The benefactors holding the title of my shiny new car didn't send me a payment book, just a letter welcoming me to the fold and telling me of the many wonderful ways I can pay them back, most of which involve getting on the phone with their sales people. I hate talking on the phone, especially talking to sales or customer service, so I chose the option to enroll and pay via eft online. On Sunday I tried and was told the site was down for maintenance. Last night I tried again and was told my personal information was wrong. (excuse me, I think I know my date of birth better than you) I called their help line figuring it was run 24/7 out of India since no hours were listed, tried their automated menu to no avail, attempted to speak to a human, and was told I had to call during Texas business hours (but not what those hours were). At least that promised the chance of reaching a fellow American who presumably spoke proper English. "Howdy, y'all. Whut can I dew ye fur tuhday?" So today I called, was connected to "Amy" with an unmistakable Indian accent, and then...AND THEN...
She took my information, identified and fixed the problem immediately, and even volunteered to stay on the line until I completed registration to ensure no further issues arose. My next course of action is clear - I have to complain to her supervisor. I wonder if their online complaint form includes "Failure to provide blog fodder" as a selection? "I contacted your so-called customer service department today, and was given absolutely nothing to complain about. What are you people thinking? Maybe it's in your improper language skills. Your department obviously doesn't understand concepts such as 'incompetence', 'willful neglect', and 'fiduciary misconduct'. Your pitiful country will never rise to the grandeur that is the United States until you do, and you will all be forced to live in squalor or marry a pudgy white blob of American man-flesh to escape it. Speaking of which, please give my e-mail address to 'Amy' because she sounded cute. And now let's practice some of that proper English - 'I'm a-fixin' to have a-hankerin' for some deep-fried pig intestines, y'all.'"
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5 comments:
I had the pleasure of an anonymous call from the so called AT&T today. I told her [with lots of call center noise audible behind her] I would not accept information about a proffered technical problem they wanted to fix, unless they revealed their phone number "You are the phone company right?" and they should just write me a letter.
Grrrr.
You mean that customer service person took care of your problem quickly and efficiently? Damn, that kind of thing pisses me off!
My experience has been - if the foreign customer service people can convincingly fake and American accent, my time with them will be long, frustrating, and unproductive. If they talk with their normal accents, you will get quick, useful assistance, and your only delay will be in trying to cut through the accent to understand whatever the hell it is they're trying to tell you.
Moral of the story - call centers, please quit wasting time teaching American Southern accents to people in Mumbai and more time teaching them how to fix the F'ing problems.
Charlene - you should have offered them your credit card number to prove that they were AT&T. The real phone company would not clean you out. If someone maxed out your card, you could smugly sit back secure in the knowledge that you flushed them out.
Jay - it sets a bad precedent, doesn't it?
Gib - as a corollary to your observance, I've noticed that if they have been trained to be really hip and chatty they will have no tech or common sense whatsoever.
Fucking outrageous.
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