'I made an Indian girl cry, you can do it too!'

Times Of India ^ | 1/11/05 | RUKMINI SHRINIVASAN

[withteeth]

"Q: I'm curious as to what kind of responses you have been getting. Do you use curse words at them?

A: I made an Indian woman cry and promise to quit her job in 60 seconds. You can do it too!"

MUMBAI: This is only a random (and printable) selection from the thousands of messages in cyberspace calling for a campaign to harass Indian call centre operators, to put an end to the offshoring of jobs.

The same person goes on to describe some more of his experiences while calling these call centres, an activity to which he promises to devote "one hour every day".

"Actually the usual response is confusion...I get the impression these are not the brightest bulbs in India's chandeliers. Often, they give me a 'courtesy laugh' as if I were joking and ask how they can help me.

Usually, I limit the calls to 60 seconds anyway, so I can call back and really hammer them. I've been doing this about 20 minutes a day. It's great fun!" The person goes on to give the names and numbers of some popular MNCs with Indian call centres.

In the last few months, and particularly since the US presidential elections, people working in call centres in the country say that they are receiving more abusive and racist phone calls than ever before.

"Earlier, people would get abusive if we didn't answer their questions satisfactorily. Now, I get calls—on some days up to five a shift—from people who are calling only to abuse," says Shalini J, a 22-year-old engineering graduate who works in a major call centre in Malad.

Continued...

[withteeth]

Get a load of this guy crying that he lost his telephone job at a call center.

[anniegetyourgun]

Some people....

[Prime Choice]

See also: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318732/posts

[spetznaz]

What the person is doing is just childish. Calling up people and harrasing them is just plain wrong. And anyways the person on the phone doesn't have any real power. It would be a better use of time calling the corporate headquarters here and using harangue techniques rather than calling half the world away and chewing the ear off some person just doing their job. And even if the call person gets frustrated and quits there are thousands more over there that see such a job to be very alluring (i read an article in Fortune some months or years ago on how such jobs are actually viewed favorably).

Anyways, harrasing base workers is both juvenile, wrong and ineffetive. If the person (the crank caller) really has something against job shunt then he should call corporate headquarters. At least at corp.quarters there is real power.

[sodiumodium]

you know, while it upsets me to see domestic companies send their employment over seas for tax purposes and cheap labor (and tax shelters are another gripe of mine) - supporting india's economy can only be a good thing - given that its pretty much the only functioning democracy/republic style of governing in the region. if they are willing to work harder than us for less then some of us need to spend less time calling to harass them and more time in school/training.

[withteeth]

Thanks. I did a search for the headline. Oh well.

[ishabibble]

This is BS. I just emailed that paper, to let them know that practically no Americans do such things...sickos of America, stay off the phone! You are NOT helping.

[chemicalman]

Sounds like something a liberal would do.

[Quix]

The UNIVSERSAL law still is that we reap what we sow. This is evil and destructive to individuals who are merely trying to earn a living.

[CatoRenasci]

I don't like Indian call centers. Over the past 2 weeks, I've struggled with Intuit's: I was given BS by a rep, lied to by a supervisor who told me he'd fixed the problem, cut off by another rep when I asked to speak with a supervisor after he admitted he was giving me a run around instead of a direct answer to a reasonable question, and finally, I had my problem solved, as promised, by a young woman who explained exactly what had and had not been done on the previous calls. (Her, I'd hire and give a visa to!) The problem that should have been solved in ten minutes took almost 3-4 hours of my time.

In the past, I have had bad experiences with Dell's Indian call center.

Some companies have Phillipine call centers. They have been uniformly excellent in my limited experience.

All of that said, while I think it's perfectly understandable and fine to let the call center personnel have an earful when they can't solve the problem and don't do a good job, to just call them up and abuse them is sick!

[Lazamataz]

A: I made an Indian woman cry and promise to quit her job in 60 seconds. You can do it too! Usually, I limit the calls to 60 seconds anyway, so I can call back and really hammer them. I've been doing this about 20 minutes a day. It's great fun!

I have a brand-new hobby!

[withteeth]

"mincing faggots"? What's that got to do with the subject? Creep.

[JustAnAmerican]

Given the source of this piece, I would be more apt to believe it's an orchestrated ploy to get sympathy for outsourcing. If and when I do get an "outsourced call center", I insist on speaking to an American, If they refuse then I move my business elsewhere after writing the company to express my disgust with their Anti-American worker attitude.

I refuse to spend an hour or more on a call that should have taken no more then 10 minutes had the tech spoke American.

[Gorzaloon]

It is much more satifying to make the mincing faggot at the ticket counter cry when he tells you a fairy tale about when your plane will actually be ready.

Besides, we all know exactly when the plane will (Have the tire changed, have the fuel flow sensor changed, etc.etc..)

The plane will be ready as soon as you see the standby passengers fill up the waiting areas. Every time.

[Recovering_Democrat]

I think behaviour like this is pathetic. Let the people do their jobs..

[SaltyJoe]

Agreed. We already have plenty of enemies in the world who hate us out of jealousy or for no reason at all. We don't need to give a very large nation a reason to hate us.

Besides, such crank callers can have their numbers traced. We're talking about services provided by a communications industry. If crank calling becomes a problem, the electronics wizards can easily install counter-crank technology and tracing methods to prosecute those who harass.

[Quix]

Well said.

Now, back to sleep.

[Clemenza]

For someone who named himself after Brian Eno, you should talk about "mincing faggots."

You are correct, however, in that the airlines tend to employ a large number of "friends of Dorothy."

That being said, NOBODY deserves to be the target of harassment. It must REALLY MAKE THESE POPULIST IDIOTS PROUD to make a girl cry thousands of miles away.