[Sherre]

Why do a lot of these big companies hire people to answer their phones and you can barely understand what they are saying? I hate that!

User Detail :  

Name : Sherre, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 30, City : Kanas City, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : Interviewer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Ed]

Basically it's to save money. Customer service, by phone or otherwise, is a very labor-intensive process, and thus very expensive. And the way the United States works with minimum wage, health coverage, employees' right to sue employers, and just the gap in wealth between nations, U.S. workers are very expensive to keep. So basically companies will ship labor-intensive, low-skill jobs overseas to cut costs and improve the bottom line. Customer service is an easy thing to ship, because the employee doesn't need to be physically present, they just need to pick up the phone. Plus, customer service doesn't have that big an impact on sales, so while good customer service brings in marginal amounts of repeat business, it drastically increases costs, thus making it very unprofitable for companies to provide quality for the consumer. I know it doesn't make sense from a consumer side for a job that hinges on communcation skills to be shipped overseas to people who don't speak English well, but from the corporate side, it means more money for them.

User Detail :  

Name : Ed, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Milpitas, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Whitney]

Sherre. You do know discrimination is illegal? Also...did you ever think they experience the same feelings and confusion from trying to figure out what it is you're saying? It's just as hard on their end and they have the added hassle of dealing with people like you who probably tend to get an attitude because you're frustrated with the whole situation.

User Detail :  

Name : Whitney, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 25, City : Tunica, State : MS Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nydia]

I recently saw this on the discovery channel. It was a documentary about the youth in India. And on it they showed this popular job. Many companies hire Indians to answer they're phone. When you call the help line or whatever, it is actually going to a center in India. The company hires, the center, who then finds employees to answer the phones.

User Detail :  

Name : Nydia, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 16, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[EJ25284]

My company hires people from diverse backgrounds. As I walk past the call center parts of our building, I hear Latino accents, Indio-Pakistani, Carribean, African and so forth. All of these people are right here in the United States. So please don't assume that just because you heard a foreign accent that your call has been routed to Russia or something. (Though it may have been, depending on who you called.)

Ideally the call center should be monitoring the call-takers and coaching them on their phone skills. If not, then you may want to reconsider who you are calling and take your business elsewhere. I will also note that companies often are faced with hiring whoever shows up to apply. We have had boom years, and some lean ones in terms of our talent pool. Again, the company should be developing its staff with you, the customer, in mind.

User Detail :  

Name : EJ25284, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Deist, Age : 35, City : Dallas, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Taz27460]

Some companies really don't care about hearing complaints. That's why they come up with these never-ending voice mail systems. 'Press 1 if your dog smells like tuna. Press 2 if it's raining outside' Then if, or when you actually reach a live person, they don't understand english very well. This is to further encourage you to hang up and leave them alone.

User Detail :  

Name : Taz27460, Gender : M, Age : 33, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[T Smith]

Yes I agree..I do not know why these company hire people that you can not understand,and you have to keep asking over, and over for them to repeat what they have said.. Then when you ask them to put someone else on the phone (american) they get mad Idon't know maybe they can hire them at a lower pay rate....

User Detail :  

Name : T Smith, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 40, City : MAYSLANDING, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : computers, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Mike]

It's a problem that I share with you also. It's not the fact that I dislike foreigners, it's that an American company is sending a job overseas that could be done here in America. It's strictly about saving money. My solution to the problem is to ask the person where they are located and if they are overseas, I ask if there is a way that I can speak to a supervisor and have that person put me in contact with someone in the US. Sometimes they are clueless about how to accomplish this, and sometimes they are hatefull. Then I send a company an email with my views on sending the jobs overseas and change companies, if possible, even if I have to pay a little more money. I don't believe that my efforts alone will change this practice, but I can feel good about be open with the company.

User Detail :  

Name : Mike, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 47, City : Chattanooga, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Self Employed, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[L Freeman]

This is a low-skill occupation. It featured high turnover. The main requirement is the ability to follow highly specific inetructions and a script. In these days of diversity and equal opportunity hiring, diversity on the telephone should not surprise you. Being upset with this is natural. But everyone deserves to work. Can you and I undertand them? Be assured, they are monitored and replaced if there are 'problems.' Many business phone calls and office routines start with a question of desired language, English or Spanish. Bilingal signs and publications are very common. An instruction leaflet with an appliance we bought recently was printed in six or seven languages. This is a very big World. In tht city of Chicago, 'minority' has taken on a new meaning. Hispanics outnumber Blacks. And will soon outnumber Whites. Interesting times are coming.

User Detail :  

Name : L Freeman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Can't recall, Disability : vision, hearing gait, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 70+, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : retired teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Vail24474]

There was a good article on Indian call-centers in either the August or July issue of The Progressive. Check out progressive.org.

User Detail :  

Name : Vail24474, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : mutt, Religion : Atheist, Age : 40, City : Philly, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Cindy31939]

In response to a previous explanation; every job requires cusomer relations. It may seem like a labor intensive job that is easily contracted out, but you and I both know that repeat customers are based on more than the product. I work in the technology business and in response to the original question, many major computer companies hear your complaint and are actively applying remedies.

User Detail :  

Name : Cindy31939, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 30, City : Appleton, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Technology, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[George]

Outsourcing takes place with people who don't sound 'funny', by the way. I was on the phone with a particularly annoying 'local' phone company about a DSL connection. I asked the guy if he could give me specific advice regarding some local concern. He couldn't because he was Canadian and working out of Canada. I soon stopped dealing with that company. I have no particular hatred of Canadians, but a compnay who goes to such great lengths to call themselves a regional company should be proud enough to hire in-region. Nuff said.

User Detail :  

Name : George, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 34, City : Centerville, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : College educator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Chris32179]

When I encounter someone on the phone or at a store that can not manage the basics of the english language, I simply ask for their supervisor. I explain the the supervisor that I can not understand someone that can not speak our language and ask them to assist me. They either assist me themselves or switch me to an employee who speaks adequate english. Ask and you will receive.

User Detail :  

Name : Chris32179, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 49, City : Daytona Beach, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Project Manager, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Heather]

These companies have outsourced their customer service departments to foreign countries, mostly India, in order to save money. It's a huge controversy because they are taking jobs away from Americans and contributing to the unemployment rate here. If you want to show your opposition to this practice, try not to use the services of the companies that do this. You can find a huge list of these companies at CNN.com on Lou Dobbs' 'Outsourcing America' page.

User Detail :  

Name : Heather, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 31, City : Cleveland, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Self-employed - Internet, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Carol]

Have you ever considered how poor some of the people you are talking about may be? Much, much poorer than most people in the U.S. From the point of view of call centers in India, (who incidently only employ English graduates), theirs is a really good, respected job. How many call center operators in the U.S. would say that? How many have to have college degrees just to get an interview? These employees often have to take training on the cultures they serve, i.e. American or English TV programs, slang, etc. and work really hard for their wages, putting up with racism on the phone because they sound different. Call centers are really helping some families in India... more power to them, I say.

User Detail :  

Name : Carol, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Berkshire, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Social class : Middle class, 

[Author]

Posts