bellapacifica Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 (edited) I'm editing this post to keep some peace in the ranks. Edited February 3, 2007 by bellapacifica Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 That you're singling out remarks made about customer service in India is less than sublime. There are similar remarks in these threads about customer service problems here in the good ol' USA. Customer service receives what it gives. If it is coherent and intuitive, the feedback will be a plus. If the service is stick to the script and doesn't allow for an intuitive leap past the three steps they need to read through, then the feedback will be a negative and the perception of "idiots" will be what it is. I received my best customer service when the support on the other end realized he was talking to someone already in the know and stopped the script and took me up another level of service. I received my worst customer experience when the support got to the end of their script and had no place to go but dead air on the phone wondering why my problem wasn't resolved. Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 That you're singling out remarks made about customer service in India is less than sublime. There are similar remarks in these threads about customer service problems here in the good ol' USA. Customer service receives what it gives. If it is coherent and intuitive, the feedback will be a plus. If the service is stick to the script and doesn't allow for an intuitive leap past the three steps they need to read through, then the feedback will be a negative and the perception of "idiots" will be what it is. I received my best customer service when the support on the other end realized he was talking to someone already in the know and stopped the script and took me up another level of service. I received my worst customer experience when the support got to the end of their script and had no place to go but dead air on the phone wondering why my problem wasn't resolved. My mistake! I must rephrase and say that ANY name calling regarding customer service (or anyone) beit in the good old USA or abroad should not be tolerated in the forum! and as far as Customer service receiving what it gives, Then assuming that the forum members that don't have patience and fortitude regarding people like you or me just trying to do their job deserve the same distinction. I reiterate allot of these customer service centers can only work with the tools that they are given,This does not make them idiots. Link to comment
goedips Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I reiterate allot of these customer service centers can only work with the tools that they are given,This does not make them idiots. No, but it does mean that someone involved in the setting up of that customer service center is an idiot becasue they have not given the staff the tools needed to carry out their job to the satisfaction of their customers. Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 I reiterate allot of these customer service centers can only work with the tools that they are given,This does not make them idiots. No, but it does mean that someone involved in the setting up of that customer service center is an idiot becasue they have not given the staff the tools needed to carry out their job to the satisfaction of their customers. I rest my case! how unfortunate. Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I've worked in Customer Service and I can tell you that people are not calling to tell you what a great job you and your company are doing for them. They are calling you to fix their problems or to simply to complain, trust me. It's the job and you have to deal with it. I was fortunate to once work for a company that actually wanted their CS employees to do a good job and address their customer needs. So I know it's possible to provide good if not exceptional customer service. But it requires two things. People who are willing to do their jobs. Okay that's one thing. Management who provides training and employee support. And employees who are willing to learn and make an effort. Bottom line, If I get crappy customer service, it's crappy customer service. I blame everybody at that company, from the top to the bottom. And as I was taught, unhappy customers tend to tell at least seven people about their bad experience. Link to comment
+NightPilot Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 There are idiots involved in most business operations, at some level somewhere. The Lord must love idiots, because he made so many of them. One of my faults is that I don't suffer fools gladly, and I admit it. Competence earns my respect, and incompetence, my scorn. Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) Intolerance earns my scorn THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER T. Edited February 3, 2007 by bellapacifica Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) nevermind, I just realized my efforts could be better spent elsewhere. Edited February 3, 2007 by BlueDeuce Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) It's good to get stuff off your chest! now lets enjoy some geocaching! Go bears! Edited February 3, 2007 by bellapacifica Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Obviously I am out gunned here , Didn't intend to stir it up so much .It is a shame that competence and respect come before patience and understanding. Edited for more understanding.. Patience and understanding is required of teachers and daycare workers. It is NOT something I afford to a company who first puts out shoddy products and then hides behind the smokescreen of cheap labor outsourced to a foreign country. How can I have understanding for someone I simply can't understand??? It's downright frustrating to pay good money for a product that doesn't work right, and it's infuriating to not be able to communicate with the people they hire to help you solve the problem! Link to comment
