NTL Indian support centres - a plea to NTL - Page 7

dragon · 25-10-2005, 07:21

The problem is when call centers follow the script to the letter without being flexable at all

it would be like

me: Connections down, modem has no online light and upstream light is flashing.

them: Have you tried rebooting your pc sir.

obvisouly if the connections dead and i've just told them its becuase it cant find the upstream (by informing them the upstream light is flashing on the sb4100) i don't then expect to go though the proccess of rebooting the pc when its clearly a problem with the modem or the network.

although thankfully most times i've called NTL they've been ok , but i try to do the obvisous before calling anyway e.g reboot modem check the connections are in securly.etc

orangebird · 25-10-2005, 09:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon

The problem is when call centers follow the script to the letter without being flexable at all

it would be like

me: Connections down, modem has no online light and upstream light is flashing.

them: Have you tried rebooting your pc sir.

obvisouly if the connections dead and i've just told them its becuase it cant find the upstream (by informing them the upstream light is flashing on the sb4100) i don't then expect to go though the proccess of rebooting the pc when its clearly a problem with the modem or the network.

although thankfully most times i've called NTL they've been ok , but i try to do the obvisous before calling anyway e.g reboot modem check the connections are in securly.etc

That's good for you. But there are an awful lot of folk out there that don't do these things first, which is why the scripted stuff HAS to be run through... There are some people out there that don't realise you have to have a PC to have BB. I know a couple of people that wanted an i-pod, but didn't have any access to a PC to download tunes...

*DJB* · 25-10-2005, 10:16

/Rant on

Very interesting thread, as the partner of someone who works for BT I have heard all the horror stories about out sourcing to India.

BT have even moved thier payroll dept out to India and it is a total nightmare trying to deal with Indian people about such a sensitive issue as employees wages.

It will all end in tears for these companies who put profit above customer service. All these mission statements that they come out with make me laugh "we want to offer the best customer service experience.... blah de blah" the only thing they are interested in is profits.

Great story from a friend who works for Centrica, their Onetell business transferred to India (with the loss of UK jobs) and the call centre was flooded out a couple of months back, they did not have the resources anymore to cope with the, dare I say flood of calls, back to the UK from a lot of unhappy customers, serves em right!

Then there was the tale of BT not recieving calls to thier Indian call centre as the two main telecom companies in India were fighting each other over who should carry the BT calls.

Then we have India and Pakistan pointing nuclear weapons at each other, hmmm very stable place.

Why do these companies think that its Ok to tout thier wares in this country whilst employing foreigners at the expense of British jobs?

Boycot them all I say.

They want your business and money but do not want to put anything back into the community in the way of employment.

What happens to the people they make redundant? back on benefits with the taxpayer footing the bill.

I cancelled an Insurance Policy with Norwich Union in light of this and would do the same with NTL if i had an alternative.

If I were Govt I would make these companies pay a damn site more tax than they are doing now.

/Rant off

DJB

grindemon · 25-10-2005, 21:35

Well Just a repetition ...

NO SCRIPT to follow ......

Whenever you lose your connection which could happen for a million reasons ... Reboot the setup in tandem ... PC (Router - if any) Cable Modem off // Cable Modem - (Router - if any) - PC .. Waiting for each to stabilise and then check the status ...

This is followed by all call centers, be it in India or in the UK !!!!

This was taught by the people from the UK .. So they do it .. We do it .. Whats the difference ??

I guess the only thing different here is that some people lost their job in the UK to give it to someone in India, Right???
__________________

From a National Newspaper Hindustan Times - 25 October 2005

'BPO crew has no voice of its own'

Work hours eat into leisure

IT IS ironic that most call centre employees are engaged in voice-based work. Yet they have no voice of their own.

Call centres typify "totalisation" of labour control or end of employee voice, says a study on work situation in BPOs at Noida. Not a single worker covered in the study was a member of a trade union or had any contact with trade unionists.

Most call centre employees conceive their identity as professionals or executives due to fancy designations with 'executive' tags although their job is to attend to customers' calls. So they feel that their problems are not similar to those in factories or other service industries.

But the main reason for the absence of trade unions in the sector is the dualistic pattern of the workforce -- in which a major proportion of employees are easily replaceable -- that keeps a check on mobilising workers, the study said.

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, however, told a press conference on Monday, "We have no problems with trade unions. They can have them if their workers want. But nobody feels the need for unions, so they are not there."

The study says the physical design of workplaces in call centres is such that managers can keep tabs on workers and identify potential trouble-mak ers. The companies ensure that call centre agents have no leisure. They are burdened with performance targets that are constantly revised upwards and don't find time even to think of trade unionism.

BPO firms are based on the philosophy of "individualisation". Employees are moulded to act as individuals, who report to and are monitored by another individual. Even in team projects, collectivity is discouraged, said Babu P. Remesh, associate fellow at the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute.

Codes of conduct drive home the point that salary is a personal matter and should not be discussed with peers. Those who do so are warned or are subject to disciplinary action.

Trade unions are not present, but call centres do provide avenues for "controlled socialisation" such as office parties and intranet discussion forum, the study noted. But any "misuse" of such mechanism leads to punitive action. The result is that discussion forums are mostly confined to circulating jokes and tips on "productivity enhancement".

"Due to the absence of a formal collective mechanism like trade unions, issues such as authoritarian managerial styles, excessive workload, inflexible breaks and unreasonable rosters are leading to some forms of informal/formal as well as individual/collective resistance," the study said.

Some BPO workers admitted to researchers that they, at times, deliberately redirect calls to other service operators, enter misleading activity codes in the system or simply hang up on offensive customers to resist authoritarian regime of managements in the absence of any effective grievance mechanism.

Respondents reported symptoms such as nervousness, chronic fatigue, body ache, insomnia, nausea, anxiety, restlessness, irritability and even depression due to the odd working hours and stress. Workers are also subject to "emotional labour" as they are required to display certain kinds of expressions for customer satisfaction. Aspects such as moods of agents, facial expressions and words are monitored and any deviations from the defined framework are considered defects.

Karnik said he has not seen the full research report, but felt that its content does not give a correct picture of the Indian BPO industry, which he said, offered the best working conditions across sectors in India. At the same time, he said, "Everything is not ideal. Somebody somewhere may be doing a wrong thing." It's a strict regimen out No trade unions because Replaceable workforce Close monitoring by managers Absence of leisure Controlled socializing The gag Employees are moulded to act as individuals Not encouraged to act as teams Threatened with action for any deviation from rules Consequences Mental and physical sickness Inertia Stress from ` emotional labour' Skewed self

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Also while you get to enjoy your Christmas Holidays, in India the BPO Agents continue to work to give replies to "Why the connection is not working?" or "Why havent I recieved my emails?" ... UK Call Center(s) are closed on Christmas!

However, its our national Holiday - Diwali (Festival of Lights) and the Center(s) would remain open even though its a festival where the entire family gets together to enjoy and pray! Ask your Indian neighbor (if you have any, or a co-worker)

So again the BPO Agents have no Life and give up theirs for yours !!!

Would someone give me a reply to this?? Or continue badgering Indian BPO Agents??

Florence · 25-10-2005, 22:17

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