offshore support

speedfreak · 26-02-2010, 21:55

Why is everyone so negative about offshore support? Ive rang them quite alot and to be honest they are always polite and helpful. Fair enough one time after explaining my problems a guy said please hold whilst i do a line test, after a few minutes of silence i realised i had called from my mobile and he hadnt asked me any account details so he couldnt possibly be running a test lmao but theres good and bad everywhere, some UK staff arent any better, infact offshore seem to understand what point im trying to make better than some uk staff Ive spoken to, go figure! Whenever Ive rang they havent made me do the usual thing of make sure the modem is plugged in to the mains etc and have just sent a tech out

At the end of the day they are just doing a job and are probably made to follow a script, its not their fault and if all support was to be in the UK, I reckon they to would have to follow a script. Us Brits seem to have a thing about complaining about offshore support purely for the fact they are a foreign call centre. Ive had good and bad phone calls, both with UK and foreign call centres. This isnt some random rant lol, seeing this...

"What's the point of having an Indian callcentre, it just makes us Brits hate Indians! Because they don't understand us and we don't understand them..."

in someones sig on VM forum got me thinking.

So take it easy on them, they are just doing a job

Russ · 26-02-2010, 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedfreak

Why is everyone so negative about offshore support?

Oooo, where to begin *rubs hands*

I cannot stand the fact that no matter what you do or say, they simply will not deviate from their training. In the UK call handlers usually use common sense and discretion to get around issues but the Indians think they are there to serve the company - that aren't. They are there to serve the customer. Rarely will they use common sense, instead sticking to their training like little jobsworths.

This makes it very frustrating when trying to get a point across to them that they don't understand.

Also there've been occasions in the past where I've needed to call them and spoken to 7 or 8 different people there only to get nowhere. I then post my issue on CF and one the people here (UK based, obviously) sorts it out straight away when they have the same tools as the indian lot.

I could go on and no doubt will as this thread progresses.

Hiroki · 26-02-2010, 22:23

They don't listen, repeat themselves and stick to the script. They can't understand you most of the time and they just pass you around which is annoying as hell.

They are as much use as a chocolate fire guard.

Mick Fisher · 27-02-2010, 02:33

If you happen to get connected to someone you can communicate with and who happens to know the answer to your issue then they would be the bees knees no matter where their call center happens to be situated.

But their in seems to lay the problems with VM's offshore support. Generally Poor communication skills and poor support skills. Usually top marks for politeness though.

Could all be down to poor training though as I have dealt with other offshored support, Be's and TMobile's for example, who were decidedly right on the ball and determined to get to the bottom of the issue no matter how long the call took. Quite surprising and refreshing really. But on the other hand maybe I just got lucky.

Spectato · 27-02-2010, 17:24

The offshore call centres are the final declaration of these big companies' contempt for their customers.
The vast majority of times I've used any of them, there's been NO help but shed-loads of frustration, and I've needed to call back again and again, department after department to get anything solved (or not solved).

The amount of money that these big corporations suck out of our pockets, you would think the least they could do is keep on some British staff (who actually comprehend and can relate to your issue) to answer questions and resolve your issues, rather than just fobbing you off with some appeasement in simulated English and that ridiculous, robotic over-politeness.

VM are by no means the worst, but they're bloody terrible nonetheless.

General Maximus · 27-02-2010, 18:56

my VM line is pretty much 100% all the time but once year for whatever reason there will be a major fault and I will lose my connection. When this happens I expect to be able to ring tech support and they say "don't worry, we know there is a fault and we are working on it". Instead I get the indian dudes who are overly polite and know sweet fa. They run a test everytime and everything is always ok so naturally the problem is my pc, yet 2 - 4 hours later my modem gets it's signal back and everything is magically working again. 1st tier tech support is completely useless imho

calmpitbull · 27-02-2010, 19:05

Oh dear, I bet you regret posting Speedfreak!!!

