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-   -   Tech support in India (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=59805)

chico2 January 11th, 2009 12:40 PM

Tech support in India
 
I was stunned to learn from a friend of mine,who has Sympatico(don't know if I can say that) from the company that rimes with Tell;).
She had trouble with her PC and called Tech-Support,I had no idea the Tech-Support people are sitting in an office in India.
She got very frustrated,had trouble understanding,since she is about as tech-savvy as me and is now cancelling her service.
I was told by my son it's the same with his provider,Rogers,but my son figures out his own problems.
Also 75%of the Telemarketers are calling from India,that just floored me.
No offense to people from India,but it is at times hard to understand what's being said.
It was a low-paying job even here,so how greedy can the companies get???

Melinda January 11th, 2009 01:24 PM

a friend of mine travels from Ottawa to india twice a year to help train people in india for sympatico, he also just came back from 3 months in Africa training another call center that sympatico opened there. He works at the main office in Ottawa

diandpat January 11th, 2009 01:32 PM

[QUOTE=chico2;729926]
It was a low-paying job even here,so how greedy can the companies get???[/QUOTE]

Even lower paying, Chico2. More and more companies are outsourcing the Customer service, often to India :shrug:

Doesn't really say much for how "valued" the customer is when the people we are forced to deal with are not even part of the company :frustrated:

Winston January 11th, 2009 02:32 PM

Chico same with Dell laptop support! it sucks

chico2 January 11th, 2009 02:59 PM

WOW,that's really surprising,Gogeco that we have still has their tech-support here in Canada,but it's much smaller than either Rogers or Bell.
Ever since we canceled our Bell land-line,(we now have the Cogeco package-deal including HD,Digital TV,Phone and High-speed internet),they call at least 6 times/week,to entice us back,that's never going to happen.
Thank's girls for clearing that up for me,I at first thought my friend was hallucinating:laughing:

badger January 11th, 2009 03:53 PM

I have had good service from the Sympatico technical people based in India. Their training includes classes in colloquial English, but no doubt some are more fluent - and competent - than others. The people who flog newspaper subscriptions here in Montreal are more likely to be a problem, I don't know how they keep their jobs, as pitifully paid as they are. I can barely understand them.

I read an article recently that said India, with its booming economy, is not the country of choice anymore, so no surprise they are moving to Africa. Welcome to the global economy. Offshore call-rooms are the norm, Chico. You'd think with all the training and travelling, it would be almost as expensive as paying locals more. On the other hand, no UI premiums, sick pay, etc., which add up.

Listen, there are Indian radiologists (medical training in India is excellent) reading Xrays over the internet for doctors here. Go figure.

sugarcatmom January 11th, 2009 04:03 PM

Bangalore (city in India) is often referred to as India's Silicon Valley. It's a modern "college town" (bit of a misnomer with a population of over 6 million!) and is the IT hub of the country. That's likely where most of these various telecommunications companies are outsourcing their tech-support from. I spent a few days there many years ago and really liked it. They even had an SPCA, which is unheard of in most parts of India.

Frenchy January 11th, 2009 04:16 PM

Wow , when so many people here are loosing their jobs .... :frustrated:

sugarcatmom January 11th, 2009 04:24 PM

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730010]Wow , when so many people here are loosing their jobs .... :frustrated:[/QUOTE]

They need jobs in India to.

Frenchy January 11th, 2009 04:27 PM

[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;730021]They need jobs in India to.[/QUOTE]

Maybe , but if I pay for a canadian service , by a canadian company , I would expect them to hire canadians.

diandpat January 11th, 2009 04:31 PM

Our company laid off thousands of permanent employees to outsource to India. It is a Canadian company.

CANADIANS need jobs too.

There is no difference here than the rag trade using kids in China to make their goods...bottom line is the almighty dollar and it is always the same people who get richer!

Nothing against the people in India but there are people here willing and able to do those jobs too.

