To to not want to negotiate my bills with india

[lematthedogs]

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!

I can't stand BT.

Just found out they have taken over our used-to-be-great internet and phone company, and suddenly all calls go direct to Durban, (though the names so far have all sounded Indian?) and my name and number have stopped being ex directory of their own accord

I've been on the website and they have forums for users - they are great, told me the number to use for Sheffield call centre instead, and so on.

Bloody bastard BT.

Lem, many of us have been driven to distraction by the call centre nightmare in various forms. We totally understand.

I have no objection to the Indian or SA person on the end of the line...none whatsoever. But they cannot help me with the simplest of questions. Literally everything I say is met with 'I am sorry? You cannot receive incoming calls?' or somesuch inanity.
I had one REALLY great bloke whose English was superb, and who understood the things Iw as trying to get across - which cannot always be taught in a language school. But everyone else was hopeless, sadly.
It's a shame, but companies probably count on it turning away those who want to ask them stuff, whatever it's about and however urgent.

Better luck tomorrow Lem. Hope you can find a UK number x

My friend used to work for Aviva, or Norwich union as it was back then. She went out to India to train people to work in the new call centres they were setting up. The people she trained were all fully qualified doctors who could make more money working in a call centre than they could practising as a dr. They are told to choose British names , can't remember why I think it's to appear more friendly or something.

I usually have problems with the AOL helpline as it is now based in India. They don't understand my problem when I phone no matter how many times I tell them they don't seem to understand why I have this problem or how to fix it I seem to be the only AOL customer with this problem and they just give me the same answers from the script, it drives me up the wall.I've decided now to just live with it as I can't aford to keep phoning them and ending up with no result.

That is what drives me mental - the scripted answers. Its not their fault, thats how they are trained, as someone else says, they don't have the authority to deal with my call sufficiently. Its madness.

Just come off the phone trying to sort my BT bill. A lovely polite Indian lady spoke to me using a card to read their policies to me. But she didn't understand about income support or lone parents and why should she.

Same with Lloydstsb bank. The guy totally refused to listen to me and took money out of my account without my permission. My attempts trying to get it back failed miserably and it messed up my other bills which went into arrears! I was furious but no one cared.

I feel your pain tinnabeans - i reckon we are going to start banking with the "bank of underthe bed"