This is great! We're going to need them back anyway.

And we'll be so frazzled, we won't notice that our minds are turning to cabbage!

That poor, poor 23-year old.

Now i feel bad for telling them to F off when they call me at 7 in the evening to ask me if i am satisfied with my long distance...oh wait, no i dont.

I'm sure it would get really frustrating and stressful to have to be nice to people from another country while they scream obscenities at you.

I don't mean you specifically Caterpillar, I'm sure they get it all the time

I always try to be courteous whenever I call customer service, since I can only imagine what it's like to get a call about a computer from someone as clueless as myself. But yeah, I think quality should be discussed when talking about outsourcing, but I'm not sure how big of a difference that discussion would make...

Agreed HotLanta.

They use fake "American" names, speak little English, and only know what they read off the screen. They're useless and only make me want to stop doing business with whichever companies they work for.

Umm..I think it's interesting we blame them instead of the American companies that hire them and train them poorly.

I think calling them useless is pretty harsh- just because we have a difficult time understanding them doesn't mean they're useless. They do know English, which is taught simultaneously in school along with Hindi (and other regional language(s)).

I think the problem has to do with the expectation that they speak in "American" accents- honestly that just makes some (ok, many) of these employees SO much more difficult to understand. There are many Americans in this country that have accents and AREN'T expected to change their accent- why should they?

Id like to think that I have taught a few dozen of them some new words...

[Umm..I think it's interesting we blame them instead of the American companies that hire them and train them poorly. ]

I trying to avoid calling at all cost -- I'll try email first in fact so when I call customer service it's extremely important. I'm sorry but I need to understand the other person on the line. If I can't understand you -- please transfer me to someone I can understand.

My old bank used them. It was a nightmare! I'm glad my new bank doesn't.

But besides their stress what about ours. If you need to call CS -- the matter is already stressful on our end. Why complicate matters with miscommunication????

Here's the typical scenario: you call the helpline cuz your new computer or whatever is not working right. You are already mega frustrated. You are put on hold. Then finally somebody answers, and you can't understand a word they are saying. Add to that the fact that you know 2 or 3 people who were layed off due to outsourcing. It is a pretty volatile situation.

Good points, NYFashionista. Also, each one I've spoken to has been able to answer me in complete sentences (albeit most of them have accents), so I think it's a bit unfair to say they speak "little" English.

[so I think it's a bit unfair to say they speak "little" English.]

I can agree with that -- but when you're saying "2" and it's repeated as "do, fu, sho" -- man that's annoying.

I think it's more accent than being about to speak complete sentences.

What I get frustrated with is when I'm given the wrong information by an outsourced call line. Last time I moved I was told that the only internet service offered in my area was dial-up. Dial-up!!!

After going around and around with the person for at least 30 minutes about how there's NO WAY that's possible, I gave up and started to look at other options for my internet service. When I called to cancel, I spoke to a representative (not outsourced) that could not believe I was given that information, it was so blatantly wrong.

I understand it was probably not the outsourced representative's fault, but there was such an obvious lack of service knowledge that it really put me off.

Maybe if we keep yelling at them when they call we'll hasten their retreat from those jobs! I try to be nice as I'm hanging up on them...I've had a job where I was yelled at constantly for something I had no control over so I have some sympathy for them.

Em, you must be super excited about the White Sox, huh!

I'm right there with ya NYFashionista. I'm sure that the employees are trying to do the best job they can with the resources provided. It's the corporation's choice to open up the call center in India and the corporation's responsibility to train their employees properly. Clearly, if the employees are this frustrated with their job (and who wouldn't be if you spoke to hostile people every day), then the company isn't doing a good job of setting up their employees for success.

I've experienced frustrating calls, too, where I'm not being given the information I request or the person on the other line doesn't understand my question. I've also had to ask, "Can you please repeat that?" because I could not understand the accent. But it does no good to get angry and yell. A little patience and understanding goes a long way, and does more to encourage the person to help you. What goes around comes around. Sounds like some folks could use a dose of tolerance.

I didn't yell or curse, I was very nice and polite. It was actually the second representative I spoke to that got super angry and yelled about the lack of service.

Mandy--SO EXCITED! I told myself I wouldn't take down my Konerko avatar yet. We'll see how tonight goes!! Even if they don't win, I'll be happy they made it this far, especially without some of their great players during these last few weeks.

Ahem, sorry, back on topic...dream, yeah, I can see what you're saying with being so misunderstood. At that point it's like "OK, do I just hang up and then pray for someone else to pick up?"

Well take heart, a lot of these jobs are now going to Belarus.

...and more good points, sushibananas. (Love that name)

good for them. seriously. we keep exporting the crappiest jobs we have (quality wise) overseas... i don't blame them for not wanting to do it. they are inspiring me to quit my own job for a more fulfilling career... when the economy isn't collapsing, of course.