Melinda January 11th, 2009 04:45 PM

we have two huge call centers in cornwall, they start the pay at 10 dollars per hour...you gain 1.50 after training, there are bonus packs, their health benefits are wonderful 80% of dental , glasses and perscriptions.............and we have sent representatives to newfoundland to try to get people to work there........they've even lowered it that you no longer need a highschool diploma to work there, just grade 10 or equivalent.............still....they can't hire enough people from S.D& G......no idea why......people don't want to work in call centers

chico2 January 11th, 2009 04:50 PM

Badger,I know about India being very Technically advanced,but the person my friend(female)was talking to was not very patient when she asked him to repeat,since she did not understand what he said.
That would make me very angry,I pay a lot of money to my service provider and expect them to deliver.
India needs jobs,as does Canada,the US and almost every country in the world at this time.
I wish Canadian companies outsourced to help people,but it is just plain and simple greed,screw the Canadians out of work,not very patriotic.:evil:

Saigo January 11th, 2009 04:56 PM

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730022]Maybe , but if I pay for a canadian service , by a canadian company , I would expect them to hire canadians.[/QUOTE]

:thumbs up Exactly.

[QUOTE=diandpat;730028]Our company laid off thousands of permanent employees to outsource to India. It is a Canadian company.

CANADIANS need jobs too.

There is no difference here than the rag trade using kids in China to make their goods...bottom line is the almighty dollar and it is always the same people who get richer!

Nothing against the people in India but there are people here willing and able to do those jobs too.[/QUOTE]

:thumbs upWe are losing thousands of jobs a month. I get extremely irritated when the phone rings at 6:00 pm and I'm trying to make supper and I get a call from someone who can barely speak english, or speaks so fast you can't understand them. I was thrilled when the do not call list came into effect but its less then perfect.

chico2 January 11th, 2009 04:59 PM

Melinda,one of my sons friends,who always helps us,took an IT course,started working at a Cogeco call-center,from there he became a Tech-teacher and now he is servicing all the computers in the Catholic school-system,making very good money.
Cogeco has mostly young people,who uses the calling-center as a stepping stone,to better things,I doubt they have any kind of fringe benefits.
I am not a bigot,I actually find the Indian accent,often pleasant,but not if I need to understand how to fix the PC.
I have an accent myself,but thank Dog I don't sound like the guy on the IKEA commercial:laughing:

otter January 11th, 2009 05:13 PM

Canadian companies with Canadian customer service are getting cheap too. I called a propane company (with 24/7 customer service advertised everywhere) at 4:30pm on Monday... to have the person on the line tell me that they couldn't help, only take a message cause they were just an ANSWERING SERVICE :confused: I asked her when I could call to get to talk to someone who could help and she didn't know :frustrated::frustrated:

I've called the Sympatico service a couple of times for my Mom... some good experiences, some not. I guess, just like any service industry there are good people and there are not so good people, no matter where they are from or how much they get paid.

Hmmm, i'd pay more to know the company I was doing business with was employing Canadians... would you? I guess ya gotta think about these kind of issues when making purchases these days, a lot to consider for something so simple :shrug:

Joeyjoejoe January 11th, 2009 05:19 PM

[QUOTE=Saigo;730042]:thumbs up Exactly.



:thumbs upWe are losing thousands of jobs a month. I get extremely irritated when the phone rings at 6:00 pm and I'm trying to make supper and I get a call from someone who can barely speak english, or speaks so fast you can't understand them. I was thrilled when the do not call list came into effect but its less then perfect.[/QUOTE]

I've been in the telco world for 5 years. The problem with most Canadian call centres is that there is so much training you need before you can be a good CSR. Training can be as much a 6 months... having said that the average CSR lasts 3 months in Canada. Indian CSRs last longer, but language becomes a barrier. But the bottom line to the major companies is India is cheaper than Canada.

I won't go on a long rant about the Do Not Call list, but I will say that I was part of the early discussions in the development of the National Do Not Call List in Canada, so I'm well informed. I will say that the list does not work and it is a huge waste of tax payer money.

Think about it. You give your number to the DNCL. They in turn send your number to ALL call centres and tell them don't use this. Can they all be so trusting? I can set up a fake company (not using my real name), pay the fee to CRTC and get the DNCL. Now I can scam specifically those people, by saying I'm the CRTC and part of being on the DNCL, I will need some more information from you... like your name, address, social #, drivers license, etc to validate that I am talking to the correct person. Don't worry, we are part of the Canadian Government, your information is secure with us. Bam! I just stole your identity!

chico2 January 11th, 2009 05:28 PM

Joey,it's gotten to the point,I do not answer,or pick up and hang up,if I don't know the caller or the number.
Caller ID is the best feature on our phone.:thumbs up
Also,I know some people are vulnerable,but we never give out any personal info to any caller.

Stacer January 11th, 2009 05:44 PM

I watched a documentary recently about an American guy who traded places with a guy from India. They basically switched lives completely for several months, jobs and all.

