Indian call centres

[xpod]

I`ve certainly had my own share of fun & games with offshore call centres but it`s been the last couple of UK based ones i`ve had that have been the problem, while Sanjeev over in Bangalore did a sterling job just last Friday....supposedly anyway(still waiting).

The Netgear router that we paid VM the Princely sum of £7.50 for when they first began providing the things had recently died a rather glorious death and although i usually always have one or three spare routers lying around i still thought i`d enquire about having that one replaced the next time i had any reason to call......i certainly wasn`t going to call just for the router.
So i eventually have reason to call last week but after dealing with my initial business and then mentioning the dead router i was told i would need to have an engineer come out and look at the thing. "But it`s completely dead" i told the guy......"i`m sorry but i cant just take your word for that" came the reply. None of this would have seemed so bad had he not been another Scotsman.
I certainly wasn`t taking any time off work just to stay in for a new router though so i politely declined the offer and hung up, rather surprised to say the least.
I`m in stubborn/determined mode by now and so i call again the following day only to get another UK(Wales?) based call centre but this time i eventually have some success.....only some mind you. I`m informed that the computer(his) was having problems and could i call back the following day to make sure the order had been processed ok. So i call back on Friday and this time i get through to Sanjeev over in India. Low & behold there`s no mention of any replacement router having been ordered on my account but Sanjeev had it all done within a matter of minutes.....supposedly.

Just waiting on said new router coming now.

EDIT: I xpod, reserve the right to amend this post if or when required. :-)

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by xpod

So i eventually have reason to call last week but after dealing with my initial business and then mentioning the dead router i was told i would need to have an engineer come out and look at the thing. "But it`s completely dead" i told the guy......"i`m sorry but i cant just take your word for that" came the reply. None of this would have seemed so bad had he not been another Scotsman.
I certainly wasn`t taking any time off work just to stay in for a new router though so i politely declined the offer and hung up, rather surprised to say the least.

We do not send out technicians to look at routers and they certainly do not carry spares as they come from a central warehouse and are delivered by UPS, we deal with you over the phone and usually replace it after running diagnostics with you.

Sometimes if you have had multiple routers we will ask you to post the faulty one back to be checked over with full postage paid, your call centre agent was talking through his bottom.

[MadGamer]

I like many others have dealt with offshore call centre's (namely Tiscali & AOL), when we had a service with them. I also bank with HSBC who have a call centre in India, but I have found that when I phone them, they're always polite, courteous, and willing to resolve any problems i have.

[Russ]

I don't think anyone is saying they're not polite. In fact their being almost too polite to the point of negative self esteem can make issues worse.

If I call up a company I'm not too bothered about courtesy etc, I just want my issued understood and dealt with.

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by Russ

I don't think anyone is saying they're not polite. In fact their being almost too polite to the point of negative self esteem can make issues worse.

If I call up a company I'm not too bothered about courtesy etc, I just want my issued understood and dealt with.

Do you know, I just got off the phone to eBuyer arranging a return. The Agent answered immediately and was straight to the point, couple of questions to confirm my identity, I described the fault, RMA accepted. Thankyou very much for the help. Call ended. Confirmation emails arrive.

Took about five minutes in all.

Why can't it always be like that.

[III]

Because Mick, apparently this is what the customer wants.
Surveys have taken place and the outcome was customers want what VM deliver in their sickeningly sweet, lip service they offer you.
Technical ability and ability to get the fault fixed or escalated must therefore come after the lip service, yes sir no sir, repeat your name over and again service.

Good lord, your a customer sir; I would have thought you'd know this

[Mick Fisher]

Surveys...Hmmm....let me think..........would they be like the ones that BT and VM conducted to establish that their user base actually desired BTA.

Surveys, no matter on whose behalf they are conducted, invariably end up giving the result the client wanted it to give. Funny that.

Just don't waste your time taking part!

[colin25]

i think we should wait until the Indian call centres employee cowboy workers

Then we would have a mess of cowboy and indians..

[xpod]

Originally Posted by Moldova

We do not send out technicians to look at routers and they certainly do not carry spares as they come from a central warehouse and are delivered by UPS, we deal with you over the phone and usually replace it after running diagnostics with you.

Sometimes if you have had multiple routers we will ask you to post the faulty one back to be checked over with full postage paid, your call centre agent was talking through his bottom.

It certainly sounded strange to me but i think he was just being a wee bit stubborn & awkward for the sake of it. He sounded like he`d mabey already had a bad day by time he got lumbered with me, who has being stubborn(when called for) down to a fine art.

