Ban Offshore Call Centers?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Why can't it be mandated that US based companies use US based call centers staffed by people fluent in English?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would love this but sadly will never happen. It goes against capitalism. Companies are always finding ways to increase profits and one way is to reduce staff related costs. That's why everything keeps being offshored. It's a crappy situation from a customer point of view as service is reduced, and also crappy from a job point of view as there are less jobs. It's only going to get worse.

 

[Exterous]

TBH that's one of the reasons I pay more to patronize a couple of companies: US based call centers with short wait times and people empowered to actually help you

 

[Captante]

TBH that's one of the reasons I pay more to patronize a couple of companies: US based call centers with short wait times and people empowered to actually help you

Unless you are truly fluent in whatever your second language is, providing phone tech-support for anything beyond maybe power-cycling a router/cable modem is not the best plan.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

TBH that's one of the reasons I pay more to patronize a couple of companies: US based call centers with short wait times and people empowered to actually help you

Well, ya'know, MasterCard .... You'd think they'd have US Support, no?

 

[Exterous]

Well, ya'know, MasterCard .... You'd think they'd have US Support, no?

That's up to the issuing bank usually, not mastercard. Chase Sapphire Visas have us based call centers. Other chase visa cards do not (or at least didn't. Also, the Chase sapphire line can usually help you with other chase cards you have)

 

[nakedfrog]

Well, ya'know, MasterCard .... You'd think they'd have US Support, no?

That wouldn't be maximizing shareholder value, so no.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

We don't need more laws and regulations governing where call centers reside. Instead, people should vote with their wallets or demand to speak to a native English speaker if they're having communication issues. I was once on a corporate support incident with Microsoft and I finally demanded to be transferred to a US-based call center because the communication barrier was too much.

 

[pete6032]

TBH that's one of the reasons I pay more to patronize a couple of companies: US based call centers with short wait times and people empowered to actually help you

Which companies are you talking about in particular?

 

[zinfamous]

maybe the coal miners can do the CSR?

anyway, for me the issue with this type of thing isn't a language barrier or whether or not it is overseas, but that the service itself is remote, and detached from the company that is contracting them. There is little hope that I will be able to talk with someone that has real authority to deal with an actual issue. The agents at major bank branches are now just window dressing for the most part; I'm not really sure why they are there anymore, as service has gone completely digital or moved to some office where the protocol on handling calls is defined by a single sheet of bullet points.

Where I've been working for ~years, at various Universities, even the support staff/main office crew (like HR, grant review, purchasing, etc) are being contracted out/consolidated/moved to locations not only outside of your department, but sometimes off campus to another part of town. ...I mean, wtf is that? The central purpose of this physical detachment is to inculcate an attitude that you're better off ignoring/finding another issue than it is to work with your staff remotely, because now it will be too complicated. This lessens the work load, which means less is getting done, nothing is ever more efficient, and it's an effing disaster.

 

[gill77]

I have experienced language issues but also have had some excellent offshore assistance.

The worst in memory has been Sams. Domestic.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Where I've been working for ~years, at various Universities, even the support staff/main office crew (like HR, grant review, purchasing, etc) are being contracted out/consolidated/moved to locations not only outside of your department, but sometimes off campus to another part of town. ...I mean, wtf is that? The central purpose of this physical detachment is to inculcate an attitude that you're better off ignoring/finding another issue than it is to work with your staff remotely, because now it will be too complicated. This lessens the work load, which means less is getting done, nothing is ever more efficient, and it's an effing disaster.

What you describe above is what has been happening in corporate IT environments for years. It's all about "Service Management." Management likes to spin things like ITIL, ServiceNow, etc. as being able to be "closer to the business" and "increasing customer satisfaction," but that's a smokescreen - I've never met anyone outside of IT management who thought ServiceNow or ITIL were great ideas. End users HATE it - it is supposed to "increase accountability," but what really happens is that the companies have become so siloed that many incidents bounce back and forth between various groups because no one wants to take responsibility. Also, to be clear (as I know some ATOT ITIL fan will chime in), ITIL is a framework and it's up to the companies to decide how and what to implement, but most go way overboard and do it horribly, increasing costs and lowering customer (and IT employee) satisfaction.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sometimes if you pick the French option you're more likely to get someone within the country, but I've had that fail and instead get an indian guy trying to speak French. Not all places will even have a local call centre.

