Take back USA
 

Just got off the phone to get something straightened out on a credit card and a guy by the name of Hashish or something like that hard to understand. When this happens insist on talking to someone in the U S. This guy was in India, boy this is bull crap. I know everyone says lighten up tell me why. OK I'm better

As the comedian says, My name is yaba daba yeba baba, you can call me "Chuck". :D

This from a guy who put rats in a cage to fight to the death for "entertainment"!

I have read that several companies have been pulling their call centers back to the US for various reasons.

when I get one I do not understand I insist on talking to a rep in the USA.
They will do everything in their power to not do that . And before they do it always defaults to someone with impeccable english......I guess they get a demerit or something if they have to refer calls back to the USA.

I have zero tolerance for one, not able to hear them, and two if their english is not understandable.

You mean you didn't get Peggy like the rest of us? Maybe some service closer to you might... well just check this out:

Customer Service - YouTube

You can also request customer service online. Here's an example:

Customer service by phone - YouTube

I don't care what you say, I Love America.

As long as it is 'American for Americans'. :doh:

Maybe so, but these are humans too, trying to work for a living, and referring to them in a demeaning manor, i.e., "Hashish," is just plain rude. Go after the company; don't demean the employee.

It's all about profits...the banks don't pay much to their foreign Customer Service reps - here in the U.S., they'd have to at least pay minimum wage. That would cut into profits, and we all know that banks are about making money for themselves and their stockholders (as is every other publicly traded company). I'm not against profits, but you can't have it both ways.

Like you, I'm human and get frustrated when I can't understand someone's accent and I get frustrated when someone can't understand my southern drawl. But like CFrance I realize this is another human you are referring to and realize it is a person who has a job and is trying to make a living. If you look at the bigger picture of a company outsourcing and see the benefits it gives to others in countries less fortunate than we in the US you can see how it enables them to buy US made products too. I love America but I also don't have a problem with a a free market or a global economy.

When I get a foreign country I politely request transfer to the States. If I get an argument I remind them that by law they MUST get me to the States. I don't care much about their economy. I prefer to support mine by speaking with an employee in my own country.

My experience with my Bank Of America or Bank of the West accounts have both been speaking to fluent speakers of English that I assume are in this country. One of the few times I don't get an outsource employee.

I was unaware of that. Can you explain more, Diane?

According to Snopes.com, this is not true.

Well, it certainly was pleasant to see the tolerance level of some Villagers regarding foreign people.

Your grandkids would be proud of you.

You can always tell them to transfer you to an American call center and I believe they have to do so. Me I would cancel the card and get a different one. I use Amex as much as possible because their customer service is normally excellent!

Perhaps if enough people requested to speak to an American call center these companies would consider bringing these jobs back home. I am more interested in growing our economy rather than that of another country. I know it costs more to service people with employees in the US, but sometimes that benefit may outweigh the cost to the company - i.e. customer loyalty.

One major company, Marriott, has very recently transferred their reservations call center to India. This was done for the purpose of increasing company profits.

It is surprising to me to see all these negative comments regarding the foreign call centers when it usually happens to be the same posters talking about a free economy and government hands off the free market. Or is it just a case of NIMBY?

I fully support a free economy in the US and the companies have the freedom to do business where they please. My point is if they start losing a loyal customer base because the customers are not happy with the customer service part of their business then it will not longer be as profitable to do business in that manner.

Are we talking about customer service from another country or expats?
 

I don't think that this is what was meant exactly by some posters.(Looking down on other countries)


I take it that when you are given customer service in another country sometimes their accents are very difficult to understand and you are not sure that the business that you are trying to conduct is going along correctly.


If you add a hearing deficit like some of us olders have, it sometimes is very difficult. My husband is not only very patient, but very polite and very calm and has normal hearing... but last week he said calmly, several times, I am sorry, I don't understand what you are saying to a person in customer service from another country. I am QUITE sure that no one could understand me if I tried to speak in their language and I applaud them for speaking in mine.

I have had the same problem and have been as polite as Henry. I once had to terminate the conversation and call back, hoping for another person I could understand better.

I think demeaningly referring to someone as "Hashish," as an example, displays a disregard for that human and for foreigners in general. There were some other posts that were dismissive of the employee, as well as the practice. That's what I was talking about, and I think what Buggy was talking about as well.

I don't know how people determine they're speaking to a call center in a foreign country. I sometimes initially assume that when I hear an "Indian" accent that I am speaking to someone in India, but I could very well be speaking to an American Citizen in anywhere USA. Being hard of hearing, I find that I have a harder time understanding young females (high pitched voices) than foreign sounding accents.

Most, if not all, of the major credit card companies have a 'live chat' feature on their website. This is a much quicker and easier way to communicate with these companies for things such as checking a payment, raising a debt limit, etc. The only thing I would call a company about would be fraud on my card.

