Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ
It depends on what you define as 'better'.
In all honesty I have more confidence in an agent's ability to assist with my enquiry/fault if they are UK based. It would seem that the majority of Asian (Indian, Filipino etc) callcentre staff work from scripts. This makes it very difficult to get a straightforward answer out of them if what you're asking is not on their script, it's often like talking to a robot.
In these countries they tend to have a hard and loyal work ethic (not a bad thing in itself) which means they feel that rigidly sticking to company policy is the right thing to do, thereby 'serving' their employer. This is entirely the wrong attitude. They are there to serve the customer.
They don't understand this sort of culture that we expect in this country. UK callcentre staff tend to be far more willing to 'bend' the rules, use discretion or use basic common sense to help a customer.
On that basis I am of the opinion that UK callcentres are better than offshore ones.
Of course if your understanding of being 'better' is based on tech knowledge then that's a different subject but bear in mind that not all callcentres are for tech support.
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I would agree with this, I phoned up to sign up for a new account and I think it was the Manilla call centre I got as they had a fake American accent. I said I wanted to take TV, Phone and BB but on a 12 month contract. They said it was 18 months only, so I mentioned Sky still do 12 months on bundles and how I would take them up if Virgin didn't give me a 12 month contract. She went and spoke to her Supervisor and came back and said I could have it as a one off special deal if I signed up right that minute, I said I couldn't do that yet as I hadn't found a move in date for my flat and she said when I called back it would definitely be 18 months and they couldn't do the offer for me again.
The next day once I confirmed when I was moving into my flat, I phoned again and this time got through to the UK. Said the same as a did to Manilla, wanted Phone, TV and Broadband on a 12 month contract. Got the response no problem we can do that, and he talked me through signing up. No supervisor required.
Why Manilla couldn't offer me the same without getting a supervisor involved and making it a time sensitive offer I don't know.