Are Americans to blame for the "annoying scripts" that overseas customer service reps recite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

[Anonymous]

I've worked in a few call centers. All for major companies- banking, automotive, insurance, and beverage. All but the automotive and insurance companies outsourced overseas. For all companies there was a script we had to stick to. We were graded for calls at random. If we deviated or did not say all of our requirements we would fail and eventually be fired. So it's not necessarily an "American CEO" you should be upset with. It's job requirements, just like the requirements that any other job has. We can't do whatever we want just because a customer wants us to

[Anonymous]

Why did you put quotes around the words "annoying scripts " in your post title??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've worked in a few call centers. All for major companies- banking, automotive, insurance, and beverage. All but the automotive and insurance companies outsourced overseas. For all companies there was a script we had to stick to. We were graded for calls at random. If we deviated or did not say all of our requirements we would fail and eventually be fired. So it's not necessarily an "American CEO" you should be upset with. It's job requirements, just like the requirements that any other job has. We can't do whatever we want just because a customer wants us to

Most of the time their English is not very good. IT'S AWFUL!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

Why not? Is Brooklyn only use in America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

If the customer service agent was Filipino, it's entirely likely that was her name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I very rarely have any problems with phone customer service people. I find them to be almost universally polite and helpful even if I have trouble understanding them. I really think if you have trouble with phone customer service, the problem is you.

The automated menus and the wait times? Yes, frustrating. But once you get a person you should be fine.

My sentiment exactly. This thread is full of entitlement and poorly disguised prejudice against "nerds" and foreigners.

Guess what? Intellectuals you call "nerds" populate the NIH and research universities around the world, making progress on cancer and all sorts of diseases. They're the ones who invent new devices to increase quality of life and prolong it in every area of industry.

But you have to dump on someone, so today it's "nerds" and foreigners in call centers. Bravo. Now go about your day and try not to be nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

Why not? Is Brooklyn only use in America

It’s not because Brooklyn Beckham is not American.

[Anonymous]

I am “an Asian from somewhere in Asia” and know many people back home with Anglicized and Hollywood type names. It’s colonialism and globalization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a lot to unpack,OP.

I HATE BOTH OF THEM. THE OVERSEAS REPS AND THEIR AMERICAN BOSSES

I can't tell you how far removed a CEO is from the selection of an overseas call center and the particular scripts and training of the reps.

If you want to pick on CEOs as being evil as a way to get back at their grade school bullies, there are CEOs that lobby for no regulation, cut safety measures and actively kill people. That'll show those bullies. And also CEOs who initiate buybacks and don't invest in their workforce, so their workers hate their jobs. So maybe a few gotchas there too for the ol bullies.

[Anonymous]

You hate CEOs because they are more successful than you are?

Okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've worked in a few call centers. All for major companies- banking, automotive, insurance, and beverage. All but the automotive and insurance companies outsourced overseas. For all companies there was a script we had to stick to. We were graded for calls at random. If we deviated or did not say all of our requirements we would fail and eventually be fired. So it's not necessarily an "American CEO" you should be upset with. It's job requirements, just like the requirements that any other job has. We can't do whatever we want just because a customer wants us to

Same during grad school. We had to demonstrate empathy as point one. But the graders did not understand the difference between empathy and sympathy. So after one round of getting dinged for not using the word "Sorry" when someone called in with a positive/neutral situation, I developed my own script. "Oh, it's a sunny day here in the mid Atlantic, I am sorry you are on the phone with me instead of outside bla bla bla" After that my calls were played for other people in their 1:1 evaluations as an example of how to demonstrate empathy. And the grades we were given: Moment of excellence, moment of mediocrity, or moment of misery. I hated that freaking job, but I learned so much about dealing with people. Pro tip: Everyone will stop talking eventually. Not ever worth cutting anyone off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

If the customer service agent was Filipino, it's entirely likely that was her name.

99.9% of USA phone based customer service has been sent over to the Philippines.

My source for that info is a Filipino American I attended school with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our major supplier used to use a technical support center in the Philippines for dealers like us. Last year they made a big deal at their annual trade conference about how they were switching to US-based staff. The announcement was peppered with the usual dog-whistles you would expect. A year later, we are wishing they would switch back to the Philippines; the staff was more knowledgeable, more efficient and spoke better English.

The challenge seems to be the lack of good call center staff in the US who are available on the cheap.

Support lines in the US are often staffed with incarcerated men and women, which I think is a great idea. Gives them valuable job skills that they can use on the outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read by like Indians named John and Mary?

The other day I had an Asian from somewhere in Asia try to to tell me her name was BROOKLYN.

If the customer service agent was Filipino, it's entirely likely that was her name.

99.9% of USA phone based customer service has been sent over to the Philippines.

My source for that info is a Filipino American I attended school with.

Wrong. It's a very popular country for it (because it's the 5th largest English-speaking country in the world), but I've had calls handled in India, Mexico, and Costa Rica. I also had a friend working for a US call center company based in Paraguay.

Most call center jobs are entry-level jobs with few skills required. Yes, they are following a script to ensure consistency. If you learn to work with that, you can have a succesful call.

Ineffective: "My flight was cancelled and now I can't go to see Grandma for her birthday tomorrow and she's turning 80 and I hate flying because of things like this and..."

Effective: "I received an email that flight 123 was cancelled. Can you rebook me on flight 789 departing this evening at 8:30pm? I tried online but it says to call this number instead."