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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate Indian call centres

155 replies

Pakdooik · 07/07/2011 09:33

I've been dealing with BT to sort out a billing problem. When you phone it's a lottery whether you get the UK or India. The Indian staff were extremely polite, extremely friendly and totally effin useless - politely telling me that I was mistaken, that I couldn't speak to a supervisor and that the computer was infallible. That's an hour of my time I won't get back.

The UK staff are reasonably polite, not too friendly and sorted the problem out in five minutes.

Is it to do with not losing face?

OP posts:
herbietea · 07/07/2011 09:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Gotabookaboutit · 07/07/2011 09:43

Its to do with scripts and limited training, cultural attitudes to taking charge, being an actual employee who knows something about the company other than a handbook,having internal telephone numbers and the authority/ability to speak to other departments etc. Also the managers in most of the oversea call centres are there to monitor the persona ell and are not really able to take escalations much further than the call handlers.

Its also about keeping your phone bills down as they are able to deal with 98% of routine calls very efficiently. They are all almost 100% graduates so nothing to do with the call handlers abilities!

Am ex BT call centre manager

Hate Indian call centres as I just cannot understand the accent (lives in remote wales emotion)

MassagesDeclinedByNetmums · 07/07/2011 09:47

I hate BT full stop, I had continuous trouble with the UK call centres. If I'd been lucky enough to get through to an Indian call centre, maybe they'd still have my business Grin

fernier · 07/07/2011 09:50

I hate calling call centres that can't actually DO anything. Once you go off the script they are lost this applies wherever they are in the world but the ones abroad do tend to have less control over things.

5inthebed · 07/07/2011 09:51

YANBU

Although the staff are always friendly and polite, they can never understand my (not so strong) Geordie accent and they never get the problem sorted.

Miggsie · 07/07/2011 09:55

Try spelling a Welsh address to an Indian call centre...oh dear, it's grim for both sides.
My friend rang about his dishwasher, which had broken to claim on the insurance to be told "we don't insure people", leading to a long explaination of what a dishwasher actually is.

The cultural divide sometimes makes it very tough, and having an Indian call centre within a business is a tricky operation to pull off sucessfully. (My company has one, and one in the Philipines and it can be tricky doing the training).

controlpantsandgladrags · 07/07/2011 09:56

hate BT with a passion. The Indian call centre was the main reason we left. Crap customer service.

ebbandflow · 07/07/2011 10:04

You are not alone, I have had the same problems with the BT call centre when my broadband was not working recently. I think my bank Barclays is an indian call centre but I don't seem to have any problems with them.

Original poster
Pakdooik · 07/07/2011 10:05

Controlpants - same with me and M&S credit card. Rang to tell them in advance that I was going to buy a laptop with my card and was assurred it was OK only to have the sale blocked in the shop in front of a long queue of people "suspicious transaction". India phoned me 30 minutes later to check if I still had the card.

OP posts:
MittzyTheVixen · 07/07/2011 10:08

Oh Yes. I am currently internetless on my Home computer because someone in India keeps telling me (very politely) that I don't have an account with them as their system doesn't recognise my number and when I ask to speak to someone and get put on hold, their system the analyses my number, tells me it doesn't recognise my number and cuts me off.

I am very very pissed off about it.

I can't change provider I don't think as I will need a code (apparently) for switching broadband.

I have contemplated stop paying my bills to force the issue but not sure where this will lead me..

ThisIsJustASagaNow · 07/07/2011 10:10

YANBU! I had the same with my car insurance claim too.

I seem to recall watching an interesting thing on tv once though about training o/seas staff for uk call centres. They made them watch British soaps and have a current uk weather report to hand so that if necessary they can make small talk about the weatherGrin

harassedandherbug · 07/07/2011 10:14

We had similar problems with Virgin. If you get through to Scotland, it's great, but if not you're done for!

I still have a mental picture of my husband, phone in hand, about to tear his hair out as we'd moved into our house and the broadband wouldn't work even though the very polite Indian chap assured him it was, and then asked dh what he wanted him to do. Dh hung up Grin. I phoned a couple of hours later and got through to Scotland who arranged for an engineer to come the following day, who then arranged for a new cable to be laid the day after that.

