Posted on 01/05/2008 8:11:48 PM PST by blam
Insulting British callers make operators sick
By Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi
Last Updated: 1:43am GMT 06/01/2008
British callers may be infuriated when they discover that the company they are telephoning has moved its customer service centre to India.
But their frustration is as nothing compared with the heart attacks, ulcers and insomnia afflicting those on the other end of the line.
Staff in call centres say they have been shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks they encounter
Research carried out by India's booming call centre industry has found the 1.6 million people who work in them, mostly in their twenties, are plagued by ailments arising from the stress of dealing with irate customers.
The Indian government is so concerned about the problem that it is preparing to launch a health strategy for the workers.
A study conducted by Strathclyde University for the Union of IT Enabled Services, which informally represents call centre workers, found that 77 per cent felt "very" pressurised and 45 per cent identified difficult customers as the main source of their stress.
The salaries paid by the call centre industry have transformed the lives of a generation of young, middle-class Indians, giving them independence and money to spend on shopping, eating out, holidays and parties, but the price is proving high.
"Youngsters love spending the kind of money their parents only dreamt about, but I'm worried that stress and illness will turn them into zombies," said Karthik Shekhar, the union's general secretary.
The report, to be published later this month, supports the findings of a health survey by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations which found that the outsourcing industry was most at risk from diseases that would hit productivity.
Researchers estimated that heart disease, strokes and diabetes would cost India more than £100 billion in lost productivity over the next 10 years.
Staff in call centres dealing with customers in Britain say they have been shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks they encounter.
Nidhi Aggarwal, 24, said she had never heard some of the insulting language used - including the word "Paki" as a term of abuse - before she began taking orders for a British catalogue company, which routes its customers' calls to a Bangalore call centre.
"At first, I thought I'd get used to it, but it's been a year now and it's not getting easier," she said.
"On its own, maybe I could cope with the abuse, but there's also the stress of finishing calls in one minute and hardly having time for breaks."
Miss Aggarwal, an English graduate, said she planned to quit, tired of wishing customers a good morning only to hear: "Oh, I'm through to India am I? Put me through to someone who can understand English, you f****** cow."
Some companies offer counselling to employees to help them overcome psychological problems.
Archana Bishta, who runs the 1to1help.net advice service in Bangalore, said she had helped workers who were suicidal or having a nervous breakdown.
"Most call centre workers live in big cities, away from home, so they have no family support," she said.
"Dealing with angry customers can make them very emotionally fragile. They blow their top or cry over the smallest thing."
The company's clients include IBM-Daksh, Dell International, CapGemini, Fidelity and Tesco Hindustan Service Centre, while other companies, such as Infosys Technologies in Bangalore, have set up 24-hour staff help lines, manned by psychologists.
Worried call centre managers have also provided cafés, sports facilities and gyms for their staff and offer neck massages, disco nights and picnics in an attempt to ease the pressure-cooker atmosphere.
But none of that helped Aradhana Kamath, 22, who left her job working for a British company's call centre in Noida last May, unable to stand the abuse from callers any longer.
"I think they were angry that their jobs had come to India. They were so emotional and angry, it was like instant hatred. I'd want to cry but I couldn't, I had to take the next call," said Miss Kamath.
Anbumani Ramadoss, the health minister, has promised to introduce a policy specifically for the call centre industry.
"Teenagers straight out of school and college, looking to make a fast buck, are collapsing in front of their computers," he said.
A spokeswoman for Tesco confirmed the company had a contract with the counselling service in Bangalore, which was available to staff to discuss all kinds of personal problems, not just those related to their employment.
Brits should save their anger for the Paki bombmaker down the street.
The best customer service I’ve gotten has been from Indians. However, it was difficult to understand them at times, especially for one like me who speaks English as a second language.
Ahhh, there's that famous British understatement I've heard so much about.
"Dude, you're getting a Delhi !"
There is, however, no excuse for verbally abusing someone who is just doing his or her job by answering the phone. Personally, if I can't understand the support rep, I politely ask to speak with someone that speaks clear English and that usually does the trick.
I have a solution: The call-center people should be instructed that if a caller is insulting, hang up. The callers will learn quickly.
I like Indians too and work with a lot of them here (in the software ind). I learned something funny from one who had just arrived in the States.
He was telling us about how the call center staff is trained on US culture, you known hot dogs, football, baseball, and the Viet Nam war.
My American colleague and I looked at each other and I said...”How about that Viet Nam war, huh?”.
We both cracked up.
I guess lefty history is world wide.
Apu is very popular among 7-11 proprietors and clerks.
I always pretend that I can’t understand them … they boot you upward to the next level of competence, once again I pretend I don’t understand the. Eventually I get to the top of the technical food chain … and get the help I need.
If the call centers are hanging up on customers, the company that is using the call center will lose business.
It is insulting to customers to evade their calls. Many companies have made it much harder to directly contact them by phone or email. They have you enter your “issue” through a series of automated online menus and if you are “worthy” they will follow up with the consumer.
I have found the magic words when calling to get Qwest (p.o.s) to fix my internet connection:
“My I talk to someone ‘on-shore’ please”
You don’t have be rough or ugly but you will have to wait a few extra minutes on hold. I have found those few minutes to be a small price to pay and well worth it.
Er, Monty Python.
I have. My problem was not so much the language; rather it was the fact that they were only able to follow a script with long delays when they were obviously asking someone else what to do next.
They could not hear any input from me that would cause deviation from their script. Problem was eventually solved by using an online forum.
I was very skeptical, but a very nice young man in India totally restored my hacked computer (registry sabotaged)online recently during a lengthy call. As we waited for it all to process, we chatted about Indian cuisine and he asked about my home state. Very good experience.
Some are a little difficult to understand, with their too English english and emphasis different from American’s.
Their call center stress is more related to most not being well informed on the technical issues we call about and instead try to wear you down and get you to go away.
One time I called a computer support line and got India..and the man on the other end of the line said, in very broken english, “Hello, my name is Robert.”..I so badly wanted to say, “Hello, my name is Pushtab.”..but that would have been ugly on my part..I so bit my tongue..
Ain’t that just a shame? My heart would just be breaking, but sadly my company will be outsourcing my coworkers to India. I just really don’t have a lot of sympathy for those job thieves anymore. I have even less for the traitors in the USA that allow it.
Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
M: Well, I was told outside that...
Q: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
M: What?
Q: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
M: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
Q: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
M: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Q: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
M: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Q: Not at all.
M: Thank You.
(Under his breath) Stupid git!!
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