In days gone by, Call Centres seemed to be staffed exclusively by Scotsmen who had me eating out of the palm of their hand and purchasing whatever good deal it was they had to offer. Purely because of the effect of their dulcet tones. But then things changed.
The irritation of trying to communicate with someone who has English as a second language when you are trying to explain something quite complicated and it is obvious that they do not understand you, compounded by the fact that you cannot totally comprehend which words they are using because they are so heavily distorted. Whereas, face to face, such an exchange might have been charming because of my love of accents, over the medium of the telephone, it is just an annoyance. Particularly when it is going to cost you money if you do not sort out the computer’s misunderstanding and get the terms of the agreement correct.
It makes me very cross because I have several friends with English as a second language but they are totally fluent – I suppose having lived here for some years has something to do with it. But it is an important point and the reason why Call Centres should be located at least in the country they are serving, if not the county.
I don’t know who it was who came up with the idea of outsourcing as far away as other continents to save money but I would like to give them a good smack. Apart from the fact that they deprived people here of valuable jobs, which in this current economic crisis with all the redundancies from manufacturing and retail sectors, has proved to be a very silly decision, the information that they need (especially if it is a letter you have written explaining what has occurred) has not always been uploaded onto the computer screens so they are trying to sort out your problem without all the relevant information. In some cases, it’s almost worse than dealing with a computer because the frustration levels are even higher. To be dealing with a sentient being who is making decisions based on only half the facts, is clearly quoting at you passages from the Company manual which do not actually relate to your case in words upon which you are having to concentrate extremely hard just to decipher is beyond irritating. It is particularly trying when it relates to medical matters, which are complicated enough already without having language issues.
So many of our banking, credit card and utility companies seem to have taken this route and, with call centres here closing left, right and centre, it seems criminal that the telephone operators who have been made redundant cannot be taken on by those companies who currently use the skills of foreign workers abroad. It cannot be right that the British taxpayer is left to pay benefits to unemployed people with the same abilities.
And what gets my goat even more than any of that is the fact that in most cases you have to dial an 0845 or 0870 number to get through to them in the first place and then are kept holding at your own expense – with the additional irritant of knowing that some of that money is actually refunded to the Company concerned. And don’t give me those 0844 (Lo-cost) numbers. I’m still having to pay because they haven’t got a proper landline with one of the National numbers that is included in my phone package! You just know what my OverRated in four weeks time is going to cover now, don’t you?
Customer Service has all gone horribly wrong.
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