Outsourcing Human Resources? Really?

[rwh11385]

That this is tapering off thankfully. Now that the dollar is low and the cost of labor in India is up the cost savings is no longer greater than the revenue lost because of the shitty customer service.

wow, shit... its almost like this thing i heard about once... economics?

They get annoying when trying to sell something on a service you are just trying to use - like activating a credit card and putting an extra package on it... but sometimes they are nice and helpful.

And they definitely aren't the poor - call center workers are middle class in India last I heard.

great vid if you haven't seen already

http://www.noob.us/humor/conan-obrien-nbc-tech-support-in-india/

[DarkWing6]

Thank you for enlightening me with that. But don't get me wrong- even if what I said was accurate, I wouldn't blame the Indians because they are working to earn a living just like everyone else around the world. Either way I still blame the company for putting me on the phone with someone who can't effectively help me regardless of where they are located.I've worked in a call center before and I admit that I've played the role of the "stupid phone rep" when I got a call that I just couldn't handle but somehow, it would seem to me that if I have a customer on my line looking for an easy way to slice his apples and the only instructions that I have for him is on how to peel oranges, I should not keep insisting that he has an orange problem until he can prove to me that he actually has apples.

Ya, I guess what I was saying is that it doesn't really have to do with them being in India. In the past, when these were all in the US, we used to just call it shitty service. Now people decide that it has to do with the call center being in India. There are good call centers in India and bad call centers in India, just like in the US. Dislike bad service, don't dislike service from India.

In my opinion, I think most of the problems with India base call centers is on our end of the phone. A lot of people (not saying you) have a hard time talking with someone that is in an India based call center becasue of the negative reaction the public has given them. As soon as you hear the Indian accent you already expect bad service or an incompetent individual. Doesn't give the person on the other end of the phone a fighting chance.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I've tried the benefit of the doubt method, and still had horrible results.

[z31maniac]

Ya, I guess what I was saying is that it doesn't really have to do with them being in India. In the past, when these were all in the US, we used to just call it shitty service. Now people decide that it has to do with the call center being in India. There are good call centers in India and bad call centers in India, just like in the US. Dislike bad service, don't dislike service from India.

In my opinion, I think most of the problems with India base call centers is on our end of the phone. A lot of people (not saying you) have a hard time talking with someone that is in an India based call center becasue of the negative reaction the public has given them. As soon as you hear the Indian accent you already expect bad service or an incompetent individual. Doesn't give the person on the other end of the phone a fighting chance.

No, it was just as simple as his accent was so thick and grasp of the english language so poor, I could not effectively communicate with him.

When I tell the guy I can't understand him and could he please repeat himself and he says, "So you're not interested in the job?", there is obviously a huge barrier to try to overcome.

And I didn't have the time or patience for it. However, if I had been speaking with someone who I could have understood, I would have been much more interested in hearing about another employment opportunity.

[DarkWing6]

z31, i wasn't talking about your exact situation. i was saying in general.

[Kruzen]

The funny thing is people complain about all of this, but most people are not willing to pay for the service anyways. Dell had a program for a while that offered an upgraded customer service package that essentially gave you US call centers instead of outsourced call centers. They no longer do this becasue nobody wanted to pay for the US call centers.

You speak louder with your dollar than you do with your voice.

Thats because anyone who really needs the help that you would get from a US call center knows you can just say 'transfer me to tier 2 support please' and you get to speak to a U.S. Call center anyway, for free.

[Ryan Stewart]

And they definitely aren't the poor - call center workers are middle class in India last I heard.

Keeping in mind that what passes for middle class is all relative the Indian middle class is actually larger than the entire pop of the US.

[2Big4a3Series]

Thats because anyone who really needs the help that you would get from a US call center knows you can just say 'transfer me to tier 2 support please' and you get to speak to a U.S. Call center anyway, for free.

That's indeed it! When I am having trouble with an indian call center they actually transfer me to the 2nd tier and even though that guy is an indian also, we are able to have a productive conversation.

But going back to what Darkwing said, I can believe that there begins to be a degree of mutual hostility the moment the american hears that indian voice. And if I were to compare my US call center experiences to that of the ones in india, there really hasn't been that much of a difference. I think we tend to be harsher on the indians because they are quicker to answer the phone and address our issues. American tech support might keep you on hold for 35 to 40 minutes where Indian tech support will answer the phone within 30 seconds.