The American guy had to fill in for the Indian guy at his call centre job and couldn't understand why everyone in India seemed to WANT to work in a call centre. It turns out that call centre jobs are considered very prestigious/important. They get to learn english and work for a North American company. Apparently there's no shortage of Indian men and women jumping at the chance to do call centre work.

We used to use both Bell and Rogers (now we live in Halton Region and we HAVE to use Cogeco). I don't recall ever calling and getting anyone other than either an English voice or a voice with a French-Canadian accent (which I could listen to all day). But when I have received calls they always seemed to have Indian accents.

Frenchy January 11th, 2009 05:51 PM

[QUOTE=Stacer;730078] a voice with a French-Canadian accent (which I could listen to all day). [/QUOTE]

Oh Stacer hun , just give me your phone number and for a fair price , I'll could call you everyday :laughing:

diandpat January 11th, 2009 05:53 PM

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730085]Oh Stacer hun , just give me your phone number and for a fair price , I'll could call you everyday :laughing:[/QUOTE]

LMAO :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

badger January 11th, 2009 07:22 PM

Heavy breathing is extra.

krdahmer January 11th, 2009 07:27 PM

I had the best time telling the evil empire (bell) to bugger off when we switched everything to cable.... even when the call centers were here the customer service was the pits.... now it's crappy with a side of communication barrier! And our bills were at least twice what we pay now... the biggest difference being the phone.

rainbow January 11th, 2009 07:41 PM

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730085]Oh Stacer hun , just give me your phone number and for a fair price , I'll could call you everyday :laughing:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=badger;730147]Heavy breathing is extra.[/QUOTE]


:laughing: :laughing:

:lightbulb:

[B]Frenchy,[/B] there's a great way for you to make extra money on the side as a 1-900 call girl. :laughing:

Frenchy January 11th, 2009 08:06 PM

[QUOTE=badger;730147]Heavy breathing is extra.[/QUOTE]

:laughing:

Extra ? No Badger , I'm fairly cheap. Stacer can consider it a "free sample" :laughing:

kanis January 11th, 2009 09:16 PM

For corporations, the bottom line is all the matters. Why bother paying 8 to 10$ an hour when you could pay half of that (or less) in a developing nation?

Diamondsmum January 11th, 2009 11:15 PM

In doing techsupport via phone/email/remotely for my business. I destest calling the companies for help.

I would rather email them.

Doesnt help when you have no internet tho.

Melinda January 12th, 2009 05:42 AM

I've always had english speaking help for cogeco, very nice people in fact, I know our one call center is for a branch of sympatico, I think its for their cell phones?

angeldogs January 12th, 2009 07:06 AM

I know how your friend feels,I had to call them for my mom.she has DSL and it was very slow and then i noticed it said it was looking for a proxy server.

So i called them knowing it was something in the setting for the internet.couldn't understand the person and had to get them to repeat everything and in the end of the conversation they told me the computer had to be taken to a repair shop to get the pc fixed.

I knew it was in the setting for their DSL as i had the same problem but could remember how to fix it.needless to say i had to figure it out myself has they were no help at all.couldn't speak very good english and knew nothing about computers at all.i can deal with the poor english but they should be able to do their job or get somebody who can when requested to do so.

chico2 January 12th, 2009 08:10 AM

Stacer,I have used Cogeco forever,never anything but good service.:thumbs up(hope I don't jinx myself)
My modem went caput and of course having the phone through them,I also had no phone:yell:(no cell-phone)
I went to Fate's house called Cogeco and they came the same afternoon to fix the problem.
The phone through cable is great,I can call all longdistance any time,with no extra charge.:thumbs up

Melinda January 12th, 2009 08:28 AM

I love my cogeco phone!!! no long distance *L*, if you call a call center for help and can't understand the tech, you can ask for another with no feelings hurt, I had one lady who's accent (french) was so strong that I had a hard time understanding her and politely asked for another worker, I was switched over immediately.

Stacer January 12th, 2009 09:58 AM

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730085]Oh Stacer hun , just give me your phone number and for a fair price , I'll could call you everyday :laughing:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=diandpat;730088]LMAO :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=badger;730147]Heavy breathing is extra.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Frenchy;730174]:laughing:Extra ? No Badger , I'm fairly cheap. Stacer can consider it a "free sample" :laughing:[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Rainbow]Frenchy, there's a great way for you to make extra money on the side as a 1-900 call girl. [/QUOTE]



:laughing::laughing: OK Frenchy, my number is...416-123-4567. I'll expect the call around 8 pm every night. How much are you charging?

chico2 January 12th, 2009 12:10 PM

Stacer,if you prefer a male Frenchy,hubby will do it for a price:laughing:

Ford Girl January 12th, 2009 12:25 PM

I work for a large Canadain/US company in the financial industry and our main help desk for tech issues is in india. we do have onsite nerds to help us out but if you are referred to the help desk - you speak to folks in india. Its frustrating at time.

