<p>I know a lot of the Indian Rep’s use fake names - but I have to wonder if it’s their name translated for us. I knew a few guys in college who did that. One guys name was something like Sarajuba or something and he went by Sam. I also know a guy whose name was like Obijawanaka and he went by John.</p>
<p>and catera, i know exactly what you mean. They repeat your name in every sentence, and summarize everything that you just told them, in every sentence. And they go through the same script over and over. But as far as them all being nice and cooperative? There is one guy who calls my work all the time and he is very rude and obnoxious. </p>
<p>I deal with customers all the time at work and I know if I had to stick to a script it would be downright awful. It would take 10 minutes to get to what you could have asked them in 1. </p>
<p>I work for a health insurance company (a huge one) at our corporate offices (right in the middle of things, as some of my customers say) and we have some things that we have to say verbatim, but those are like federal guidelines and stuff like that where we need to make sure our customers are aware of their rights… and of course we can clarify them in our own words if need be (after it’s said in the actual wording). </p>
<p>A lot of times I think it would help if the company asked the employees doing the work the best way at doing something - because who would know better. About six months ago we started something at work and some of us sat around a table and basically came up with the procedures to make it work. Some of the things we put into place actually were more work for us, but we knew it would be better for the company and for our customers. After our procedures had been set in place for about a month we met again and made revisions. I think any time you ask the employees actually doing the work what would be the best way of doing something it will turn out better then if some higher up person sets up a standard script for them to follow. Twice in the past two weeks I was part of a focus group type thing for some changes to procedures and whatnot at work. I really like to know that my opinion is actually being taken into consideration.</p>
<p>Of course, you need to make sure you have quality employees who are capable of making decisions like that. Some companies I believe don’t train their employees enough and have them follow the scripted steps so they can forward it on to someone who is more well versed.</p>
<p>And honestly, if you have a problem with a company or a suggestion - give it. I don’t know how many times customers have complained to me about something or suggested something to me and I turned around and passed it on to the propper area. Not everything has been acted on but some things certainly have changed as a result from customer input.</p>
<p>And also, if you have a great experience don’t be afraid to ask for that person’s manager and let them know. I know at my work we get rewarded for things like that. Same thing goes for a bad exerience.</p>
<p>fendergirl,
I suspect that inthe US, people with “ethnic” names can choose their shortened or nickname. I believe (based on what people who have been involved in outsourcing services overseas said) they are given an american-sounding name. I forget who told me that, but I believe it to be accurate. Also, agreed that scripted conversations where the customer “fills in the blank” is annoying. But perhaps it fills some database of theirs (like those annoying telemarketing surveys).</p>
<p>peariceparent-
LOL. Reminds me of a joke (too long to post here) where a designer is looking for a “halo statue” that his wealthy italian customer wants for his villa. No luck finding one anywhere from suppliiers, art dealers, etc. Finally he asks the client for more info. The client says "you know- the thing in the house that goes “ring-ring”. You pick it up and you say “halo- statue?”</p>
<p>Cartera45-
Hows that fried keyboard and monitor doing?? You had me laughing out loud.</p>
<p>jym - glad you enjoyed that. That is truly how I felt when my Dell computer was doing the blue screen crash several times a day. I struggled with it for months and must have spoken to every Tom Dick and Harry in India about it. I remember one guy asked me to click on “twos.” I asked if he meant the number 2? and he said, “no, twos.” I didn’t have a “twos” to click on and I felt terrible asking over and over again. I think I was close to tears when he spelled “t-o-o-l-s” “twos.” I felt like an idiot because of course you click on tools but I just couldn’t grasp it.</p>
<p>our large pharmaceutical company has now outsourced our IT help desk, payroll and data entry to India. Good luck getting help, it’s a source of total frustration and I wonder how economical it really is to a company if you figure time lost just trying to communicate your issue. Time = $$$</p>
<p>Is there a way to copy this thread and send it to every company with overseas tech-help lines? </p>
