's native language, and I quite agree that the onus is on a non-English or French speaker to learn the language of the home country.

I have no doubt that the caller is expecting to talk to an English call-center.

I am simply suggesting that since the company selling the service makes it the only requirement of the customer that they have the money, and not specific technical skills or language skills, that call center operators should be more tolerant or find another line of work.

[GostHacked]

You are right about that. And the ISP does not really care if you do not speak English. Also if you are in the US or Canada, you should make it a point to learn the language. It helps. If I was to move to Germany, I should learn the language to make things easier for me.

Some companies have multiple language support. In Canada you can get service in French or English. In the US most companies offer English and Spanish. But if English is not your first language, you may be better off having someone else call in to relay the issue. I am not required to give you support in your native language, chances are I don't speak it. But if you accepted the terms of agreement in your ISP contract, you would already know (hopefully you read the Terms of Service Agreement which 95% of us do not) that the support would be in English only or you would know the list of languages supported.

English is the main language we use and support. Companies cannot spend and pay for certain employees to speak a certain language for a small customer base in regards to the overall scheme of things. Cost effective to have support in one or two languages.

Most of the contracts we have are in English and Spanish. The Spanish support is small overall compared to English.

I am not suggesting that support be provided in the caller's native language, and I quite agree that the onus is on a non-English or French speaker to learn the language of the home country.

I have no doubt that the caller is expecting to talk to an English call-center.

I am simply suggesting that since the company selling the service makes it the only requirement of the customer that they have the money, and not specific technical skills or language skills, that call center operators should be more tolerant or find another line of work.

Tolerance? Wrong word. Patience. And I have alot of it. Call centers are not for everyone this is true. Takes a certain frame of mind to be able to do it.

[Renegade]

Tolerance? Wrong word. Patience. And I have alot of it. Call centers are not for everyone this is true. Takes a certain frame of mind to be able to do it.

Probably some of both are needed.

[August1991]

Welcome to (Washington's)globalization, where labour capital is marginalized every day.

What does Washington have to do with this issue?

If you don't like the service you receive through a call centre, you are free to go to a different provider or bank or whatever. Your wealth is truly defined by the choices you have. (And this raises the fundamental problem with Canada's health care and education systems: lack of choice.)

Outsourcing to India is the latest fad and CEOs feel compelled to do it even if it does not make long term business sense. In the perverse world of CEO compensation, a CEO is better off if they outsource to India and have it fail miserably than keep the jobs where they are because cost savings due to lower costs show up immediately and are more obvious than revenue losses due to bad service.

Are you suggesting that a CEO has an interest in making decisions for short-term gain even if they incur larger long-term costs?

That's tantamount to saying that people would prefer a Hyundai Sonata to a Jaguar because the Sonata is cheaper to buy new and during the first you drive them, there's no difference.

Car buyers don't think that way, and neither do CEOs or stock analysts.

[Biblio Bibuli]

I work in a call center for a major ISP in the US. (But I am in Ottawa Canada).

HA you think some of us have bad accents? Ever talk to Memphis? Carolinas? Mississippi? FFS I have conversed with BOOMHAURS (King of the Hill).

Oh yeah! Every call centre I get seems to be manned by people from VERY deep in Dixie.

It's sort of like listening to the Katrina victims. You know they're feeling pain but you have no damned idea what they're saying.

[BubberMiley]

I'm not altogether convinced that these were even call centres IN India.. Instead, I think they were call centres in Canada, employed by people of those ethnicities whose accents I find incredibly difficult to understand. It just makes doing business incredibly difficult.

How would you know where they are?

[GostHacked]

I work in a call center for a major ISP in the US. (But I am in Ottawa Canada).

HA you think some of us have bad accents? Ever talk to Memphis? Carolinas? Mississippi? FFS I have conversed with BOOMHAURS (King of the Hill).

Oh yeah! Every call centre I get seems to be manned by people from VERY deep in Dixie.

