Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Non Native Speaking Call Centers

When you use a call center or sales center do you get upset when they use non native speakers to answer your query?

I wonder if companies who use non native speakers affect their customers view of the company

I know I often think the person I am talking to do not understand me or I did not understand them and worry something has been lost in translation with me getting the short end of the stick.

Is it just me or do others feel the same way.


If you could only choose companies who used native speakers living in your country would you be willing to pay a bit more knowing you are supporting US jobs and gaining a better service

Steve

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Crikey! We've had to put up with this nonsense for ages now. Trying to hear AND understand somebody in India (the norm!) when the computer has gone apeshit is totally impossible. Believe me, B and I speak from bitter experience.

Mrs. Mom said...

YES. In fact Steve, I switched from A(ce) T(ub) and T(oilet) to Comcast for all our services- phone, internet, and cable- AND saved $50 a month in the process. Not only are they based IN America, they are polite, and helpful. The other company? Not so much. They were rude, and when I got someone from "over there", I- being a woman- was really treated rudely. AND I had to wait On Hold for over an hour to get treated like crap. With Comcast, they answer fast, and are IN MY TOWN. And I save money. Go figure that one! Works for me. ;)

It is sad to see- my Dad, step Mom, and father in law all retired from the above, BEFORE the pride in good customer service and good service IN the USA went downhill. I felt good, knowing that my small bit of business was supporting them in some way. But one can only tolerate so much, and I am now quite happy we made the switch.

Callie said...

We've just had a fiasco trying to book flights for UK children to come over for Christmas. Have actually been on the phone with Virgin Airlines since 7am and it is now 11am and it's finally sorted when we got to speak to a Brit! Of course I think I've now confirmed just how weird Americans are and how we corrupt our British husbands because I needed to speak to him from the bubbles. I was in the tub, LOL! I'm sure he's thinking crazy American women! LOL

Andrea said...

It does get a bit aggrivating. I normally tell the person on the line that I can't understand them. Either they will speak really slow like I am an idiot or they get someone else to help me.

Why go into telemarketing if you can't speak the language that you are going to be speaking to people in. Does that make any sence? That would be like if I signed up to answer calls from Germany. I would not be of any assistance to them. LOL!!

cdncowgirl said...

I find it frustrating when there is clearly a gap in communication on both ends and THEY treat me like I'm an idiot. Maybe that has something to do with what MrsMom said, maybe its because I'm female?

Grey Horse Matters said...

It sure can be aggravating. I've had some calls dealing with people in other countries concerning a service I needed to correct.By the end of the call I don't know who was more confused me or them! And yes it would be nice to deal with people in your own language.

Jean said...

I'm with Mrs. Mom on this one. I switched over to Comcast from Verizon for exactly the same reason.

I was sick of talking to India about my DSL problems only to have them take me through the same troubleshooting techniques over and over and then say, "Well, it seems to be a local problem. We will have to refer it to your area office." Thanks for nothing!

Comcast is just about 2 miles away and when I call I am talking to someone in the USA.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Yes. I would! :)

~Lisa

photogchic said...

The airlines lost our luggage..we live about a mile from the airport. In calling to check on their whereabouts...I was talking to people in India...drove me crazy and they were no help. Finally just drove to the airport to straighten things out.

Anonymous said...

It's just the same in Britain. Crap service from Indian call centres. I've just spent three weeks trying to change the address on my phone and internet services, and have had to change service provider in the end. The best bit is when the Indian on the other end tells me that I live somewhere else: "Didcot, that is in Rotherham" which is like (for example) telling someone in a small town in New Jersey that they live in a suburb of Chicago. Meanwhile the HSBC call centre calls me early in the morning because the morons can't get the time zone right, which is why they are losing my business.

Sandra said...

Yes, I would pay more. My most frustrating experience to date was about my website software editing program. I can't edit my home page. It was a Macromedia product which was purchased by Adobe. I got a polite woman with an accent I couldn't place. She spoke excellent english, but her accent got in the way, as well as the fact that people trained in a language that aren't native to don't understand the 'street' side of the language, so we weren't communicating well. I spent two hours with her telling me to do the same thing over and over. I finally was so frustrated that I told her I needed to quit.

I will pay someone to come out to help me, it's not worth my time or my frustration to do that again.

I could look up where the center was located because she spent most of that two hours on my website. Adobe has tech service in the Philippines.