I have had to contact THREE different customer service agents in the last 3-4 days. One is for a credit card I have, the other is for an old cable company I had, and the third was for a mistake on a charge to my bank account for a service I cancelled back in March. Let me tell you…if I could have shoved my hand through the phone and slapped everyone of the representatives I would have…
Remember in the past when you wold call customer service, 9/10 it was pleasant? You usually would get a nice person on the phone that you could understand and they would help you. Well it has not been too long ago that two of the three companies I mentioned above, actually had great customer service. It has however, taken a turn for the worst.
You know, if I moved to India and called my company in India then I would expect someone to answer form India and I would also expect to have a hard time understanding them. But, I am not from India, I do not live in India, and the bills I have are local so when I call customer service I would appreciate being able to understand what the hell they say.
The worst one was the charge that should not have happened. I cancelled the service and should not have been charged in April…I was charged in April. I called customer service and the woman could barely speak ANY English at all. She kept repeating herself over and over and I asked here specifically…”do you see where I cancelled my service over a month ago?” She would reply, “Mam you no have service with us.” Me…” I KNOW, but I got charged the monthly fee.” Her, “Mam you know have service with us.” You get the idea. So I said “Manager please!” Her, “No manager, I can help you.” Wow she must use that sentence a lot because that one was right…
So after about 10 minutes of the conversation she finally said, “we charge you for service?” I said “Yes…” She said, “We give refund to you bank.” Yes she said “YOU BANK!” I said “OK and if I get charged any fees will your company reimburse me?” Apparently that word was a little to big for her. She said “No we transfer money back, you no have service with us.” I said “How about any bank fees I may have?” She said again, “No we transfer money back in in you bank, you no have service with us…” Of course I hang up. Yes this was one of the customer service centers I have called int he past and I used to get good service…this was not a one time fluke of getting a non English speaking person either. I actually tried calling this company for 3-days to only hang up from pure frustration. Yesterday was the last call I made. In fact, I will never use this company again…ever!
So here is my thing. Ya I can go on and on about the damn debates and how we were promised jobs back in the US…ya that was crap. Like I said earlier, two of the companies just this year had English speaking customer service reps, so apparently it’s getting worse. I really truly believe that companies not only move oversees to pay less to employees and pay cheaper taxes, but I think that they are realizing that people will hang up if they get frustrated so it saves the company quite a lot of money in customer service fees etc. See…if I would have stayed on the phone, with someone that could understand me, I would have probably gotten a “yes we will cover any bank fees that occur because of our mistake.” Because the woman could not, or acted like she could not understand me, then they are not shelling out anymore money for fees. Brilliant?! Let me pay for your damn service, then charge me when I cancel it and if I get fees then oh well, that’s my fault for using your stupid company in the first place.
I have become more and more eager to use US companies for services. I will even look for US sellers on eBay first. If we want our economy to grow then, in my opinion, we need to support our own damn country. I have even quit shopping at Walmart as much because everything is made in damn china. I am finding a lot of other US companies are lowering their prices as a result too so it has not been terribly hard to change my ways.
So…if I live in the US and you have a company that does any kind of customer service, then please have people that are willing to not only talk, but also listen, to the customer and have them speak the language of the country they are in!
Come on Big “O” you promised jobs back from overseas, now where the hell are they? It’s been over 4-years…and it is only getting worse!
View Comments (6)
I live in Canada and believe me I feel your pain. Last month I called my phone company about a problem I was having with my internet, well it took me 6 calls to finally speak with someone I actually could understand. Their accents being in India were so strong that I just couldn't get to a solution to the problems I was having. At one point I was so frustrated that I actually lost my cool, which I don't do often, and just told one person to shut the hell up, not one of my prouder moments. When my issue was finally resolved, took 2 days, they actually had the gall to send me an email asking if I was satisfied with "My experience dealing with their I.T. dept. concerning my issue"...I'm not going to go into what I wrote to them. I really am angry that these jobs are outsourced to foreign countries while our unemployment rate here at home is at an all time high and qualified people are either on the dole, welfare or working at McJobs. So like I said " I feel your pain".
AMEN! Preach on! I totally agree with you. And it even happens to me when I am at a hospital. My brother had a heart attack...doctor that saw him could barely speak English. I had to ask him 900 times what he was saying. It was horrible.
But I am like you...I only buy products that are from/made in America. I even ask the grocery store about the products.
It is a misconception that they transfer they customer service to India. Instead they outsource their customer service to a third party that then determines what area of their global network will handle the calls dependent on the the wording of the contract and the cost to the third party contract.
I do understand that some do outsource to a third party...I wish they would outsource within the US though. That way we are not taking jobs away and helping our economy and maybe get some better customer service back...
opps sorry for the typo, it should say they transfer their*
I know what you mean. Every time my mom calls someone on the phone, she can barely understand what they are saying. Generally they sound as if their accent is from India, or Filipino or Asian.
My mom has the hardest time on the phone with people because she can't understand what they are saying and they don't know what she's saying.
It's kinda like, I would apply for a job that is spanish speakingonly when I only know 10 spanish words so why do people who can't speak decent english taking english speaking jobs. I mean there are so many jobs out there to choose from, why choose to talk on the telephone? I'll never understand that.
I guess it's like people who choose to be babysitters or teachers a lot of times hate kids. And people who choose a job to protect and serve, actually commit the crimes.
It's like this with so many professions. Many people seem to be doing the job that they are worst qualified for, and it makes no sense.
It's like every single company has someone who speaks on the telephone that you cannot understand. They are in the drive thru too.