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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To to not want to negotiate my bills with india

30 replies

lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 14:11

I know i am going to get flammed for this, and i probably deserve it.

I just hate it when the person on the other end of the phone is obviously in india. NOT because i don't understand them, i understand they perfectly well, NOT because they are rude - in fact they are NEVER rude, they seem to go out of their way to try to help me.

But how can i negotiate my debts with stories of financial "hardship" with someone who is probably sat there thinking - "lady, you don't know you are fucking born" How can i get cross with someone who is being LOVELY on the other end of the phone but who hasn't been equipped to sufficiently deal with my questions. As in, they seem to have a store of routes in which they can go down, lead by responses on the computor.

It makes me feel like shit - i makes me feel like i am whinging about something that is my own doing and that i should put up, shut up and pay up! Even though i can't but i feel like such a fucking fraud telling someone my difficulties when they are probably barely able to feed themsleves.

OR am i being unreasonable in THAT assumption in itself?

If i were speaking to someone here - on an equal footing as it were, i would feel able to a) put my sob story across - its not a sob story really. We are in debt, we are sorting it out, but the loss of a contract over xmas has left us floundering again, but things are looking up, however, i need to negotiate the next few weeks to sort things out

b)To be assertive when i feel i am not being helped properly when i know the person on the other end of the phone has had insufficient training to deal with it and i can't get through to someone who can?

So i end up feeling frustrated AND guilty

Probably shouldnt even post this but im pissed off!

OP posts:
mitfordsisters · 01/02/2010 14:28

Globalisation can be very alienating - I don't think you are being entirely unreasonable. I would love to speak to the same person at the bank each time, like in the olden days. If you get flamed for seeming racist, just ignore - I get what you mean - sorry you are going through tough times.

Blu · 01/02/2010 14:35

I suspect, though, that the issue of speaking to a phone-answerer who hasn't either been trained, or have the authority, to deal with anything other than stock offers and procedues, is not one of them being in India.

Forget about feeling guilty re their own (assumed) situation - they are paid to do a job which is talk to you, whatever you have to say. Have you tried telling them that your situation is a bit complicated and flexible, so would it be possible to negotiate with a supervisor or manager?

Heathcliffscathy · 01/02/2010 14:37

you should bear in mind that working in a call centre is an extremely well paid mc job in the subcontinent.

bellissima · 01/02/2010 14:37

YANBU. My DH is a 'demned furriner' and he can't stand it if he has to speak to someone who can't speak English very well and can't pick up on nuances - it's even harder for two native non-English speakers to try and converse like this.

After a horrible time trying to sort out a BT bill with a succession of people at call centres in India - all trying very hard to do their job but none really understanding the issue and all obviously speaking from some script that concluded 'never concede what the customer wants' I resorted to what I would always do with utilities/big companies when living on the continent. Send a registered (recorded, whatever it is where you get receipt and they sign) letter every time. The time spent queuing in the Post Office is worth it in terms of blood pressure saved. In the case of BT the result was a phone call (after all they had my number!) from some special office IN THE UK which steps in when you send a proper legal letter, and dealt with the problem. Lesson learned. Registered letter every time.

Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 14:42

yes sophable, you are probably right.

My DP gets very cross with me about this - but i just feel guilty being crap to people who i (probably wrongly and very arrogant of me actually) are in a worse position that we are. I just want to be able to get cross with the person on the other end of the phone if i feel my needs are not being met and not have to feel shit about it.

OP posts:
Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 14:45

The frustrating thing for me is, that i TRIED to pay a proportion of my phone bill last week. Had i done this, we could have avoided losing the phone line - but get this, after being on hold for nearly an hour i was told that they were having "technical difficulties" and to ring back in four hours - by which time DD was home from school and it was friday so..........!! I also tried to pay online but it wouldn't accept my card payment! i TRIED to explain this to the gentleman on the phone - but he just kept repeating the same answer over and over, i gave up in the end and ended up in floods of tears.

OP posts:
nannynobnobs · 01/02/2010 16:25

I had to call my bank and cancel my card because I'd lost it in Asda... The woman on the other end didn't bloody understand!! I have never called them for anything since.

itsmeolord · 01/02/2010 16:30

You can ask straight away to be put through to someone in the UK with BT when the call centre picks up.
Also, on the moneysavingexpert site there is a thread which has uk numbers for the main utilities and banks.

YANBU. I complained to BT and was told that actually, the call centre workers cannot action anything, they can only take notes and flag it for someone in the uk to deal with so you will only ever get stock answers.

TheCrackFox · 01/02/2010 16:34

You should try phoning an overseas call centre with a Scottish accent - it is impossible.

Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 16:37

itsmeolord - thank you so much for that - am going to try that tomorrow - feel to crap today now I suspect the outcome will be the same as we owe a lot on our bill, but might be able to negotiate better. Will of course feel guilty about that, but I need to get things sorted out.

OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 01/02/2010 16:39

YANBU, but they are probably paid OK, unlike someone working in a British call centre who may really be struggling financially.

What gets me is when they say their name is "Steve" or "Dave", because I bet it's not.

oldraver · 01/02/2010 16:41

My Mum had a lot of problmes with a Virgin call centre. She had informed them many time iver a number of months of her change of address to Spain. When her tickets hadn't arrived she was told they had been sent to her old address and was asked "cant you pick them up from there". I thnik someone in a UK call centre would of realised the difference between Spain and England

itsmeolord · 01/02/2010 16:41

Lem - if it's really that bad you should normally be able to negotiate paying in regular installments with no outgoing calls. Ie, you can't make calls but you can receive them.

Hope things pick up for you. x

BirdyBedtime · 01/02/2010 16:43

YANBU. As a Scot I find foreign call centres very frustrating as they seem to find my accent impossible, even though it's not really that strong compared to some! and have on occasion been known to ask to speak to someone in the UK - this has worked in the past for Barclays phone-banking. I have very little patience with call-centres in general so am probably a nightmare caller (sorry to anyone who works in one). I can imagine that if the situation is at all sensitive it could get very distressing. I hope you get things sorted out soon.

BTW ditto Lynette on their names - why do they do this??

sb6699 · 01/02/2010 17:02

I agree that they dont seem to be able to understand Scottish accents

We ended up in fits of laugher, as did the chap on the other end of the phone (who obviously thought it was rather funny too) when we were trying to sort out our mobile upgrades from 3. Convo something along the lines of:

Chap: You need a new mobile phone?
DH: Aye
Chap: Sorry, sir I cannot help you with your eye. Would you like me to sort out your mobile phone?

We ended up having to go into our local 3 store and get them to deal with it.

As it wasnt particularly important we were able to laugh it off but I suppose if you were calling about an urgent problem, it could be distressing.

Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 17:23

Yes will prob do that, its me! Just the tip of the ice berg

OP posts:
sb6699 · 01/02/2010 17:28

lem - normally if you set up a direct debit with a little bit on top to pay off the arrears they will reconnect you.

Sorry you're in this predicament - hope things get better for you soon.

Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 17:30

we can't set up Direct debits, only have a basic bank account due to credit problems. BUT, its not all doom and gloom. DP business picking up and im about to start my own - thats qutie exciting. Just riding, yet another storm!! THankyou anyway x

OP posts:
Asana · 01/02/2010 17:32

Bah, YABU. Have worked in a call-centre type environment here and you would most likely get the same response, just from someone speaking with a British/regional/local accent which apparently helps people feel better, despite getting the exact same service.

My advice if you have a problem with your bank or the service received - send a letter or, even better, post about it on Twitter. A lot of the big companies have PR departments that pay attention to this kind of thing. My husband did this with both BT and Virgin Media, resulting in us receiving personal calls, apologies and a resolution less than 24 hours later.

Oh, and at sb6699 That did make me chuckle!

Original poster
lematthedogs · 01/02/2010 17:39

You are probably right Asana, but at least i can shout at them!!

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 01/02/2010 18:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

themothershipcalling · 01/02/2010 18:30

I rang BT once with a complaint and the whole process was awful, if they ever mess up again then I would just move provider as couldn't cope with calling them ever again!

On another note, I work in a call center and have to deal with calls transferred from offshore and the worst bit is when someone has died and they tell you that'customer is upset because partner etc has expired'.

I so hope that's not what they say to the actual customer

2010aQuintessentialOdyssey · 01/02/2010 18:30

Yabu. The person working in a call centre in India is probably on an equal footing with most of us. Quite possibly educated to degree level, earning a fair salary, and having a pretty good life. He / she is probably also likely to understand that it can be hard to pay a phone bill. (Funnily, when we lived in India, we paid for our cable tv to our "cable guy" who came around to collect payment in person every month, lol). He might even be called Dave or Steve, as he may be a Christian, and may have taken on a Christian name. Like Anthony.

Sorry about your troubles though. I gave up on contacting Hutchinsons Telecom when I was there, and believe me, you have not experienced call centre Knots until you have tried talking to Hutchinsons in India.

oldenglishspangles · 01/02/2010 18:45

YABU - if they cannot speak clearly or cannot understand you then yes get frustrated and complain. I have worked in a call centre many years ago. Apart from the really rude customers you dont really have the luxury thinking much about the motivations of the people you are speaking to.

itsmeolord · 01/02/2010 19:11

Lem, there are basic bank accounts that will allow you to have a debit card and also set up direct debits.
The Co op bank for example has a basic bank account that will do all that, you can do all your banking online with them as well which helps keep track of things.
Any bank that offers a basic bank account is not allowed to refuse you based on your credit history by the way so you would not have a problem switching to a bank that will give you better facilities.

Have you had decent debt advice? I really would recommend starting with the moneysavingexpert site as it has lots of info all in one place including a review of all the basic bank accounts currently available.