Just maybe this will help

[azjake]

I bought a new Dell laptop in March (Windows 7) and while I'm very happy with it I was having a minor annoyance issue with the printer. I called Dell tech support and after the tech was done he connected me to the support manager for a customer satisfaction chat.

The manager I spoke with actually asked me if the language skills (read accent) of his tech people were good enough to understand them. Here is what I said to him. English speaking Americans normally speak slower than many other languages/cultures including the Hindi speaking people of India. As long as your tech people keep that in mind and speak slower than they are used to with their native language I can usually understand them. While I can't change the fact that Dell along with every other US company has outsourced their tech support to "Bollywood Land" maybe this will help the next time I speak on the phone to Dell.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

Dell along with every other US company has outsourced their tech support to "Bollywood Land"


Consumer stuff was sent overseas; plenty of enterprise tech support is US based when you are paying more than $349 for a product.

Your comments could help the average joe.

 

[Mr Nice]

What I find strange is the Indian tech support employees have American names...

David, John, William, Earl, Kevin, Jason, Robert, Eric, Michael, Daniel, Buster, Walter, Sean, George..., etc, etc...

 

[Doog]

I doo not tink it vill help much

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I've dealt with support from Dell and Lenovo. The business laptops from both brands get you someone in America. For Lenovo, Bill was in Georgia.

 

[PandaBear]

Technically speaking:

The problem I see is not really that they send jobs to India, the problem is they do not TRAIN these people sufficient language or technical skill before having them work. I mean, come on, if you are shipping jobs over sea at least keep the same skill requirement and have people that can speak fluently (good English with accent is ok, but speaking Hindi that you can make out a few English word here and there isn't).

There are Indians and Pakistanis that speak good English, why do they have to hires the one that don't?

 

[gathermewool]

I have friends from all over the globe, and am usually very patient with those for whom English is a second language, but I've had major, MAJOR trouble understanding tech support on more than one occasion. I'm no fan of outsourcing, but it doesn't bother me really, at least not as much as some, I'd guess.

Specifically, it just seems that some Indian dialects are so far removed from English that perhaps their mouths can't adapt to the unfamiliar mouth movements required by the English language. When I had an issue with my HP laptop a couple of years ago, I literally had to hang up and call back three time before I got some one I could understand; it was really THAT bad. The last person, whose Indian accent had a British undertone, ended up having to transfer me to her supervisor who was almost as bad as the previous techs!

FWIW, I experienced the same thing while calling for Dell support, but the two people I spoke with were perfectly understandable.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Technically speaking:

The problem I see is not really that they send jobs to India, the problem is they do not TRAIN these people sufficient language or technical skill before having them work. I mean, come on, if you are shipping jobs over sea at least keep the same skill requirement and have people that can speak fluently (good English with accent is ok, but speaking Hindi that you can make out a few English word here and there isn't).

There are Indians and Pakistanis that speak good English, why do they have to hires the one that don't?


Because discrimination is not ethical, why should people with same skill capability be paid less ? The corporation cheats with outsourcing to earn profit and take advantage of the outsourcer that ready sign on paper with low cost and unknown quality. If the outsourcer hire this good English speaking, they can not win the bidding war

 

[Bryankkkk]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I've dealt with support from Dell and Lenovo. The business laptops from both brands get you someone in America. For Lenovo, Bill was in Georgia.


Exactly, I deal with Dell on a daily basis.(Warranty for customers) Today I spoke with a nice guy, their support is awesome(Probably cause the the customer had Gold Pro Support for 3 years). Told them the PSU was bad and he said no problem, got it the next day. He even called and followed up.

HP is good also, not always americans,but never had a problem understanding them. Never had to deal with Lenovo support.

As Much as I hate apple their support is amazing.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Technically speaking:

The problem I see is not really that they send jobs to India, the problem is they do not TRAIN these people sufficient language or technical skill before having them work. I mean, come on, if you are shipping jobs over sea at least keep the same skill requirement and have people that can speak fluently (good English with accent is ok, but speaking Hindi that you can make out a few English word here and there isn't).

There are Indians and Pakistanis that speak good English, why do they have to hires the one that don't?


Because discrimination is not ethical, why should people with same skill capability be paid less ? The corporation cheats with outsourcing to earn profit and take advantage of the outsourcer that ready sign on paper with low cost and unknown quality. If the outsourcer hire this good English speaking, they can not win the bidding war

Discrimination?!? One reason for the lower costs of labor is lower costs of living. A living wage in the US is much higher than a living wage in India. I'm sure the technical knowledge is the same. Many companies have set up product development facilities in India because of the highly trained technical workforce there, so it's not like these companies are picking up people off the street and putting phones in their hands. US companies have to compete for your business (which includes ensuring the quality of their products) and their outsourced tech support must also compete with quality being a factor, hence the survey the OP completed.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
What I find strange is the Indian tech support employees have American names...

