Call centers in India?

Question

I am fed up of calling what I thin is my local Abbey national bank, then find out I am diverted to India, I recently had someone try to get £1500 from my account, and whilst the lad was very nice, his grasp to speak the english language was very hard for him, something as important as fraud should be dealt with by an English person, as I had many questions I needed to ask, I will be looking to change banks, so does anybody know of a bank with an English call center...
Also the same applies to BT, I wanted to query a bill, the girl hadn't got a clue..

I am in no way racsist, and do not knock the Indian people for wanting to work,, I blame the companies for thinking they can cut corners at the expense of offering a good and pesonel service as we use to get..
Does anybody feel the same as me??

It is nice to see a Pakistani, and Indian person agree, which hopefully as I stated I am not rascist, but just fed up fo bad service

Knowledge, thanks for your input, today I went to Abbey, explained I am waiting for a new card, it turned out that it hadn't been ordered, the girl there did for me , and now I should get the new one in a further 5-7 days, and she gave me the direct number to the local branch, I have never blamed the staff, not the call centers, but I do blame abbey for expecting their staff to work under such terrible conditions

Answer 1

You are by no means alone.

Many UK companies are bringing back their call centres as they have found the cost in time of repeat calls and complaints from dissatisfied customers outweighed the saving of outsourcing.

Personally I don't bother with call centres. Write them a letter! Old-fashioned, maybe, but it is actually MUCH quicker and more effective to bang out a quick letter than to faff about being number 7 in the queue, and then be misunderstood when finally answered.

If you write a letter, nobody can dispute what you said because it is in writing. You always get a better and more considered response, too, because the company are aware that a letter can be used as a legal stick to beat them with.

And 32p for posting a letter is infinitely cheaper than 45 minutes on the phone to an 0870 number.

Answer 2

These British companies are so tight with their money. I called Dorothy Perkins because someone has put my name down for Accident Insurance and I keep getting these poor Indian people who have to take abuse., they don't even have DP over there and they don't know what I am talking about. This is companies wanting to get a bigger profit by cutting down thei expenditure on staff wages.

As if Philip Green does not earn enough as it is the tight tramp!!!!!

I feel really sorry for the Indian people, it is not their fault. I tried to go to my local DP who insisted their call centres are in Nottingham and somewhere else in the UK but I didn't believe her.

All the people on the phones had obviously Indian accents with English names like Tom and Mark but I wasn't going to believe it for a second.

The only way to get something done about it is if you go to branches or send many letters of complaint from many different people.


I am not a racist, I am Pakistani but I want someone who knows what I am talking about, how are we expected to solve any problems we may have with a company if we can't get hold of someone who knows better than we do, I know more about DP than these people.

Answer 3

YES!

America West Airlines' Call Center is in India.
I tried to do a frequent flier upgrade by using my Frequent Flier number and Flight Info since I didn't have the Record Locator Number. Sent the girl into a frenzy.

Washington Mutual Credit Card Call Center is in India.
I had a question about one of the legal disclosures. Instead of answering the question, he iterated the fine print.

SBC's DSL Technical Support is in India.
I don't even know where to begin. I got rid of DSL because of them.

MCI Customer Service is in India.
No problems yet.

Philips' Electronics Technical Support is in the Philippines.
The language barrier was so severe, I ended up hanging up and submitting my request via email. I insisted on receiving a call back from an American Call Center.

Answer 4

I had a long running problem with HSBC, which after months going round and round in circles with the call centres in India - I moved my accounts to First Direct (excellent service and the scare about their charges won't apply to most people (just take a credit card or savings account with them as well) and they're all based in Leeds).
I agree that the India staff work hard and try hard but their comprehension of english language is not good enough.
They can recite a script in understandable english but fall apart if you move outside of the limited script.
Call centres should be in UK, it would provide a better customer experience.

Answer 5

I DO!!!!!!! It drives me nuts when they answer, and then what should be a 5 minute phone call turns into a 25 min. call! You have to repeat everything 3 times, they speak over you and when you ask for a manager they act like they don't understand! I was so mad at a lady one night I was almost in tears, but what can we do? About the bank, I would just choose one around your house and if you have a problem, go there and speak with the manager at the bank. I use 5/3 and they are great.

Answer 6

I feel exactly the same. I recently had a problem with my BT bill - I called the customer services dept and a guy answered with a broad Indian accent 'Hello my is Dave' (or Div was how he pronouced it). Now sorry - he was no more Dave than I am Jatinda - I think they are given an english name to try and fool us !!!! He was useless - I know he was trying but there was a language problem, plus he had no information at all to relate to so had no idea what I wanted. Its disgusting - we should be served by offices in this country - after all we pay enough in service charges/quarterly rates etc. We should expect a better service xxx

Answer 7

I completely agree with you. I also have an Abbey account and had a problem with passwords and couldn't access my account and the girl on the phone just didn't know what I was talking about. It's like they can only deal with very basic enquiries, eventually I was transferred and found myself talking to a very pleasant Irish girl who was able to help me immediately. I find if you get angry you get transferred. Doesn't seem right really but it's the only way I'm ever successful. I think you're right about companies cutting corners and it's not fair on anybody.

Answer 8

I find this really frustrating especially when it is something urgent i.e stolen bank card.

The staff in the indian call centres are trying their best but if you dont totally understand what they are saying and you dont have a clue what they are saying its not going to work is it? how are you ment to get your problem sorted? ridiculous

Fortunately for me I have the number for my local abbey branch, I did call once and was told he would have to put me through to someone else, I point blank refused and got to speak to someone I could actually communicate with.

They clearly use the call centres because its cheap labour

Answer 9

Yes, I agree with you. I wanted to speak to an HSBC branch 10 miles from my home. I spoke to someone in India who relayed my question to the branch and then relayed the answer back to me. I couldn't believe it! I have heard that a large US bank has withdrawn from India altogether because locals were selling thousands of customer bank details to criminals.

Answer 10

I am sick of the companies who thought this was a good idea,
what a bunch of retards, at least the straightforward stuff they could do, but anything unusual their stumped. Its the companies at fault not indians who get paid comparatively well to others in the country by the companies.