Is this true?

Question

I was told that if you called tech support & they outsource the call to India or another country and you can't understand the person you're talking to you can ask for someone in America and they have to transfer you?

I have been having an ongoing battle with HP for MONTHS about them charging me for something and then promising me twice they were refunding the money and then they never send the refund. I called today to talk to someone about it- couldn't understand a word he was saying and asked for an American and he told me "No. I'm not transferring you because I don't desire to and you call to me you talk to me."

This has been going on for MONTHS and they've promised I'd have my refund in 2 weeks and when I call back they say "Oh we never said that.." Who do I complain to and HOW?

Answer 1

I have had this problem with my ISP and Netgear. I used to ask for second line support and I'd get someone in the UK. Doesn't work now. I got second line support and he was technically OK - just a crap line to India and an accent I could understand. He asked he to do something and I asked him to repeat and he said type Papa-India-November-Golf. As a trained technician and unerstanding the phonetic alphabet - I said Oh, PING! My ADSL was off for 10 days - I got through to a UK technician and he fixed it in 2 minutes. It is a waste of our time and a waste of money.
I am not being racist - the ones in Malaysia are much better.
Besides I have lots of friends on the net - on every continent - including India.

I would advise you to email HP. Forget talking on the phone - or call their UK centre for advice.

Answer 2

Most computer companies tech support is based overseas and I understand where you are coming from. I'm by no means trying to be rude; however, sometimes you just cannot understand what they are saying because of the accent. You need to call HP headquarters and file a complaint (you can find the number on their website).
Also, I know it can sound immature, but you need to threaten to contact your lawyer in regards to being wrongly charged for whatever. It really does help them take you seriously.

When you talk to them again tell them the dates you talked to whoever about the refund and they said it would be given to you within 2 weeks, but it's been however many weeks and still no refund.

Answer 3

When they answer the phone just say "Sprechen se Deutsch?" Many companies have English-speaking operations in India because that is what the educated classes speak (as a result of the good old British Empire). However, there aren't so many German speakers so you may get transferred to a place in Europe, where they might speak very good English.

I read about the above on this site - it was to do with a European cellphone company though.

To complain further up, you need to find their corporate office and write to them by good, old-fashioned snail mail, return receipt requested. If their website does not give you a postal address, try looking on sec.gov - you need to get into EDGAR.

Answer 4

Document everything and take notes. Also make sure that when you call each time you do not take your frustrations from your past experiences out on the next person. This creates a self perpetuating cycle.

As for a rule that they have to transfer you, they may have internal policies or guides, but the word “rule” is probably not the best word to describe those policies and guides. And whether it is a policy or guide or not is not likely relevant to you, as it is how they choose to deal with things internally.

Answer 5

Depends on the company. Some have centers in both locations.
You need to get people's names and get an address for headquarters and write a letter - I like to use "Office of the President" because it gets it to the people who will do the work anyway.
Don't rant and rave, just list what has gone on.
"On Monday April 2, I called HP Support and was promised ..."
"On May 5th, I called back and was agin ..."

Answer 6

They are supposed to transfer you, but they get paid big buck in India to finish the calls, so they never want to transfer you.

Did you call these numbers here:

Hewlett-Packard Company
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Open between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday - Friday.

Answer 7

I've never heard of such a thing. Even the US government hasn't gotten that intrusive yet.

HP is not a good company anymore. You should generally avoid them. If you want your refund bad enough, you may have a better experience trying to contact someone within their executive ranks.

Business advice from a Pimp.

Answer 8

Write to the CEO of HP. If you have the names of the people you talked with and dates you called, you will have a better chance of getting your refund. If you paid it with your charge card, call your bank and tell them of the problem.

Answer 9

Write a letter of complaint to HP. Look up the name of the HP President and write to him. He will not see the letter but it will be referred to someone in his office and when a note to follow up goes to the person in charge of complaints from the Presidents office it will be taken care of quickly.

Answer 10

No, not true because I have--my mother has--my closest friend has---tried this also. I had problems with Sprint and I kept getting the call centers in Maylasia. You should just say you'd like to speak to escalations. If that doesn't work, try writing a letter to corporate.