Re: Im not racist, but....
 

How much would you be prepared to pay extra?

I'd not be prepared to pay any extra then i already pay, would you be prepared to pay extra for all the customers who choose not to pay that extra?

Some of us rarly call CS so i'd find it useless for me to have to pay extra for a service i don't use.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

No, I'm saying if they are based in the UK, at least there's a chance they will understand what I am saying.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

There are two issues here
1) Language barrier
2) Product awareness

as for the language barrier it seems that unfortunately oversees call centres are here to stay. Virgin Media aren't the only ones using them. We may be lucky though and one day find the companies realising that they don't in fact save money. Perhaps the bean counters will do a complete time and motion type study and actually account for the call costs, time to proper resolution, customer satisfaction and all sorts. However remember that even when cable cos didn't use overseas centres there were numerous complaints about service levels. So language is only one problem.
2) The V+ or TV drive service is new. From the numerous threads on Cable Forum, it appears to me that it hasn't been adequately tested on the former ntl networks. Certainly there seem to be far too many issues with lockups, lack of VOD and all sorts. But realistically the call centre staff should have been trained in it before it was released to the public. On that basis, despite the rebrand, that the company knew was coming, they've got this one badly wrong. it suggests there is still a lot of work to do to improve the service that the rebrand promised.

Ultimately the demand for the product should have been expected, Indeed I suspect a large part of the customer base isn't even aware of it yet, I've had none of the usual marketing type leaflets. Hopefully behind the scenes lots of effort is being made to sort V+. In the meantime I don't think it;s fair to make the overseas call centres the scapegoats for a problem that was much closer to home.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

i agree too

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

so many people agree, but are ashamed to admit it.

too many goodie goodies, thats whats wrong with this country

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

What's wrong with this country is our restriction to freedom of speech.

We don't want to offend any foreigners in this country already, and, lets face it, there are a lot.

Its frustrating when your trying to explain, or they are trying to talk to you and you don't understand.

Its the same with any country.

If I got through a Dutch person with very basic English I would get frustrated.

Its just that this Call Centre seems to be in India!

I can take all accents of english, and, at ntl:, you do speak to a lot.

Scouse, Geordie, Cockney, Irish, Welsh, Scottish... I can understand them all 99% of the time...

India? I talked to three, as I said, and I understood one... one... ONE person!

Its all about Communication, and you would think a Mobile Phone Operator, who now provides Home Phone Services and Internet, and apparrently won Customer Service awards years in a row, would understand.

Branny is a down to earth bloke, and I am pretty sure something wil be done about it.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

here, here! :clap:

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

It's even more frustrating when, being in the Faults center, I have to go through to tech support to help a customer and find I'm speaking to an advisor in India and they cannot understand what to do. I informed one advisor that a customer had a slow connection and the advisor said 'I don't deal with that'.

WHAT?!

The language barrier is a definite problem, and the more people employed in the UK, the better service we are going to provide.

As for V+ lack of help, I was given 3 hours training on it...none of it even to do with the faults it creates. Lack of preperation by management is the problem, so if anyone is to blame...it's not the advisor.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

thanks, I'm sure that reassures the customers, lol! :rolleyes: no really, its good to know. :tu: i don't envy your job!

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

since we outsourced to IBM India there have been numerous problems, for instance im staff and it took the Indian call center 15mins to remove call barring from my account, when i say 15 minutes thats how long i was on hold after explaining what i needed doing, considering i know the process and it should take less that 10 to 15 seconds to remove from the account. they are an absolute nitemare and they have no idea. how can someone in india possibly know our problems when they do not even have a link to ourselves, my word of advice is if you speak to indian call centres ask to be put though to albert dock, they might be scousers but at least you will have a two way conversation.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

Yes we need to pay more so that corporations can maintain their enormous profits and keep shareholders happy, perhaps a more pertinent question should be are you prepared to let your feet do the talking and switch to a service provider that values decent customer service above profits, it might be interesting to know what the customer retention conversion is for companies that have out sourced, obviously not enough for them to reverse their policies but I for one tend to take my business elsewhere the moment I get the whiff of a foreign call centre, considering the Virgin Group is famous for quality customer service I would hope that their call centre goes against the norm, lets hope so anyway

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

I don't agree, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The Thread Title is up there with "Some of my best friends are........".

Someone outsourced the Call Centre and took the risk into consideration that lack of clarity was outweighed by reduced costs, therefore increasing profit margin.

Surely the Thread Title should be "I'm not anti-Capitalist, but..."

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

Why does someone have to make it a race issue? It's not about race at all, it is about being able to communicate with these people.

I am amazed companies have not seen the advantage of stamping "UK Call Centres" on their adverts and providing that. I bet they would be surprised how many extra customers they would get.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

Whats worse is that ntl had a superb Customer service and Faults centre based at Preston Farm Stockton. We had knowledge of the area, understanding of how important it was that boro tv was not on and where staffed by a great bunch on talented people. (and some numpties).

Ntl used to have a stb per 10 or so staff that we where encouraged to use to familiarise our selves with it./ We had free digi tv also , again to make sure our product knowledge was good. I bet the guys in India don't have one between the entire centre.

Re: Im not racist, but....
 

Perhaps it's the thread title (I'm not racist, but....).

I agree with you, though, about communication - when I looked at the possibility of call centres in Mumbai for a large UK company, one of the pre-requisites for hiring local staff was not only the ability to speak clearly and understandably, but also be able to understand different UK accents. They also had the same training as the UK staff - if the staff (where ever they are) aren't trained appropriately, it doesn't matter where they are based, it will be shoddy Customer Service.