David, John, William, Earl, Kevin, Jason, Robert, Eric, Michael, Daniel, Buster, Walter, Sean, George..., etc, etc...




thing is...they don't. they each Choose a western name. David and George could easily be Subashish & Rajesh when off the clock.
when all this Indian outsourcing started, the companies did put folks through dialect training. guess not so much anymore...
also, while the lower standard of living was/is a major driving factor in moving call center jobs over there, the other is they are more likely to have a Bachelors or Masters degree than their US counterparts making several times more.

 

[Rolla07]

Highly skilled yes, but highly scripted too. Problem is they arent encouraged to think outside the box but rather follow a script. Ive seen it multiple times, agents doing troubleshooting that has no effect on the trouble at hand. Thats the problem. Some companies including the one i work for realized that its more worthwhile to pay us more and just train us to handle alot more complex issues than overseas can handle. Customer satisfaction increases.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted By: NMBurb02

Discrimination?!? One reason for the lower costs of labor is lower costs of living. A living wage in the US is much higher than a living wage in India.

Nowadays with globalization, do you think only US people will need iPhone, iPad, MCSE ?
Maybe this Indian staff have very small shack in Bangalore, and the US staff have house with garden, but who does not want have same better house and eat same nice food ?
Just because someone live in the cheapo environment, they should be paid less, shouldn't they ? So even cost of living is often used for yardstick, it is a form of discrimination.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
Originally Posted By: NMBurb02

Discrimination?!? One reason for the lower costs of labor is lower costs of living. A living wage in the US is much higher than a living wage in India.

Nowadays with globalization, do you think only US people will need iPhone, iPad, MCSE ?
Maybe this Indian staff have very small shack in Bangalore, and the US staff have house with garden, but who does not want have same better house and eat same nice food ?
Just because someone live in the cheapo environment, they should be paid less, shouldn't they ? So even cost of living is often used for yardstick, it is a form of discrimination.

A lower cost of living, not standard of living. A decent house is much cheaper in India than a comparable house in the US. It's the same concept as moving a business within a country to take advantage of lower operating costs. A $150,000 house in Detroit, MI, is decent, whereas in Los Angeles, CA, that same $150,000 buys you a one bedroom shanty and taking that $150,000 to an area of India outside a major metropolis would probably buy you something pretty nice, even by US standards.

 

[azjake]

Maybe it's the time of day I call, or the fact I'm calling for consumer (vs business) sales and support, but every time I've gotten someone whose either Indian or Pakistani, and they've used their real name not a fake American one. My wife has a specialist doctor whose from India and we can both understand him even when using medical terms because he talks slow.

It's not just a non English problem. Sometimes I've had trouble understanding Brits, for example on BBC America, because they also talk faster than us Yanks and if their accent is strong there are words I don't catch, and no my hearing is fine. As I said in my original post it's the speed combined with the accent that makes it hard to understand. FWIW I too have been satisfied with Dell's sales and tech support people.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
What I find strange is the Indian tech support employees have American names...

David, John, William, Earl, Kevin, Jason, Robert, Eric, Michael, Daniel, Buster, Walter, Sean, George..., etc, etc...




thing is...they don't. they each Choose a western name. David and George could easily be Subashish & Rajesh when off the clock.
when all this Indian outsourcing started, the companies did put folks through dialect training. guess not so much anymore...
also, while the lower standard of living was/is a major driving factor in moving call center jobs over there, the other is they are more likely to have a Bachelors or Masters degree than their US counterparts making several times more.


I think the going rate of equivalent qualification in India is between 1/3 to 1/2 of US.

The reason the customer service people have Western name is because the customers couldn't remember who they talk to if something happen. Say customer call back again because something wasn't done right (i.e. Suresh promised to waive a charge), and couldn't tell who they talked to last time (Vishnu or Vamsi or Venkatesh), it would be a mess for the manager and the customer.

 

[beanoil]

I worked for a major copier/printer company for 32 years. When they moved our dispatch system to India several years ago, it was a cost saving measure only. A call from start to finish in the USA was 1.24. A call from start to finish in India was .13. Customers were initially upset, but the company still saved an enormous amount of money even if they dialed back 4 or 5 times. There is a wave of movement occurring right now. Canon USA just moved all dispatch and tech support back to the US, and some other companies are following suit.