 

[Exterous]

Which companies are you talking about in particular?

Actually thinking through my answer a bit that might actually be more of the professional side. Personal the ones that come to mind are Chase, fidelity, my insurance company although I realize they are not the only ones in their field that do (and I don't pay more for fidelity)

Where I've been working for ~years, at various Universities, even the support staff/main office crew (like HR, grant review, purchasing, etc) are being contracted out/consolidated/moved to locations not only outside of your department, but sometimes off campus to another part of town. ...I mean, wtf is that? The central purpose of this physical detachment is to inculcate an attitude that you're better off ignoring/finding another issue than it is to work with your staff remotely, because now it will be too complicated. This lessens the work load, which means less is getting done, nothing is ever more efficient, and it's an effing disaster.

I see this a lot but there are a few reasons this is becoming a more general trend. This may or may not apply to where you work(ed) but it applies to many I've worked with:

Lots of functions (HR, purchasing, IT Security, etc) are under increasing scrutiny and/or regulation and the previously decentralized handling was an auditing and compliance mess. Not to mention many times regional areas were doing them completely wrong.

Space issues also get non-academic staff moved off campus frequently. Oddly enough it's often faculty/department space demands somewhere that get admin staff moved and then the unit complains certain admin staff are too far away. It's like Units think space just materializes freely.

There are also financial constraints. Lots of increasing pressure to not increase tuition but keep offering great benefits to employees (not to mention maintaining support for retirees in terms of office space, tech and in person assistance). Faculty and grad students want more money too. So balancing those factors means something has got to give and that's an increased focus on "leveraging economies of scale by centralizing common functions". It's not a surprise to Universities that this can lead to issues, it's just the trade off they choose to make. (This doesn't excuse other questionable decisions about hiring and expenditures)

 

[ShookKnight]

Haw! That would mean a US corporation takes responsibility for their actions and behavior.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

These guys don't even give a flying fuck over data protection and integrity - at all. You think they care about resource quality... double haw!!

 

[Muse]

Why can't it be mandated that US based companies use US based call centers staffed by people fluent in English?

Yeah, I tell you, seems like 80+ % of the call center people I get are ESL folks. I don't complain, what can you do? If I get an EFL person, I consider myself lucky. I don't know that they are off shore, though. I figured maybe they hire ESL people who know basic English (they are seldom fluent) just to save themselves bucks because they need Spanish speakers for a lot of callers. Actually, it may be just because the ESL people are cheaper.

 

[Muse]

TBH that's one of the reasons I pay more to patronize a couple of companies: US based call centers with short wait times and people empowered to actually help you

Well, my internet is Sonic.net, based in Santa Rosa, CA. AFAIK, they only hire locally. I never get ESL people on the phone. Used to be you could get someone in less than a minute most of the time. Nowadays they are much much harder to get on the phone. You get a message from Jasper (the CEO) saying they've grown and are having problems with CSR staffing. Hopefully it will get better soon. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the time of day/week you call.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I would say automated calling would be the best solution - but the few companies that tried it over the years sucked.

 

[eng2d2]

next time you call any company always ask for us csr and they should transfer you

 

[Muse]

next time you call any company always ask for us csr and they should transfer you

You mean ask the person who answers in a weird accent to transfer you to someone whose first language is English? I might be embarrassed to say that. That wouldn't be a US call center, though, would it???

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

You mean ask the person who answers in a weird accent to transfer you to someone whose first language is English? I might be embarrassed to say that. That wouldn't be a US call center, though, would it???

Asking to talk to a CSR doesn't mean squat. If anything, you ask to escalate to the next level up (manager, etc).

Heh, so I've had tons of issues with Comcast over the years - namely their stupid billing contracts where "You get $xx per month for 12 months"... at the end of which, they jack up your rate exponentially. Everytime I call to re-negotiate the pricing I start off with "I want to cancel my service" instead of saying "I want customer support/service"... instantly transfers me to a US based rep instead of India based.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Hello this is Steve with Customer Service

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

'Hello, This is Carlton, your door man.'

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Hello this is Steve with Customer Service

Took me a google on that one

 

[JEDIYoda]

Hello, this is Bruce across the street from Little Tokyo, how may I help you??