Not really a Rant, but preventive Medicine?

[NickiB]

I'm sure I can't be the only one this has happened to before... call customer service and end up talking to someone halfway around the world. I understand why companies do this, but if I'm calling customer service, it's because I'm already upset about something, and the last thing I need is to be frustrated more by someone not understanding me, or vice versa! This is exactly why I had cancelled my Bell service years ago, and switched to Rogers (not that they are any better, but at least they understand my agitated calls)

Apparently Canada Post is scheduled to move customer service very soon to an overseas operation (WTF?) and I received this email from my Dad today.. had no idea, thought maybe some of you could benefit from this tip..


"Call Centres - The Law in Canada

Good to know, especially since rumour has that Canada Post Customer service is
headed to India before the New Year. A lot of us do not realize this
option is open to us.

Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter
communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc.) and you find
that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative(with an accent, difficult
to inderstand, perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), Please consider doing the following:

After you connect and you realize that the Customer Service
Representative is not working in Canada (you can always ask, if you are not sure about the accent),
please, very politely this is not about trashing other cultures.

Say, "I'd like to speak to a Customer Service Representative in Canada."

The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager,But, again, politely say,
"Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a Customer Service Representative
in Canada."

YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN CANADA.

That's the rule and the LAW.

It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to Canada.

Tonight when I got redirected to a Canadian Rep, I asked again to make sure -
and yes, she was from Calgary.

Imagine what would happen if every Canadian Citizen insisted on talking to only
Canadian phone reps, from this day on.

Imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of Canadian jobs that would
need to be created ASAP. Let’s slow down and possibly reverse some of our
unemployment problems.

If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to
consider doing this -
see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.

Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt
or rude to a foreign phone rep.

You will get correct answers, good advice, and solutions - in real English.

If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10
people they know....etc...etc.

[Shwa Girl]

Say, "I'd like to speak to a Customer Service Representative in Canada."

The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager,But, again, politely say,
"Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a Customer Service Representative
in Canada."

We recently had to deal with a mess on an order. We needed customer service in both Canada and the US.
We did not know about this law but we have our own "method".

For Canada, we press "2" for French. Most French-speaking customer service reps are bilingual, in our experience.

In the US, we press the option for “Spanish”. Most Spanish speaking customer service reps speak both Spanish and English.

The problem was resolved within 30 minutes. Both times.

[nessa23]

good to know. Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to mention this to all of my friends!

[SarahS83]

I think this might be a myth but I don't know the law. I'd be interested to find out. I tend to mistrust email forwards. The bilingual tip is bang on though. Bilingual agents usually have less wait times.

[Safyre]

Sorry to tell you that this is completely false. Here is the snopes page: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/servicerep.asp

There is no law in Canada or the US that states that your phone call has to be handled within your own country.

I've worked in call centres for 10 years, specifically Client Services, dealing one on one with big name companies. The companies only care that the call is handled appropriately, within the policy and processes set forth and so long as that happens it does not matter where the agent is located. Often times agents are trained to advise that they are in a different city than they are, in order to not let on that they are not in the same country.

Let me give you the other side of this, the agents getting the request to transfer to someone else, are just as frustrated as the caller is sometimes. They are not given a chance to handle the issue before the caller asks to be transferred - can you imagine walking into a store, being helped by a Filipino and saying to them "Can you find me a Caucasian to help me?" No, thats rasicm. Its the same thing when you call in - if the agent proves to be inept at their job, ask for their supervisor who can take a complaint and work with training to address the issue. Just because they have an accent doesn't mean they don't understand your accent and concerns.

[lghend]

I tried that when dealing with Dell. They absolutely refused to let me speak to anyone other than the India call centre. It was months of frustration!!!!!!!! I got rid of my Dell computer and researched which company had Canada/U.S. call centres and bought accordingly. I dropped Bell Canada for the same reason. I stopped catalogue shopping with Sears as well. It's not just the accent, there is very little training involved.

