Posted on 01/11/2005 3:19:12 PM PST by Arjun
MUMBAI: "Q: I'm curious as to what kind of responses you have been getting. Do you use curse words at them?
A: I made an Indian woman cry and promise to quit her job in 60 seconds. You can do it too!"
This is only a random (and printable) selection from the thousands of messages in cyberspace calling for a campaign to harass Indian call centre operators, to put an end to the offshoring of jobs. The same person goes on to describe some more of his experiences while calling these call centres, an activity to which he promises to devote "one hour every day".
"Actually the usual response is confusion...I get the impression these are not the brightest bulbs in India's chandeliers. Often, they give me a 'courtesy laugh' as if I were joking and ask how they can help me. Usually, I limit the calls to 60 seconds anyway, so I can call back and really hammer them. I've been doing this about 20 minutes a day. It's great fun!" The person goes on to give the names and numbers of some popular MNCs with Indian call centres.
In the last few months, and particularly since the US presidential elections, people working in call centres in the country say that they are receiving more abusive and racist phone calls than ever before. "Earlier, people would get abusive if we didn't answer their questions satisfactorily. Now, I get calls—on some days up to five a shift—from people who are calling only to abuse," says Shalini J, a 22-year-old engineering graduate who works in a major call centre in Malad.
In fact, call centres are even training their employees specifically for this. "There is a 'mute' button on our system which we have been trained to press as soon as we get a call," says Aslesha M, another engineering graduate who works in a call centre in Pune. Aslesha says the button mutes any sound from their end so that inadvertent responses to abusive language are not heard by the caller. "When the person has finished saying all he/she wants to say, then I press the 'talk' button and reply," she says.
While earlier, abusive calls would usually come from drunken callers, now they come from sober people who are calling only to vent their feeling about their jobs being offshored, or 'Bangalored' as it is now called, says Suneet V, a Mumbai call centre executive. Suneet says that they have been told never to hang up on the caller. Instead, "de-stressing, yoga, and special training on how to deal with this is given to us," says Suneet.
Most call centres have caller-ID systems, and habitually abusive callers, they say, are sometimes screened out after 12 to 15 calls. But they're up against people who are not only angry, but also smart. Take this post, for example:
"I have inside knowledge of call centres, having worked in several. It's crucial that the agents be efficient. Barraging them with 60-second calls will ruin their stats and also lower their morale. Eventually, they'll start thinking 'another damn rude American a******' every time a call comes up. All of this will have a cumulative effect. If 100 people across the US would commit to spending 10 minutes a day, we could cripple them, and bring those jobs back to the US."
Can you give examples of what you are talking about? What cultural knowledge is needed on the part of the call center worker regarding credit card issues?
"Can you give examples of what you are talking about? What cultural knowledge is needed on the part of the call center worker regarding credit card issues?"
Disputing a charge at a strip club made on the company AMEX card.
You can read about in Linda Chavez's latest book, Betrayal.
It's a scathing indictment of how organized labor does business in contemporary America.
...but rather a matter of a lack of hands on experience with the technologies and procedures involved.
Its still just a charge you are disputing. What should the call center worker need to know that he doesnt not? The inner workings of a strip club?
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