It's sort of like listening to the Katrina victims. You know they're feeling pain but you have no damned idea what they're saying.

That is the Jackson Monroe area.. that IS the deep saouth!

[lost&outofcontrol]

I work in a call center for a major ISP in the US. (But I am in Ottawa Canada).

Do you work for Taima Inc (or is it Synergy Inc now) ?

Welcome to (Washington's)globalization, where labour capital is marginalized every day.

What does Washington have to do with this issue?

Sorry, I meant the Washington concensus.

[GostHacked]

I work in a call center for a major ISP in the US. (But I am in Ottawa Canada).

Do you work for Taima Inc (or is it Synergy Inc now) ?

Welcome to (Washington's)globalization, where labour capital is marginalized every day.

What does Washington have to do with this issue?

Sorry, I meant the Washington concensus.

Well it WAS Taima.

[cybercoma]

It also pisses me off when people cannot pronouce stuff correctly. As much as you cannot understand me, I cannot understand you.

Customers do not have a choice in the channel they use to contact you. There is an expectation on clear verbal communication for you as a Call Center operator, you can't expect the same level for customers.

I can and do. How do you expect me to support you properly when you :

A) cannot pronounce things correctly

don't know what your talking about (and give me crap when MY answer is not good enough for you)

Remember you CALLED ME for support. So be clear on the issue and your words. It is not about the only channel they can use to contact you. I am talking about speaking clear and consice. If I cannot understand you, how do you expect me to support you. And vice versa. Think about it. Try it, mumble your ass off the next time you call in for some support. See how far that gets. Frustration on both sides will be had.

This is comming from a person who has 4 years in a call center environment working on several contracts. I know what I am talking about here.

Most of us in call centers are on a time restraint, usually it is an agreement between the call center and the client (like and ISP) We have service levels agreements to adhear to. I make it a point to be clear to my customers. Most of them are clear with me, and things flow smoothly. Issue gets resolved faster when both parties comminicate properly.

I make it a point to speak clear and enunciate, being sure to answer specifically the questions they're asking when I'm talking to call centre employees. But, I want to smash my phone into little pieces when I can't understand the questions they're asking because they can't pronounce words in english very well. Call me a picky consumer, but that drives me mental. I think, as Renegade said, clear and concise communication should be a pre-requisite for working in a call centre.

[cybercoma]

I'm not altogether convinced that these were even call centres IN India.. Instead, I think they were call centres in Canada, employed by people of those ethnicities whose accents I find incredibly difficult to understand. It just makes doing business incredibly difficult.

How would you know where they are?

Well, when I said I'm moving to New Brunswick and she said, "Oh! That's where I'm at," it was a sure giveaway. At least I think that's what she said...it was hard to understand, you see.

[geoffrey]

I'm not altogether convinced that these were even call centres IN India.. Instead, I think they were call centres in Canada, employed by people of those ethnicities whose accents I find incredibly difficult to understand. It just makes doing business incredibly difficult.

How would you know where they are?

Well, when I said I'm moving to New Brunswick and she said, "Oh! That's where I'm at," it was a sure giveaway. At least I think that's what she said...it was hard to understand, you see.

Take your business elsewhere.

That's what I do, can't understand call centre people because of cheap labour practices, then I'll use someone else's services thank you very much.

[lost&outofcontrol]

Well it WAS Taima.

I worked for Taima on a 6 month contract 5 or 6 years ago. After that 6 months, I was glad my contract was over.

[Nocrap]

Well it WAS Taima.

I worked for Taima on a 6 month contract 5 or 6 years ago. After that 6 months,I was glad my contract was over.

That's what I do, can't understand call centre people because of cheap labour practices, then I'll use someone else's services thank you very much.

Sometimes you don't have a choice. We have one cable company so to change means going to a totally different type of service, and besides, since it is a growing trend, it may be difficult to find companies not oursourcing.

As a client living in Canada, I have the right to complain if I can't understand the messenger. Tha being said, I do make an effort, but agree with the post. Sometimes I just give up.