I think this is pretty common its just not well known by the public user. Not that I am agreeing with it.

They did open huge call centres in the maritimes, mostly for banks and phone companies, shipping companies like Purolator and DHL, which is why the unemployment rate decreased, the east coast provinces made/are making a come back, which means people like us - who moved west for work can some day move home. :cloud9:

Stacer January 12th, 2009 01:31 PM

I'm getting offers all over the place. Maybe we can work out a schedule between Frenchy and Chico's hubby?

chico2 January 12th, 2009 04:56 PM

Stacer,now you got hubby all excited:laughing:

Ford Girl,I had no idea this was going on,until my friend told me she was talking to someone in India,I actually did not believe her at first.
But that certainly explain why so many telemarketer speak with an Indian accent.
Honestly,they are very polite and so,but often times very hard to understand.
I also think,that,in this economy the jobs should stay here,how about some patriotism over greed..

luckypenny January 12th, 2009 05:52 PM

We left Bell 2 months ago because of the poor customer service :shrug:. Language always became a problem because I couldn't for the life of me understand the person on the other end :o. The very last person I spoke to was pretty rude as well because I kept asking him to repeat himself :o. That was the kicker, I wasn't paying 200$ + to some company for services that couldn't be offered properly. We switched to a cable company and, lo and behold, the cost of the same services was 50% less :eek:. Bonus that the tech support is local :thumbs up!

Jim Hall January 12th, 2009 08:38 PM

heres a tip if ou dont like the rep you get ask for a supervisor chacnes are they are instructed to find one for you and chances are it will be bonced back to the us or canada
if it it doesnt it gets escalated

Schwinn January 12th, 2009 11:15 PM

I worked in a call centre for 3 years (the period in my life I affectionately refer to as purgatory). One of my colleagues used to work for Bell, and they were in fact in Canada. However, Bell was like the centre I worked in...more than 75% of my colleagues were east Indian. Not sure why that was, it just was. I remember one client calling in and going on a racist tirade, yelling at me that he had just spoke to someone in India and I was lying. The person who he just spoke to (I pulled up the call history) actually sat behind me. I'd of let it go, but the racist comments were grating on my nerves. Finally, I leaned back to the associate behind me, making sure the client heard me.
"Hey, Abdil...are we in Toronto, or India?"
"Uh...I believe we are in Toronto."
"Sir, I just spoke with Abdil, and he assures me that we are, in fact, in Toronto".

Personally, I could care less where the centre is I'm calling, I'm more concerned about the service I'm getting. And having worked in a call centre, I tend to be both more forgiving AND harder on them. The most successful people in call centres are usually those who play the game...whatever it take to make the client think they're doing something, yet getting off the phone ASAP so they have "good stats". If I think I've got one of those ones, I'm usually pretty tough, and I ALWAYS make sure I get a name (one of the reasons they tend to say whatever is because they have 500+ telephone associates, and the chances of getting the same one twice are next to nil). But if I get one who seems to care, I tend to be a little more patient. And having seen it from the inside, you get more who tend to care less about the client and more about the stats. Turn over is huge.

I do remember one conversation I had with someone in management saying I could care less the colour of the guy on the phone, or where they're from, but for gosh sakes, make sure I can understand them! Of course, in Canada, you can't not hire someone for fear of being accused of being racist. I suggested that should do the interviews by phone. If you can't understand them, you don't hire them. That being said, one of the most entertaining calls I listed to was my east Indian friend with the super-thick accent talking to someone from the deep south, back woods Louisiana. "I beg your pardon sir?" "Say wha' nao?" I think I was the only person who knew what the other was saying...

Jim Hall January 12th, 2009 11:26 PM

lol i woked in a call center for voip calls from everywhere in the world we used to play on the overnight since then we got the other side of the world what country was next or wher the h*** is abb dabbba humi gory? or VJgdjUsdy somewhere in europe i loved it call centers are a great temp gig flexible hours good net working for future and usually better than menial pay why they go overseas? cuase there it is a terrific job


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