call centres

[Slogger]

who here has had numerous calls from these places all from abroad ? is this anything to do with our big busineses relocating to india etc

can anyone name and shame the companies that have call centres abroad

i know tmobile do now and that is why i wont stay with them once my contract is up

me thinks you take the cash from this country then spend it here on your staff here in the uk

 

[andy]

who here has had numerous calls from these places all from abroad ? is this anything to do with our big busineses relocating to india etc

can anyone name and shame the companies that have call centres abroad

i know tmobile do now and that is why i wont stay with them once my contract is up

me thinks you take the cash from this country then spend it here on your staff here in the uk

here we go again.....

call centres in other countries is a bad idea. often, they dont speak english properly since its not their first language, so you then have difficulties gettin theu to them with various accents etc. there also more dumb and pass the blame onto you, where as the english bloke said it wasnt my fault and got it fixed ASAP. also, wether there abroad or not, they will still try to call you

 

[jtaunton]

Call-centres are generally all well and good, as long as your problem is one of the ones on their script. However, if your problem is 'off-script' then it is next to impossible to get anything resolved, and unfortunately they don't seem to have written a script for the possibility that they may have got something wrong.

3's call-centre is absolutely awful, and I'm not even their customer. Doesn't mean I don't have to phone them up once a month to try and convince them of this fact.

 

[AdamW]

3's call-centre is absolutely awful, and I'm not even their customer. Doesn't mean I don't have to phone them up once a month to try and convince them of this fact.

I agree. I have a 3 phone, which is great. But the two times I've called up for assistance (I was getting spam texts, the actual phone service is great!), they came across as rude and arrogant... I think, anyway. I couldn't really understand them.

I think largely it is because of the cultural difference, in the UK we expect someone to be a bit more friendly and personal on the phone. They'll pick up the phone and say "Good morning, you're through to X, Dave speaking". Then at the end of the call you might say "Thanks Dave, bye!". It is business, but it doesn't mean you can't be friendly. However the Indian call centre staff are always very terse and blunt. It just feels rude, but that might be their version of politeness.

On one occasion the woman started reading something or other off her script that had NOTHING to do with anything I was trying to speak to her about. I tried to get a word in to explain this, and she barked at me "don't interrupt me, let me finish!"...

You know what we should do? We should convince the call centres in India to outsource various services (pensions, accountancy?) to the UK. Put the call centre somewhere with a really strong accent. Maybe somewhere in the northernmost reaches of Scotland? Anyway, then the Indian call centre staff would get angry because they can't understand or be understood by the call centre they are ringing, get frustrated and quit. Then the jobs would come back to where they belong.

 

[jtaunton]

Apparently South Africa is about to become the new India, when it comes to call centres......

 

[kendor]

As you say it is probably the cultural differences, don't agree on the jobs where they belong bit though, the world is a smaller place now thanks to technology and if outsourcing of jobs can lead to a more balanced world economy then i'm all for it, It would be seen as arrogance on our part if we insisted on keeping work primarilly for this country, as far as i'm concerned it's been a long time coming us sharing our wealth of the good life with others especially those that have had such raw deals in the past.
It will take time for culture differences to iron themselves out but look at the benefits for the future if all societies come round to the same way of thinking. The world is just a great big melting pot.

 

[jtaunton]

I think, given that the wages are comparatively high compared to the average, that Indians see working in a call-centre as a long-term prospect, rather than the short-term one it would be over here.

So it might be a bit shaky at the moment, but in theory you should get a more experienced operator in future.

In theory.

The main cold calls that I get are from Telecoms companies and they are almost always from 'foreign' - This is partly because of outsourcing the call-centre, but also because a lot of these telecoms companies are foreign too. Deregulation of the market and all that.

 

[AdamW]

Oh, I love the idea of a globalised world (or is that an Anglobalised world?), but not at the expense of our own country. There are plenty of unemployed Britons who could be put to good use in call centres. Sure, they cost more, but I suspect that would be offset by improved competence. Indian call centre staff are just as intelligent as British call centre staff, but if they haven't a clue about what they are dealing with they are no use to anyone.

To use an example, we've all watched American TV programmes. When they talk about selling houses they are talking all about "realtors" and "escrow", state building codes and god knows what else. OK, a quick google will tell us what all these words mean, or what the state building codes are, but it highlights the point that simply knowing the same language and having a bit of intelligence does not mean you can do the job as well as a local.