[NickiB]

Sorry to tell you that this is completely false. Here is the snopes page: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/servicerep.asp

There is no law in Canada or the US that states that your phone call has to be handled within your own country.

I've worked in call centres for 10 years, specifically Client Services, dealing one on one with big name companies. The companies only care that the call is handled appropriately, within the policy and processes set forth and so long as that happens it does not matter where the agent is located. Often times agents are trained to advise that they are in a different city than they are, in order to not let on that they are not in the same country.

Let me give you the other side of this, the agents getting the request to transfer to someone else, are just as frustrated as the caller is sometimes. They are not given a chance to handle the issue before the caller asks to be transferred - can you imagine walking into a store, being helped by a Filipino and saying to them "Can you find me a Caucasian to help me?" No, thats rasicm. Its the same thing when you call in - if the agent proves to be inept at their job, ask for their supervisor who can take a complaint and work with training to address the issue. Just because they have an accent doesn't mean they don't understand your accent and concerns.

First, I apologize if the information was inaccurate.

Secondly, I understand what you're saying Safyre, but I deal with customer service call centres in my everyday work life as well... and have gone the supervisor route to no avail. What should be a simple phone call, can easily turn into an hour or more. For me personally, when I'm upset, I talk 10 times faster than usual, so I can see why it would be difficult for the person on the other end of the line to follow me. Asking me to repeat myself numerous times just gets me more agitated. It has nothing to do with whether the person is caucasian or not, my BF is part Native, and part African American, so I take offense to your comment regarding racism. I simply want someone who can speak English well, and understand me quickly to resolve an issue, without taking hours on the phone to do so.

I'm sorry you took this post in a whole different context, but it most definitely was not my intent to do so.

[Angela273]

Interesting

[Shwa Girl]

Let me give you the other side of this, the agents getting the request to transfer to someone else, are just as frustrated as the caller is sometimes. They are not given a chance to handle the issue before the caller asks to be transferred - can you imagine walking into a store, being helped by a Filipino and saying to them "Can you find me a Caucasian to help me?" No, thats rasicm. Its the same thing when you call in - if the agent proves to be inept at their job, ask for their supervisor who can take a complaint and work with training to address the issue. Just because they have an accent doesn't mean they don't understand your accent and concerns.

In this example, you would be walking into a Canadian location with a Filipino Canadian working in the store. Very different from being on the telephone with someone in another continent.

I have worked call centres too.
In my experience, the call centre staff overseas rely heavily on a script and do not deviate from it.
In contrast, the call centre staff in the US and Canada can be creative in the way they handle complaints and solve problems. They tend to think more outside the box and go the extra distance to help customers on the telephone.

[Safyre]

First, I apologize if the information was inaccurate.

Secondly, I understand what you're saying Safyre, but I deal with customer service call centres in my everyday work life as well... and have gone the supervisor route to no avail. What should be a simple phone call, can easily turn into an hour or more. For me personally, when I'm upset, I talk 10 times faster than usual, so I can see why it would be difficult for the person on the other end of the line to follow me. Asking me to repeat myself numerous times just gets me more agitated. It has nothing to do with whether the person is caucasian or not, my BF is part Native, and part African American, so I take offense to your comment regarding racism. I simply want someone who can speak English well, and understand me quickly to resolve an issue, without taking hours on the phone to do so.

I'm sorry you took this post in a whole different context, but it most definitely was not my intent to do so.

Posting the information has allowed a conversation, no harm in that!

Please understand I was not calling you racist, I was speaking of society in general. I feel horrible that you thought I was referring to you directly, please accept my apology. My example was meant to say, It is not socially acceptable to dismiss someone in person based upon ethnicity, why do we do so over the phone? I hope thats worded better.

I cannot speak to all call centres obviously, I know they are not perfect, I know how frustrating they can be. I admit to having very little patience with bad customer service, but that runs across the board whether I am calling Canada or the Phillipines, if you cannot resolve my issue, don't answer my call. I think that is what we are all really saying here, that if the person answering the phone is not equipped to answer inquiries, they need to find another job.