<p>(And I’m not being racist or foreign-phobic. It would be just as frustrating for someone in Japan or India to call a US-based help line and get an American trying to speak Japanese or Indian).</p>
<p>I admit to not having read most of the thread (unusual for a compulsive reader like me) so if this is repetitive, apologies in advance.</p>
<p>I seem to be able to understand everyone so this does not bother me. What does frustrate me is the people I know who can’t get jobs because their jobs have been outsourced. Some were successful professionals in the computer industry.</p>
<p>I felt particularly irked when some government service, I can’t recall which, had outsourced its reps. Okay, tax money pays for the service. Can’t we hire tax payers? I know one could argue that this reduces the tax burden because outsourced workers earn lower wages, but come on! The New Deal Safety net is really gone. This agency had English speakers routed to India and Spanish speakers routed to Mexico. Really!</p>
<p>Private corporations get US tax breaks as well. </p>
<p>I think in this “global economy” nationalism is a quaint concept trotted out to win elections. I speak with empathy for those struggling to find work; I am not affected because I have a tenured teaching position, though soon college teacher will probably be all on line and corporate, especially at publics where I teach. We profs. will be outsourced by computers, just as I spend more time talking to you guys than my “actual” friends. However, I am not complaining. You guys have become my friends.</p>
<p>mythmom-
You should read the whole thread- several posts are pretty funny!
As I mentioned earlier,there was a similar thread a year or so ago about outsourcing. The issues you bring up were addressed there-with equal frustration. So many jobs are being outsourced-- including radiology (yes, your xray , MRI or ultrasound may be filmed in the US but read and interpreted overseas) and even surgery. Many people are going overseas or offshore to have procedures done cheaper. I don’t want this thread to morph into a discussion on healthcare. Rather, I agree that we are giving our jobs away and affecting the employment of US workers. In my h’s company a few yrs back, they were about to outsource some aspect of the IT dept (I forget the details) when they discovered that another company had a problem with some criminals in India who misused the personal information of the employees (this outsourcing dept had access to employees personal onformation). What they then discovered was that they couldnt prosecute the criminals in India. My h’s co quickly shifted their outsourcing to Indonesia, I believe, where the regulations were firmer with respect to the consequences of this type of criminal activity. I would have preferred they not outsource at all, but nobody asked me.</p>
<p>And as for the government outsourcing-- it was the IRS!!! Talk about giving non-US citizens access to our personal information! It could be a serious accident waiting to happen!!!</p>
<p>Here is a link to an interview with a customer service higher up at Dell. According to him, they have cut back significantly on the outsourcing and plan to do more - because of the dismal place that the company found itself in with regard to customer service. I don’t how much of this is spinning of the numbers. </p>
<p>jym, thanks for publishing that link to get a human on the phone line (Post #60). I forwarded it to my spouse and kids. You may have saved my H a heart attack; he goes nuts over this stuff. And off the phone, he’s the world’s most patient individual.</p>
<p>I do share all the frustration, but I do have to admit it’s not just outsourcing. I work for a company whose technical help desk is in the midwest. I work in a particular IT section of the company. If I have a problem with one of our applications that I can’t solve (usually becuase I don’t have security access), the help desk goes through its script and then sends the issue up to the next level of help desk - me! Try to convince them that I’m the wrong person to solve the problem!</p>
<p>Hahaha Chedva!
Caught in a loop. Reminds me of the southern expression (though I know aren’t southern)… “you’re so southern you’re related to yourself”</p>
<p>I used to work at the IT help desk at my college and it was the same way. Follow a script, create a ticket and someone else dealt with it. I solved as many things as i could on my own because i thought that whole thing was dumb. Some people who worked there and were computer illiterate (why work in IT if that is the case) would create a ticket for every little thing - my internet isn’t working. Plug it in.</p>
<p>Jym, I was going to post that, too. You beat me to it. The one guy who filmed the entire seven hour episode on the tarmac made the news big time! The last thing Companies should want is bad press, but these days it seems like most of them could care less.</p>