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To: sarcasm
Companies such as MphasiS are the biggest beneficiaries of a movement among many of the largest corporations in the United States to shift certain white-collar work to low-cost India, where local companies are adding thousands of skilled, English-speaking employees every quarter to meet the increased demand.

After having used Dell's offshored customer support, I can state that these people are certainly not skilled in either conversational English nor PC technical support. Very strong accents, and entirely script-driven. They also tend to be rude when you try to break out of their scripts.

Our organization has over 7500 Dell systems. It was sometimes difficult working with their American tech support, but even the smallest problem was agony with the Indians. However, Dell didn't seem to mind burning up hours of satellite time on one call, or sending three parts out before the one I really wanted arrived. At least, not until their corporate customers started to really complain.

American companies desperate for instant cash savings see offshored tech support as employing PhDs with perfect English, and instinctive knowledge of the product. In reality, they're getting people who work for one-tenth the pay, but do one-tenth the productive work. But that doesn't show up on this year's balance sheet.

I have not yet had a single encounter with an offshore tech support that I'd rate as good as even a medicore American operation. The unspoken ground rules behind all this controversy is that Americans are overpaid, someone else working for one-tenth the cost is world-class, and clients won't notice the extra grief they have to put up with.

4 posted on 02/17/2004 1:11:11 AM PST by 300winmag (FR's Hobbit Hole supports America's troops)
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To: 300winmag
I'm on a general interest forum regularly, primarily because it's a good place to engage libs when discussions turn to political topics. There are a lot of techie types on the board, and computer questions get asked and answered regularly. Everyone is nailing Dell for the poor quality of their offshored technical support. The corporate guys with U.S. support are happy with it.

Bad move, Michael.
15 posted on 02/17/2004 4:47:05 AM PST by FreedomPoster (This space intentionally blank)
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To: 300winmag
Great analysis; comments well said. I agree totally.
20 posted on 02/17/2004 5:25:27 AM PST by DustyMoment (Repeal CFR NOW!!)
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To: 300winmag
>American companies desperate for instant cash savings see offshored tech support as employing PhDs with perfect English, and instinctive knowledge of the product. In reality, they're getting people who work for one-tenth the pay, but do one-tenth the productive work. But that doesn't show up on this year's balance sheet.

The Indian Ph. D. with perfect English and an instinctive knowledge of the product tend to start their own companies, often in the US. It's a CIO dream to think one can really buy three times of something at 1/10 the price.

27 posted on 02/17/2004 6:14:43 AM PST by Dialup Llama
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To: 300winmag
I noticed. Someone is going to lose my business over it as soon as I find that same service locally. If I even suspect I'm dealing with someone from some outsourcing firm overseas, that company goes on my $h!tlist.
30 posted on 02/17/2004 6:18:48 AM PST by Ladysmith
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To: 300winmag
Ping...the tech support for Direcway's one-way system is someplace outside of the 48-contiguous states.....

I think there are a couple of title companies that are doing the same thing. Also checkout Citigroup and their off-shoring of appraisal reviews....
33 posted on 02/17/2004 6:33:34 AM PST by pointsal
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To: 300winmag
Good points. Seems like companies like Dell overlooked the price vs. value thing with their tech support. I don't mind paying more for good service. That's value.
45 posted on 02/17/2004 7:12:02 AM PST by manic4organic (An organic conservative)
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To: 300winmag
I only had one dealing with an offshore person. He was an Indian, and his accent was so hard to understand, that I told him to forget it after a few tries. I did elicit from him that he was actually in India, not an Indian working in the U.S.A.
80 posted on 02/17/2004 7:45:47 AM PST by frogandtoad
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To: 300winmag
...and entirely script-driven...

I haven't yet encountered the strong foreign accent, but in my experience all tech support is script driven. I would love to do buiness with a company that had a second tier of tech support for folks who build computers.

I built a server last year that included a $500 Adaptec Raid controller, which didn't work. I could tell from the symptoms that there was some incompatibity with the motherboard, but I had to go through three weeks of painful and repetitive diagnostics before the motherboard manufacturer agreed to take the whole bundle in house for diagnostics. Sure enough, the card and board wouldn't work together without slowing everything down.

But even at that level of technology, everyone insisted on working through the script. My complaint is that I had done the entire script before making the first call, and I had documented all my steps in an email.

89 posted on 02/17/2004 8:05:43 AM PST by js1138
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To: 300winmag
I have not yet had a single encounter with an offshore tech support that I'd rate as good as even a medicore American operation.

After reloading all software three times at the behest of the Dell pros from Bangalore, it was a tech rep. in Tennessee who had the bright idea to run hardware diagnostics on my Dell 4300 that revealed a failure on my hard drive.

Not to worry. Dell sent out one of their crack Indian H1-B hardware reps to install and genuine reconditioned hard drive that I fully expect to fall apart in another three weeks.

And the good thing about all this is I'm learning to build my own PC from the motherboard up. High time too. I'll do that before I ever buy another Dell.

137 posted on 02/18/2004 10:17:48 PM PST by Euro-American Scum (A poverty-stricken middle class must be a disarmed middle class)
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