One week later though, still no router.
Just called up to enquire why, getting through to India in the process. After giving our phone number to start the account check i eventually explained that a colleague of his had ordered me the new router last week, to be sent via UPS, and could he just confirm it had actually been done. He initially said he could see the order for the new router, to be sent via UPS, and could i confirm that this was right. I agreed that this was right and was then put on hold, listening to Jedward, while he went to check out whatever. Upon returning he now told me there was actually no order for any new router and was my ordering one, to be sent via UPS, what i had originally requested. After again explaining that yes, i had ordered a new router with one of his colleagues last week, to be sent via UPS, but it had still not arrived he then put me on hold again, listening to Jedward, while he went away to check whatever again. Low & behold he was back within minutes telling me that he could now see the order for the new router, to be sent by UPS, and was this what i had requested.......mmmmmmm.....exasperating stuff.

I then spent another 10 minutes explaining that my BB was actually fine, yet again, and that it was just the wireless router that was dead, hence the reason for my call surprisingly enough.
Once again we went through the router/UPS thing with the assurance that his colleague had indeed sent the router and that i should receive it any time soon, at which point he asked for our number so he could call back....the same number i`d just gave him to confirm the account funnily enough.

[Kellargh]

This is the one thing I hate about working on a Sunday. I can't say as much as I want to, considering I work for this company...but I dread calling customer services on a Sunday.

But then, I wish I knew how to do everything in this company anyway.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Kellargh

I can't say as much as I want to, considering I work for this company...

You are anonymous on Cable Forum! Please, unleash the fury my friend

[xpod]

Just an update on that callcentre/router issue......seeing as it got even more outrageous.
The router still hadn`t shown up a week later so yet again i was on that phone and through to an Indian call center. I cant recall the exact details of that particular call but suffice to say i was now being told that the new router wont be coming after all because it`s been over a year since i bought the thing, hence i`m actually out of the warranty period.......
I`m pretty peeved off at all the time i`ve spent on the phone over the previous few weeks but at least with no new router coming after all i wont have to go back on that phone if i didn`t arrive again....small mercies and all.

So today i`m reading the Dlink throttling thread over in the Internet section and suddenly discover(...doh) that it`s not just a one year warranty on wireless routers but a 2 year warranty......I promptly checked the fridge for a big wet fish to give myself a slap with at this point but it seems were all out of big wet fish.

I just cant help myself so i`m right back on the phone and after yet another painful, repetative call to Bangalore i`m eventually told a replacement router( a dlink this time) is again being sent out but he would need to pass me back on to CS so they could update my router codes......EH?????????
I cant be botherd repeating myself half a dozen times trying to get him to explain this in more detail so i just thank him and then go through the whole account check/how can i help you routine with CS.
This lady acknowlages the fact a new router has indeed been ordered but she also has no idea why her colleague passed me on to Customer Services as my "router codes" are actually fine. When i press her on exactly what information she has in front of her regarding the replacement router order she eventually tells me she can see that it`s a new Netgear that has been ordered .....EH?????
When i explain that her colleague over in the wireless department told me it was actually a Dlink being sent she then asked if she could call back within 2-24Hr`s. I protested at this and told her this was not possible as i couldn`t just take time off work tomorrow on the off chance of her calling me back about a router i`d now ordered 3 times. She offered to pass me back to the wireless department instead so thats what i opted for. I used the Jedward time constructively this time round and made myself a coffee.
After going through the same account check/how can we help you routine and of course recounting the farce that my router replacement has become i`m eventually put on hold listening to jedward, yet again. He comes back and once again apoligises for any and all inconvenience caused by his colleagues and assures me the router has definitly been ordered and should be here within 3 working days.....

Stay tuned.....

[Peter_]

Sunday is not a good day to call as we only have one UK Broadband technical support centre open which is in Scotland, but the are 2 others which are in Dehli and Pune, so a 1 in 3 chance of an onshore call centre.

I would always advise to call during the week and choose the wireless option.

[xpod]

Originally Posted by Moldova

Sunday is not a good day to call as we only have one UK Broadband technical support centre open which is in Scotland, but the are 2 others which are in Dehli and Pune, so a 1 in 3 chance of an onshore call centre.

I would always advise to call during the week and choose the wireless option.

Unfortunately Sunday is usually my best day to call, regardless of where i might get through to. If it dont turn up this time though then i very much doubt i`ll even bother calling back......I`ll try hard not to anyway

EDIT: Dont you just hate seeing red in these situation.

[xpod]

I`m sure nobodies actually interested but i did eventually get our replacement Virgin Router......twice.
The first being a completely kaput Dlink that wouldn`t even power on, even with a replacement 5v power supply that i knew to be working.
Many would have been howling at the moon by this point although i couldn`t help seeing the funny side. Somebody was surely sitting somewhere with a little wooly Xpod doll sticking pins in his little wooly router.....ahem.

I called them back up once again and the nice Welsh chap told me he was sending another router out right away, with a return package to send the dodgy Dlink back. A couple of days later though UPS appeared at the door wanting to collect the Dlink but other than that the working Netgear they had indeed sent arrived another couple of days later.

Mission complete.
Given the chance again though i`d probably use all that time spent on the phone more constructively.