Agreed?

In this example, you would be walking into a Canadian location with a Filipino Canadian working in the store. Very different from being on the telephone with someone in another continent.

I have worked call centres too.
In my experience, the call centre staff overseas rely heavily on a script and do not deviate from it.
In contrast, the call centre staff in the US and Canada can be creative in the way they handle complaints and solve problems. They tend to think more outside the box and go the extra distance to help customers on the telephone.

I don't see how there is a difference in person or on the phone. Your example is to say that the person is Canadian born to Filipino parents - but what difference would that make? I'm very unclear as to how you see this as a difference?

There is scripting no matter where you are, what I have personally found is that the overseas agents are less likely to deviate from it as they do not want to use the incorrect words. English is a hard language to learn, and English as a second language can create some interesting(embarrassing) misunderstandings and I know our agents wanted to avoid those misunderstandings.

[Minou]

Isn't English an official language of education and government in the Phillipines? I don't think I'd mind a Filipino call centre!

[Safyre]

Minou - I do believe you are correct. I have a number of Filipino friends and they have been taught English from a very early grade, it is a different style of English however and still causes some miscommunication

[anastasia1009]

I have worked in call centers for over 10 years from American contracts to Canadian contracts. I have been a supervisor and help desk for years. And I have hired people for 2 years for call centres so I have talked to every type of person.
The majority of people who work in call centers in Canada are from other countries and most speak with an accent and even a french accent too. I have had supervisor calls because the customer couldn't understand the person and I would speak to them for a few minutes and then put then person back on. I found people from other countries worked harder at call center work and depending on the contract learned faster. I worked on an American contract and the minute they heard an accent they went crazy. And to them I had an accent cause I am from Nova Scotia. The only call center I know for sure is in India is Dell because it cost too much money to run it in Ottawa. They had a nice call center there and shut down cause they were getting $15 an hours. Cheaper labor in other countries cause some people think that $11 an hour for call center work is beneath them here in Canada. Call Centers have the highest turn over rate. Some people last days or weeks and then we have to retrain a whole new batch. So when you call you might be getting a new agent or someone who hates there job. When a customer calls to complain or the task is repetitive over and over again you begin to care less and less. Not every call is monitored and not every call is taped. Some agents don't give about the quality of service cause its not a real job. I use to monitor the calls for a big contract and you could tell who needed the money to live day to day and people who were going to school or its just a job.
Just because they can't speak perfect English doesn't mean they can't help you. Some people born here can't speak perfect English. Just be patience or do emails or chat. I would rather have someone with experience and knowledgeable than perfect English.

[Darth Penguin]

To be honest...I've never had a call centre rep who wasn't Canadian..apart from those stupid " calling you on behalf of" hard sell calls and the " Microsoft windows scam" calls.

Could be cos I'm in Qc and have to press 9 for English(depending on the company...snorts!)..

I always ask for the highest person in the building, even if it's the CEO when I'm having problems with CS staff...esp when there's no supervisor..I'll up the ante with no problem...

[anastasia1009]

I don't know if people realize that every time a customer asks for a supervisor or someone else other than the first tier agent. Agents puts notes in a program and describe what happen in there words. And if it happens a lot for problems that a agent could of handle customers are labeled difficult or notes in with stars around it saying how angry or bad the customer is. Then the agent who get the call the next time reads the notes and may treat the call differently. I have worked at centers and contracts that we have banned customers from calling and a few times turned off there service for abusing agents verbally. Even charged a Rogers customer for verbal threats and turned off all there services.
Just like cashiers you treat call center agents with respect they will do it in return. You start flipping out or asking for a supervisor even without letting them talk they might transfer you to a wrong department.
Also people are saying about scripts its not the call center who does those scripts its the company. And some contracts you can not deviate from the script or you fail your call report and lose your job.