Call Centres...

jambosans

Worst call centre experience I've had was with O2, and their UK-based customer services. Call centre's based abroad don't bother me, as long as they deal with my query I don't give a hoot where they are based. Usually call centre workers abroad have a better grasp of the English language than most of the British public, accents and local terminology will cause most of the communication problems.

My experiences with H3G who appeared to be solely based abroad (call centre wise) were always quite positive, I may have had to repeat myself a couple of times, but there were never major issues, and the extra call time didn't bother because it was free (from my 3 mobile) and they were available 24/7.

Mr.Mulla

karatedragon wrote: »

Which Banks, Credit Cards, Phone Companies, Utilities etc use overseas call centres and where are they located? What are people's general opinion on them? I phoned T-Mobile and got through to the Phillipines and found they could not do much beyond tell you what your current balance owing was.

It's because most offshore call centres have limits on what they can access on a customer's account. It's not their fault, they are only following that the company's policies and protocols.

I don't have problems dealing with companies who have offshore call centres as long as they handle my queries well, except for some (not all) Indian-based call centres as I am having a hard time understanding their accents, compared with those in the Philippines. In fact, offshore call centres are more helpful and polite compared to the locals especially in the US where some are really rude (based on experience).

wontfallforit

karatedragon wrote: »

Which Banks, Credit Cards, Phone Companies, Utilities etc use overseas call centres and where are they located? What are people's general opinion on them? I phoned T-Mobile and got through to the Phillipines and found they could not do much beyond tell you what your current balance owing was.

Barclays - UK and India
Barclaycard - UK and India
Capital One - definitely has offshore operations, not sure about UK, as I've only called them a couple of times
MBNA - Definitely has UK callcentres, may also have offshore. See Capital One comment
HSBC & HSBC Credit card - India...and maybe UK also, but I always get diverted to India. I recently dealt with a gent with an American accent, so no idea where he was based. Perhaps a student working in the UK, or even an Indian who'd picked up his accent from watching too much American TV
Vanquis - has an automated system would rather speak to a human being, even with an appalling accent. I've been trying to close my old CC for weeks!

I've no objection to offshore callcentres, provided they're good quality. I've worked in a callcentre in the UK which also had offshore operations (India), and from what I gathered from customer feedback, our particular company seemed to have a good harmony between the two sites. Indian staff were actually trained by UK staff, only those with very good English were recruited, etc.

When I've called either of my banks, I've always had pretty good service, no matter where my call was directed to. I think the important thing to remember is that it isn't the fault of the person on the end of the line when your call is diverted to somewhere you'd rather not deal with (for whatever reason!).

Wutang_2

vaporate wrote: »

I gave up trying the mobile company orange call operatives.

Not one sodding word in English. Too many Patels on the other end.

Can't speak the lingo.

Natwest is deff good.

Is this brilliant irony? I doubt it.

anselld

It can be worth trying different times of day.
For example Virgin Mobile if you phone during 9-5 hours are quite helpful and UK based, though sometimes too long a wait. But if you phone "out of hours" forget it - disaster zone!!

al25

I find the scottish call centres more difficult to understand than the Indian call centres.
Some of them have really strong accents.

wontfallforit

Margin_Walker wrote: »

Guy with the American accent at HSBC will have been based in the Philippines. It was a under US control for much of the 20th century so you will often find people talking english with an American accent.

Ahh. I never realised HSBC calls were routed to the Phillipines, and I've been banking there for years.

Am I right in thinking HSBC have Indian operations? Distinctly Indian accents most of the time I call through.

karatedragon

So out of the Mobile Phone companies which ones have call centres based entirely in the UK?

O2?

T-Mobile definitely don't. I try to go with companies with UK only call centres but it is getting to the stage where I won't be able to have any services any more!!

vaporate

Wutang wrote: »

Is this brilliant irony? I doubt it.

What are you on?

Keep taking your prescribed medication

Wutang_2

vaporate wrote: »

What are you on?

Keep taking your prescribed medication

Will do nutbar. Still think Natwest are deff good? I think they are deff bad.