Originally Posted by Chris T

Your parody of free market capitalism is entertaining, if a little wide of the mark.

It's not simply a matter of selling at the cheapest price, it's about having the best product ... that's how you gain and keep customers and build brand loyalty. That's how stores like Marks and Spencer Simply Food, and Waitrose, can turn a profit despite having the likes of Asda on their doorstep. It's why Easyjet hasn't killed BA, and why Travelodge doesn't compete against Hilton or Marriott.

Outsourcing your customer services operations to India might, on the face of it, appear to be a sound business move because it cuts costs. But if in the long term it results in the business losing customers due to poor customer service, then free market capitalism dictates the Indian call centres be ditched in favour of an alternative that is better able to retain customers. A cheap product is useless if nobody will buy it.

We are in the early days of this phenomenon and it remains to be seen how successful outsourced callcentres will prove to be. Nat West at the very least now thinks having a UK call centre is a positive selling point worth spending a fortune on TV advertising to shout about.

Of course, free market capitalism also dictates that the operators of Indian call centres must recognise that they need to improve the service they offer if they are not to lose NTL and others as their customers.