A.I. Phone Helplines

 I recently had my first clash with the imbecile known as Artificial Intelligence in quite a while .....

A.I. At Work - Limited Options

This time it was first an unsatisfactory set of web options, then an automated call handling system for Vodaphone UK.

Coals To Newcastle?

In a funny twist on the Indian jobs outsourcing issue, some major companies have started bringing call centres back to the UK. So far Bank Santander and New Call Telecom have announced these moves .... New Call Telecom said: "Employees (in the UK) are loyal, unemployment rates are quite high. In contrast, in India jobs are plentiful and we suffer a lot from attrition. A similar call centre down the road may offer a more lucrative salary and pull staff away and we need to keep going out there for retraining." So now its the UK that's the 'low wage, low skill, economy' ... a sign of things to come, and something our politicians should be shamed by.

Low Wage Economy Jobs Brought Back To UK 

 

They also apparently finally realised that Indians don't speak English, and speak a sub language called Inglish ... this, and cultural response issues (they can't take blame, and refuse to take ownership of an issue), meant that using call centres based in the sub continent usually involved spending hours trying to get issues resolved. I myself  have experienced a 'Dell Hell' moment, when I wasted hours of my life that I won't get back, on an issue that took less than half an hour to resolve when I finally insisted on talking to someone in Ireland (US customers refused to deal with Indians, so get an Irish call centre).

Santander said that "This is what our customers have told us is the most important factor in terms of the satisfaction with the bank, and we have listened to them and decided to bring all of our retail call centres back from India."

As result of that experience with Dell I won't ever buy from them again ..... I also favour British based companies in high street banking (National Westminster Bank), and 'O2' for broadband, both of which have kept their call centres in the UK.

Dell Hell

Well, where to start. At the beginning seems a good place. I bought a new laptop before Christmas after my old one appeared to die an inglorious death. A Dell seemed to be a good idea (I was relying on their old reputation), and so I ordered one. 15 days later it arrived, but with a couple of faults.

Offshore Call Centres Are Not Great Experiences ....

This was the start of a wonderful adventure via a very polite, but totally inept, help and support sections in Bangalore. I soon discovered that being able to speak 'Inglish' and understand English are two completely separate matters. They listened and thanked me for my custom, which apparently was "valued", but they then proceeded along the line of least discomfort for them. i.e. They resolved nothing.