I think on average the Indian call centres are far worse than the UK ones. However looking at it from a business point of view you have to consider:

A: Cost savings for being offshore

B: Potential losses from having slightly worse customer service

If A is greater than B then you will be calling India I'm afraid. The trouble is that B is very difficult to quantify

Russ · 27-02-2010, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

my VM line is pretty much 100% all the time but once year for whatever reason there will be a major fault and I will lose my connection. When this happens I expect to be able to ring tech support and they say "don't worry, we know there is a fault and we are working on it". Instead I get the indian dudes who are overly polite and know sweet fa. They run a test everytime and everything is always ok so naturally the problem is my pc, yet 2 - 4 hours later my modem gets it's signal back and everything is magically working again. 1st tier tech support is completely useless imho

It seems they place more emphasis on politeness than the ability to satisfy the customer.

calmpitbull · 27-02-2010, 19:13

Ask yourself this, would you pay £5 more a month to speak to UK only call centres?

I would

Ed2020 · 27-02-2010, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmpitbull

Ask yourself this, would you pay £5 more a month to speak to UK only call centres?

I would

I absolutely would. If it weren't for the support available from the VM newsgroups then I would have given up on VM years ago. The offshore call centres have never been of any use to me whatsoever. The UK call centres are much better, but I'm simply not prepared to keep ringing back until I get through to somebody who knows what they're talking about.

It's nothing to do with what country they're in. I work closely with employees of both Wipro and TCS as part of my job: I am used to the accent and their technical abilities are exceptional. The problem is lack of knowledge and the resultant sticking rigidly to a script. When you know that what you are being told is nonsense but it is impossible to get your point across it is incredibly frustrating.

This lack of knowledge is not the fault of the call centre staff, so I try my best to remain patient with them on the rare occasions I do speak with them. Admittedly I'm not always successful.

The day VM offshore all of their support (and I very much suspect that day is coming) will be the day that I give VM my 30 days' notice.

Ed.

Sephiroth · 27-02-2010, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmpitbull

Ask yourself this, would you pay £5 more a month to speak to UK only call centres?

I would

I'd rather there wasn't the need to for the poor suffering sods to need to speak to the call centre.

Less suffering = no need for offshore call centre = UK call centre justification

speedfreak · 27-02-2010, 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmpitbull

Oh dear, I bet you regret posting Speedfreak!!!

Not at all

maybe Ive been lucky with them or maybe some of the poor UK phone support Ive had (billing issues) has portrayed the indian call centre in a better light. Infact when I ring them they do a line test and say they can see a fault yet uk support cant

Regards

Mohammed, offshore support (

)

Spectato · 27-02-2010, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmpitbull

Ask yourself this, would you pay £5 more a month to speak to UK only call centres?

How about them providing competent support for their already ample prices?

Peter_ · 27-02-2010, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedfreak

Not at all

maybe Ive been lucky with them or maybe some of the poor UK phone support Ive had (billing issues) has portrayed the indian call centre in a better light. Infact when I ring them they do a line test and say they can see a fault yet uk support cant

It all depends how you feel about the possibility of the so called line test being a fob off tool making your call a quick one rather than the possibility of the UK agent actually using the tools at their disposal and genuinely finding no issues.

The choice is yours.

speedfreak · 27-02-2010, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moldova

It all depends how you feel about the possibility of the so called line test being a fob off tool making your call a quick one rather than the possibility of the UK agent actually using the tools at their disposal and genuinely finding no issues.

The choice is yours.

Maybe but then it would be odd that they requested a principle tech to visit and offered me compensation, though admittedly the compensation never appeared lol

Dont get me wrong, I have had some excellent UK support over the phone, one girl even giving me her direct line to get in touch. Id rather it was all UK based but it wont happen. Im just saying from what ive experienced so far, offshore hasnt been as bad as what I expected, no doubt that time will come though and I'll be back on here to eat my hat and to have a good grumble about them