Sausagesarenottheonlyfruit · 07/07/2011 10:19

THE BT CALL CENTRE IS NOT IN INDIA!!!

It is actually in Suffolk.

Little known fact, BT hire indian call centre workers and bring them to the UK to work. They all live in flats rented for them by the company and even have their own bus service to transport them to and from work.

This must somehow work out cheaper than establishing a call centre in India?

MooMooFarm · 07/07/2011 10:21

I struggle with this too. I recently had to deal with an Indian call centre over a car insurance issue, and couldn't understand the person's accent at all. I was having to ask them to spell so much of what they were saying, and couldn't even understand the letters sometimes. I felt as if I were being very rude, inadvertently....

ebbandflow · 07/07/2011 10:21

Really

ebbandflow · 07/07/2011 10:21

Really

Sausagesarenottheonlyfruit · 07/07/2011 10:22

Yes really!

ScatterChasse · 07/07/2011 10:22

I had to speak to Barclays the other week as I've opened a new account.

It was meant to come with a debit card, but I hadn't received it, so I didn't want to put any money in, in case the card had gone missing inth epost or something.

I got through to a very nice polite lady and explained this, and she said she'd have to ask me a few security questions.

First one was "Can you tell me details of a standing order or a recent debit from this account?" Hmm "No, there's no money in it" "Oh" and silence Grin

ebbandflow · 07/07/2011 10:23

Really Sausages what a strange thing for BT to do.

oneofsuesylvesterscheerios · 07/07/2011 10:24

Ooooooh excellent, a chance to rant about bloody chuffing godawful BT!!

Some of the conversations I have had with the Indian call centres over the past few days might have been hilarious - if I didn't feel so murderous...

Our broadband has been dropping out every single time someone rings the house (handy! - esp as my dad died recently and shedloads more than usual people have been ringing with condolences or probate/wills/bank stuff). I'd had an email from BT saying there might be some disruptions to the line as they were upgrading and making their service EVEN BETTER. And it was around this time the broadband kept stopping. So I gave them the requested time to sort it all out (whilst having to reset the whole Hub, Tv etc every time someone had rung the house). But after 4 weeks of this I could stand no more.

I spoke to someone at the weekend who said they had mended the fault on the line, remotely, they were extremely sorry this had happened and it definitely would not happen again.

...and yet it did. So I rang again Monday. This woman said the other person I'd spoken to had been mistaken; of course the problem couldn't be sorted remotely - that was simply impossible - and I needed filters on every phone socket in the house. Was I prepared to go and buy some? NO I said - you send them to me...

So she rang the next day to check if the filters had arrived and were they working? I laughed and asked if she had any idea about the UK postal system? She seemed puzzled and asked if I was making a complaint against her!! I told her she'd have to be more patient and give more time before the filters arrived, to which she replied that she would guarantee they would be with me first thing in the morning. I told her not to be silly and not to promise things she had no control over.

She still didn't get it.... Hmm

God BT and their fricking call centre gives me proper RAGE.

AitchTwoOh · 07/07/2011 10:24

i have found that the people (but particularly males) in forrin call centres often wish to defeat you rather than help you. it is most annoying.

oneofsuesylvesterscheerios · 07/07/2011 10:25

sausages - that's mad. can you prove it?!

ebbandflow · 07/07/2011 10:25

Sorry i'm having BT broadband problems, must ring their call centre now

Katisha · 07/07/2011 10:27

Mittzy if you want that code to switch broadband they have to give it to you. It's called the MAC code and there are rules in place about it.

Ciske · 07/07/2011 10:27

Sausagesarenottheonlyfruit wrote

THE BT CALL CENTRE IS NOT IN INDIA!!! It is actually in Suffolk.

"The" BT Call Centre doesn't exist, there are loads of BT Call centres. Some are in India, the others can be in any corner of the UK. There are also a lot of advisors that work from home.