Posted on 01/16/2006 1:54:28 PM PST by jb6
Travel Weekly Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) The bubble will burst this year for travel companies outsourcing call centres to India, recruitment chiefs have predicted.
Problems with language, customer service and call handling are forcing companies to think again about using cheap labour for activities such as sales calls.
AA Appointments managing director John Tolmie said: "It makes sense to have back office and ticketing in India if you want low skills and the numbers, but the British public are put off by people trying to sell them something from overseas. You do not get the levels of service you expect. A lot of the call centres are coming back to the UK."
C&M Travel Recruitment sales manager Barbara Kolosinska said she was optimistic the trend for call centres turning their back on India would help UK recruitment. "Call centres are returning from India and this is encouraging," she said.
Argyle Recruitment director Rick White said he had noticed more enquiries about call-centre positions. "Through our Argyle Extra service for junior management we have had companies looking for good people," he said. "There is more interest in call-centre jobs."
One word: Language. Who wants to do business with folks who can't understand you, or make themselves understood? I had to get my Palm Pilot serviced, and the process was infuriating.
Duh.
When I get somebody like that, I just keep saying "I can't understand you", and "what? I can't understand you", followed up by repeated requests for "somebody who speaks english". I generate a lot of angry call center people, probably all over the world, but eventually I get back to somebody in the US.
If they're going to waste my time, I'm going to waste theirs.
The backlash against outsourced technology support has begun. I know of service contracts that have been written that mandate that all software technical support given to licensed clients will be provided by U.S.-based technicians.
Workers in those third-world countries change jobs when the company across the street offers $0.50 more per week in pay. Loyalty is completely non-existant and their software patches look like a plate of spaghetti. It was only a matter of time.
~ Blue Jays ~
Mujibar was trying to get a job in India.
The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have passed all the tests, except one. Unless you pass it you cannot qualify for this job."
Mujibar said, "I am ready."
The manager said, "Make a sentence using the words Yellow, Pink and Green."
Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, "Mister manager, I am ready."
The manager said, "Go ahead."
Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green, green, green, and I pink it up, and say, 'Yellow, this is Mujibar.'"
Mujibar now works as a technician at a call center for computer problems.
No doubt you have spoken to him.
I concur. It's odd, because I deal with a *lot* of foreign nationals with varying degrees of English, but the Indian accent is the most difficult for me to understand.
I'm going the "¡No comprende!" line from now on.
Yeah, funny that they would pick that one particular language to go to....
What pissed me off was the sunofabitch was having me do the exact same crap the website (and written instructions) had told me to do, and I had done.
You can actually get college-educated Indian workers who speak excellent English....if you are willing to pay a higher salary.
But everyone appears to want excellent employees at very low prices.
I can understand it easily...but only after about 6 years of college where a third of the professors and about a quarter of the students were Indian.
I would GLADLY pay more for technical support or assistance if I could be guaranteed an American/English-speaking technician.
Of course, some days, I wish I could start speaking another language... fast.. like Spanish.. to some of the Indian technicians. LOL.
"...funny that they would pick that one particular language to go to...."
But that is because the Indians actually SPEAK english, for some it might even be their "best" language. I've worked with Indian immigrants and their english can be charming, I still use one expression I picked up from one woman, if something in our bookkeeping tasks was befuddling she would say "It is a quiz!". But the accents, esp. amoung those who have never left India can be very difficult.
I actually got rid of an Indian staffed tech company (located in NYC, not overseas) because the guys who actually did the work had very poor english and very thick accents. Over the phone you could not understand them. And the worse part was you were never sure they understood you!
ROFL! ROFL! I used to work for a travel company that did just that...plus my (web development) team's jobs were sent to India, and I resigned in protest.
Oh sweet revenge, thine hour has come.
Regards, Ivan
I'm getting a course in total immersion next month. Hope the conferees can understand my thick American accent...
I worked with a Korean chef that spoke Spanish, but nobody could understand his Korean accented Spanish. LOL
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