 

[AdamW]

The main cold calls that I get are from Telecoms companies and they are almost always from 'foreign' - This is partly because of outsourcing the call-centre, but also because a lot of these telecoms companies are foreign too. Deregulation of the market and all that.

If you are signed up to the TPS, then presumably enough complaints to Oftel about Timbuctoo Telecom would incur their wrath... they need Oftel's approval in order to operate in this country. Unless they are a VoIP operator

 

[Slogger]

keep the profits uk companys make for uk workers we need the work here its disgusting how they even thought they could get away with it lets get it back

look at our car industry now its gone we need to support out country more as an example i wont buy a french car or van has to be ford or vauxhall most of the companys are owned by other countrys but if we make it then i would buy it or at least support it

how many of you are driving a car / van that wasnt made in the uk why would you do that ?

i am looking for a new mobile provider based solely in the uk and no call centres offshore anyone know one bank needs changing too as lloyds have betrayed the uk too shame on them

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The world is just a great big melting pot.

seems the uk is already being melted down and sold as scrap if its arrogance to want our country to prosper at the expence of others then so be it looking after our own first is the way forward self sufficiency would be an ideal but impossible to implement no work shortage thougth

 

[jtaunton]

how many of you are driving a car / van that wasnt made in the uk why would you do that ?

Given that the Rover 600 is the world's best car (Source: Me) I would agree with that. Go to France and you see nothing but Renaults, Citroens and Peugeots. Go to Germany and its the same with Audi, Volkswagen and BMW, so we could definitely have done with a bit more 'Buy British' to safeguard manufacturing in this company. As well as Ford and Vauxhall, I think that many of the Japanese makes are built here too.

Banks - Natwest doesn't outsource, and is pretty good, IMHO.

 

[AdamW]

There might be something in that!

Where do you think the place I have seen most MG ZRs is? Italy. I was in a coastal town called Sperlonga, and I saw loads of them. I would say there were more MG ZRs than any other single model of car in that town. I have seen a few Italian-registered ones in England too. Also I have seen tons of Rovers in Portugal. I put it down to the "Britain's oldest ally" bit.

Italians are well known for their love of real driver's cars. So, whilst the Rover 25 might not have been the most up-to-date car, nor the best put together (although I know some people driving 10-15-year-old Rover 200s and loving every minute), they are obviously great fun to drive. I test-drove a ZR 120 a few years back, was great. Only problem was I needed a long-distance car and they are pretty noisy.

I did buy a Vauxhall instead though. And if I were replacing it now most of the cars I would consider are British: an Astra VXR, a VX220, a TVR Griffith, or a Lotus Elise. I wouldn't mind a Golf GTi DSG, but that is largely because I am a techy and want to have flappy paddles.

 

[user56565]

i agree that these indian call centres are highly frustrating.

i think it's a ploy by these companies. with banks for example, a simple enquiry that usually took a couple of minutes, now takes absolutely ages while they try and figure out what's going on. so people are much less likely to phone them, especially with internet banking, secure messaging facilities, etc.. this means less people phone and this means even more savings.

im all for globalisation. money doesn't get redistributed from uk employees to indian ones. the £s have to be exchanged, and the foreign exchange companies WILL sell this currency to foreigners, and this money will be spent back in the UK. outsourcing like this only affects us wealth wise by weakening the £. but this benefits our manufacturing companies. so everything's good!!

so it shouldn't be for us to decide whether outsourcing is good, its up to companies. and if we don't like it, we should have a valid reason, and complain, or boycott.

finally, regarding rover. if they weren't as competitive as other manufacturers, why should we subsidise them for their failures?? why keep an uncompetitive company in business?? buy from whoever you want to, not from whoever you feel you should.

 

[Slogger]

do that and say goodbye to british business as we seemed to have done already ? as for boycotting these companies i do now switched i have thanks

great britain has lost too many big busnesses to foreign companies we need to keep what we have ( what do we have ) look after our own first

shame on anyone that has bought foreign merchandise if there was a viable alternative made in the uk ,laziness is it ? or cheaper if cheaper than tax the foreign gear as usa does

 

[pipme]

Apparently South Africa is about to become the new India, when it comes to call centres......

Hope not .. Not the most law abiding folk in the world.