+HaLiJuSaPa Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I have to beg to differ on this one and somewhat (but not completely) agree with the OP. Part of my day job involves calling/emailing customer service and tech support often. What I find with a lot of these offshore call centers is that too often the rep speaks or types a very poorly grammered English that makes little sense to you or their accent is too thick to understand them. This has not ALWAYS happened in my experience, and I've been impressed in the cases where I can fully understand the rep, but more often than not this happens and it is extremely frustrating since its like getting no service or support at all. Please do not flame me or call me a "racist" or anti-foreigner, I am far from either, but to be honest, I would think someone in India, etc. might feel the same way if the situation were reversed (especially if our customer service reps were supposed to deal with them in one of their non-English native languages). Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) Obviously I am out gunned here , Didn't intend to stir it up so much .It is a shame that competence and respect come before patience and understanding. Edited for more understanding.. Patience and understanding is required of teachers and daycare workers. It is NOT something I afford to a company who first puts out shoddy products and then hides behind the smokescreen of cheap labor outsourced to a foreign country. How can I have understanding for someone I simply can't understand??? It's downright frustrating to pay good money for a product that doesn't work right, and it's infuriating to not be able to communicate with the people they hire to help you solve the problem! I wasn't aware that patience and understanding was exclusive to the teaching and daycare profession. I completely agree with you that it definatley frustrating at times but as far as hiding behind smoke screens I must disagree. Magellan has and as far as I know still does have a telephone number, they are reachable and they are very willing to help in any way that they can.I don't support any one brand over another,all I know is that the Magellan customer service has been at times trying..But with a little patience and empathy that these poor buggers are doing probably the best they can with what they got.Further more the cheap labour that you spoke of is true these people make in a year what you or I make in a couple of months, Perhaps magellan outsourced because no one else wants to do the work. Edited February 3, 2007 by bellapacifica Link to comment
+fratermus Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 (edited) Customer service receives what it gives. If it is coherent and intuitive, the feedback will be a plus. Customer Services receives whatever punching the caller wants to give the {company}. It is the nature of CS. {the following is a rant about my co-workers, not about your post} I work with people who have to call the same Indian subcontinent support lines I do. I find Indian support folks more articulate and more intelligent than my mouthbreather co-workers that bash them. Also, I find that people that complain they can't "understand THEIR accents" have the worst hick accents and sound like they might have gotten their GED in a crackerjack box. If the service is stick to the script and doesn't allow for an intuitive leap past the three steps they need to read through, then the feedback will be a negative and the perception of "idiots" will be what it is. It is most likely that the support idiots have zero input in developing those scripts or in the requirement to use those scripts. No support rep I have ever talked to enjoys working from scripts. It is humiliating and robs the tech of his craftsman's pride. Publically-owned companies design phonecenters that way because it saves money for the company. Callcenters are loss centers. The less loss the better, or so the theory goes. Having said that, there are situations where checklists are very important. When I get on a plane, I am aware that the pilot is doing his preflight by a script. If you are not sick of my ranting by now, you can read some random input I have on how to get good phone support and giving good phone support. Edited February 3, 2007 by fratermus Link to comment
+fratermus Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 What I find with a lot of these offshore call centers is that too often the rep speaks or types a very poorly grammered English QED Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Customer service receives what it gives. If it is coherent and intuitive, the feedback will be a plus. Customer Services receives whatever punching the caller wants to give the {company}. It is the nature of CS. {the following is a rant about my co-workers, not about your post} I work with people who have to call the same Indian subcontinent support lines I do. I find Indian support folks more articulate and more intelligent than my mouthbreather co-workers that bash them. Also, I find that people that complain they can't "understand THEIR accents" have the worst hick accents and sound like they might have gotten their GED in a crackerjack box. If the service is stick to the script and doesn't allow for an intuitive leap past the three steps they need to read through, then the feedback will be a negative and the perception of "idiots" will be what it is. It is most likely that the support idiots have zero input in developing those scripts or in the requirement to use those scripts. No support rep I have ever talked to enjoys working from scripts. It is humiliating and robs the tech of his craftsman's pride. Publically-owned companies design phonecenters that way because it saves money for the company. Callcenters are loss centers. The less loss the better, or so the theory goes. Having said that, there are situations where checklists are very important. When I get on a plane, I am aware that the pilot is doing his preflight by a script. If you are not sick of my ranting by now, you can read some random input I have on how to get good phone support and giving good phone support. FINALLY! A rational head! Thank you!! Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 What I find with a lot of these offshore call centers is that too often the rep speaks or types a very poorly grammered English QED I know...........Speaking of proper grammar..Sheesh! Link to comment
+Rockin Roddy Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 I can't understand them and we had one working for us for a few years....BTW...I graditated frum a mager schul...no ged here! Customer Service is a job that, GOING IN, you know you'll be confronted by upset customers....is that a surprise to them or what??? I love it best when THEY get all upset and huffy...can't do your job, frustrated and taking it out on the customer...VERY professional!!Obviously, a person equipped with the proper knowledge to be of assistance would be best, hiring some english mangling person (from ANY country) that hasn't ever even SEEN the product they are supposed to be helping you with won't be too endearing for that upset customer. Want to make your job better??? Get the product in question, work with it, learn it inside and out, try all those "scripts" out on yourself and THEN do your job!!! An experienced staff is a competent staff!! Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 I guess it is a case of "DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER" but address the source of the problem.There are MANY times I have talked to southern hicks with accents so thick you could cut them with a chainsaw, this still being the ENGLISH language or a baster-sized version there of ,Allot of the customer service centers I have spoken to have so much twang in their voices I feel like accompanying them with a banjo! Link to comment
bellapacifica Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 (edited) I can't understand them and we had one working for us for a few years....BTW...I graditated frum a mager schul...no ged here! Customer Service is a job that, GOING IN, you know you'll be confronted by upset customers....is that a surprise to them or what??? I love it best when THEY get all upset and huffy...can't do your job, frustrated and taking it out on the customer...VERY professional!!Obviously, a person equipped with the proper knowledge to be of assistance would be best, hiring some english mangling person (from ANY country) that hasn't ever even SEEN the product they are supposed to be helping you with won't be too endearing for that upset customer. Want to make your job better??? Get the product in question, work with it, learn it inside and out, try all those "scripts" out on yourself and THEN do your job!!! An experienced staff is a competent staff!! It's such a shame that you can't understand "THEM" but I'm so pleased that you had the opportunity to work with "ONE" though! A confederate flag wouldn't happen to adorn the back window of your pickup would it?? Edited February 4, 2007 by bellapacifica Link to comment
+DonB Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 I have to beg to differ on this one and somewhat (but not completely) agree with the OP. Part of my day job involves calling/emailing customer service and tech support often. What I find with a lot of these offshore call centers is that too often the rep speaks or types a very poorly grammered English that makes little sense to you or their accent is too thick to understand them. This has not ALWAYS happened in my experience, and I've been impressed in the cases where I can fully understand the rep, but more often than not this happens and it is extremely frustrating since its like getting no service or support at all. Please do not flame me or call me a "racist" or anti-foreigner, I am far from either, but to be honest, I would think someone in India, etc. might feel the same way if the situation were reversed (especially if our customer service reps were supposed to deal with them in one of their non-English native languages). I agree with you. My last experience was trying to return a CF card that wasn't working, I gave the tech person my email address so they could send me some important information I needed to return the card. After waiting for a full 24 hours and not receiving the email, I found a number that would get me in direct contact with their returns department. What I found out was even after spelling my email address to the tech rep he still got it wrong and they sent the info to a non existent email address. The person in the returns department thought it was really funny, although I failed to see the humor in it. Link to comment
robertlipe Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Since the original post of this thread has been edited away, it's impossible to tell if this conversation is on an appropriate topic for the group or even if the original post was appropriate. Since a number of such posts have been similarly edited away and many of the remaining posts have little to do with "GPS Units and Software" this thread seems to have run its course. Closing. Link to comment
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