I don't understand it -- Wells Fargo has American call center works -- they have a center based out of Orange county I have a friend that works there. And my bank has American call center locations - Why can't other companies do the same. They must know that it's a problem.

did you all know that we also outsource our telemarketing/call center stuff to PRISONS? yep. google it. crazy.

I don't blame them. I can understand they would want more fulfilling jobs. My cousin used to work for one of them for a while (her fake American name was 'Carol') and she had to work the crappiest hours, starting at midnight to 7 AM or something...and that's while usual daylight life goes on. She used to be stressed out and easily in tears thanks to b**ing clients (they get a lot of crank calls from Americans who are upset because their jobs have been 'stolen') and finally decided she didn't get a master's degree to deal with mean clients full-time, and moved on to better work.

"are you happy with your long distance ...what are you wearing? I mean, what carrier do you have now?"

Uhm yeah call center jobs suck a big one that's why after my first encounter with one over ten years ago I vowed never again no matter how poor I was.

They don't have to be the stagnant environments that is described in the above article though. Many company's here in the U.S. which have their own call centers here understand that point and have allowed creativity to grow around what may be a mundane job by creating stimulating environments physically and through group activities. Making it seem as less corporate as possible and more like a party. This keeps moral up and makes you want to come to work.

I worked directly with one of the call centers in India before and I have way more respect for them. The hours they put in at a drop of a dime. They lose time with loved ones. It's as if they have no choice but to do the overtime. If you take the time to actually talk and listen, you can understand them and maybe they'll actually understand you. It's not just an inconvenience for us sometimes.

i think that regardless of where the job is outsourced to - it should really be brought back to the US. especially in a time when there are so many people without jobs, it would make sense to bring it back here so that at least there's a chance that people could get an income.

it's also understandable how frustrating things can be for youths overseas, when they are trying to make a future for themselves, yet they find themselves stuck in a rut at the call centers. i guess a job is a job, but i don't think that it's good to stop yourself from reaching for the stars if you want a different profession.

I live in California and I actually live in an area where it's one with the most different languages are spoken and went to a really culturally diverse high school so I can understand even the heaviest "accent". Well that's with the exception of the people I reach at the call centers, I can't lie it's really hard for me to understand so I usually just deal with my issues online so I don't get annoyed.

If you want to know how they work i recommend Morgan Spurlocks 30 Days about an American worker who loses his job and then goes and works in India at a call center (his old job) for 30 days.

I understand the frustration- but I don't think this problem just stems from overseas call centers.

I recently purchased a brand new itouch- and had an issue with it about 5 months later. After going to the Apple Store and making many long calls to the helpline (btw, they were American)- the answer given to me was " I don't know what's wrong with your itouch. Sorry, we can't help and we can't replace it".

Awesome.

NYFashionista, your exactly right...Customer Services in general ( by phone/inperson) is one of those jobs that it seems like most people don't want to do anymore, and the people who are currently in customer service aren't very good at it accent or not. I mean I have not purchased items at particular stores because of poor customer service.

It's really not their fault...if the companies didn't outsource in the first place, then customer service would be much better.

But, that being said, if we didn't want to get our products at much lower prices, then they wouldn't be outsourcing jobs. Companies save so much money by sending jobs overseas, where workers make a fraction of what their American counterparts would, that they can turn around and lower product prices...and we all want lower product prices!

Yes, it's frustrating. But, instead of taking it out on the people on the other end, why not look at the ones here...the roots of the problem...the companies themselves, and our overall mentality?

We want things cheap, and fast, but we don't want to sacrifice quality to get those things. It can't work both ways...

I agree with you spirited- if we didn't expect to pay low prices then companies wouldn't be motivated to outsource jobs. Frankly- as an Indian -I can honestly say I have no idea what half of them are telling me on the phone. I am also an advanced computer user who has probably tried everything herself before calling (including having a brother that is a systems analyst and can fix computers in his sleep). So believe me- if anyone SHOULD understand them- it is me. So I really cannot say anything in their defense except that they deserve better treatment and should quit.

Nina-THANK YOU!

I was going crazy trying to remember where I'd seen a show about India's call centers

I worked for my University call center, and it floors me that people don't know how to say, "no thank you and please put me on your do not call list." People are just absolutely awful, and I was just calling alumni from my very nice University! There is no way most people here in America would take these jobs, I don't care what they say.

Call center jobs suck, telemarketing jobs suck as well. Any job where the person you are interacting with can't see you and identify that you are a human being worthy of the same respect that they desire, sucks.
I don't blame them for wanting to leave, why get cursed out on a daily basis?

Well, I actually believe that many unemployed Americans would like to have a job. And because they would be working in America, they would not have to work in the middle of the night. And people would not be screaming at them due to language issues.
(In many jobs, you have to deal with onoxious people.)

I had one of those call center tech jobs before it went overseas. Stressful, yes, but it paid the bills.

It's not India, but one of my friends was did customer service phone support for a software company and she was flown to Malaysia to train people for a branch they were opening up - not knowing til she got back that she trained her successor, her job was cut. Ouch.