Be careful what you wish for.

I have been trying to resolve a problem with a major airline since mid-November.

They do not respond to e-mails - no relevant e-mail addresses are even listed on their web-site - so a telephone call is the only way forward.

Customer Service is manned by nationals, but there are so few of them there that I have had to wait for over an hour, on hold, before I actually get to speak to anyone.

I would rather have my calls answered immediately, even if it means having to struggle a bit with a non-national.

From the title of the thread "Take Back the USA" and referring to an employee as Hashish does not show just the difficulty of understanding an employee but, to me, shows an attitude of intolerance toward others of foreign extraction.

CFrance seems to be in the Buggy camp. Welcome to the brightness!

The complaint should be addressed to the big business doing this for cheap labor and not to the person grateful for any any work at any pay. It is hard for CEOs to be filthy rich and pay far wages at the same time.

All you have to do is respectfully request transfer to the States. They must comply. If they give you grief just remind them legally they must respect your wishes. No need to get nasty. Just make the request. Works every time. I will not deal with agents outside of the States.

They only MUST if their company has that policy.

There has been a lot of talk on this subject in the US Senate, but no bills and no actions as of yet.

Many companies do have a policy to do what you suggest, but do not get yourself into a heated debate...there is NO law that says you must be transferred.

I do suggest that people do some research on why these jobs are being outsourced and not jump to irrational conclusions.

simply not true

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/servicerep.asp

Couple things folks when I put that name in my post that is because that was the name the guy gave me(spelling my have been wrong) second why do we always have to give up our country because we don't want to put up with an accent that is hard to understand. Sorry folks but that is the problem with us we put up with something less than we should have to. Say what you will but I was born here I don't have accept something less. This is The U S A why are we giving it away. I'm done I have to take my pills now

yea ... prob not:

Hashish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"We" are not ... you should address that question with the company(s) that you are doing business with, as they are the ones that are exporting the jobs.

Funny this thread just came up as I just got off the phone with Comcast. I told him my name and spelled it three times, told him where I lived in TV at least twice and gave him my account number four times. I speak well and am patient in giving my information SO I CAN GET SOME SORT OF SERVICE FROM COMCAST. I informed him that I needed a tech at our house as I am not going to crawl on the floor, unhook cables with a short in them and ....I apologize for going on but could we get some representatives that speak and understand the English language......and two cable companies that compete against each other???

I don't think that Doug is being intolerant of people of foreign extraction. I think he's simply being intolerant of, and frustrated by companies that hire people whose primary function is to communicate with English speaking Americans, an that have difficulty communicating or being understood in English.

It's kind of like hiring 5'4" 150 lb men to play offensive linemen on your NFL team.

I have the same problem with anyone who is put into a position of having to communicate in English and can't be understood by most Americans whether they are in this country or are American citizens or whatever. It's a stupid move by companies and I think it will eventually backfire on them.

On the other hand, many of us have stock in some of these companies in our retirement portfolios and it is in our interest that they maximize profits as much as possible.

I can see how someone can come to the opinion that DDoug was making light about the individual from India, but at the same time I don't understand why forum rules were ignored by expressing negative opinions directly at DDoug. We have been told numerous times by moderators and the admin alike that comments should be addressed to the topic and not directly at the individual.

In any case I have to give DDoug the benefit of the doubt, especially with my having found a website that lists Indian names, checking it out and coming to the conclusion that makes his explanation very plausible. In the list I found three names that sound close to Hashish, and this was with just a simple perusing of the list. Also, the three I did find came only from the H list, so there may well be several more within the rest of the alphabet.

Here is the link to the list mentioned where anybody can checkout for themselves what I said: Indian Boy names starting with H - Indian babynames

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. When I was working as a Motor Vehicle Issuing Office supervisor, we had one nice elderly gentlemen that came in frequently. He was alone, spoke Spanish and couldn't speak a word of English. We had one Spanish speaking employee that worked at our location and this gentleman always asked for Robert so he could be understood and helped.

One day the gentleman came up to me as he usually did and said "Robert?" I felt so bad for him because Robert just got promoted to another part of the state. Sadly, I couldn't even explain to the man about Robert and after several shoulder shrugs and looks of sympathy, I think he got an idea what happened, left and I don't remember if I ever saw the guy again.

On that day I said to myself "Where is this guys friends? Where are his relatives? Why did they not help him? The department was supposed to develop a system of available translators so I could hook them up on our phone to translate for them/us. It never developed by the time I retired and I have no idea if it ever did since then.

So again I hear you about anyone put in that position of not being able to communicate.

An even worse problem - voice menus. Lord have mercy, they will kill me eventually!

From our television service, internet service cell phone service, they all need improvement. On the other hand, service from Apple Support has been perfect and always accurate for us.

My concern is more about companies allowing foreign companies and their employees offshore to have access to my information.

good point