How do you feel when you call customer service and end up talking to someone in a foreign country?

[Maddy McCall]

I feel conflicted about it.

Part of me KNOWS that I am not a xenophobe, but I know before the customer service rep even comes on line that I won't be able to understand her/him, and he won't be able to understand me.

I know that the call will end in great frustration....

I have AT&T home phone and internet service. Every time I call about a problem, I end up talking to someone in India who seems to know little about dealing with my problem, and who sounds as if he's reading off a list of instructions. Sometimes I think that he or she assumes that I'm technologically illiterate, so I end up for an hour repeating, "I've already done that." "I've already done that, too." "I did that before I called." Then, when I feel that I'm about to unleash a tirade, I ask to be transferred to the North American customer service center to speak to a person for whom English is their first language.

I'm not xenophobic...I'm not afraid of others who aren't like me. But I become very frustrated when dealing with a problem on the phone with someone who has difficulty understanding me.

And then there's the resentment that I feel, that American jobs have been shipped overseas so that big corporations can reap huge profits.

How do you handle this? What are your feelings about this, when you have to deal with customer service reps overseas.

[skipos]

1. I don't like seeing American jobs go overseas

and I don't like the communications problem BUT
I don't blame the person I am talking to, I blame the company.

[JerseygirlCT]

2. Being frustrated by poor communication and poor customer service

does not make you a xenophobe, IMO.

AT&T is not providing adequate service. I'm sure the person on the other end of the line is frustrated as well. But as the customer, your needs ought to be paramount. And we know they are not.

I've had people who speak English very well indeed, but the phone lines used to connect us are so horrid that we still cannot communicate. (You know those seconds long delays and the like?)

And the assumption that you're an idiot, and the not listening... doesn't matter what language you're speaking in, those make me furious!

[tabasco]

3. I ask them where they are located.

I tell them I would like to visit their beautiful country someday.

I try to be a good ambassador and show them not all Americans are assholes.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[uppityperson]

41. That's not nice. I don't think Tandalayo_Scheisskopf is an asshole.

or did you mean Starbucks Anarchist? Not sure.

[Rene]

47. the invention of the VRU has caused the war on American middle class jobs.

push button #1 and you're talking to someone in India who has taken our jobs....push button #2 and you're talking to someone in the Phillippines... and worst of all corporate managment forced us to train those in other countries...and document those 'scripts' they follow...or we didn't get our severance pay at the end of our nice technical careers. now we can go to work for walmart or mcd's. or work in one of the other businesses here that are now owned by people from India and Pakistan. Will Americans ever own a small Mom and Pop stores again???? I doubt it. Even our foreclosed homes are being bought by foreigners.

[rebel with a cause]

51. we recently had the same problem with Verizon.

Our internet was off for most of the day. I called their service department in the evening and although we could barely understand what they were saying, they finally told us the problem was ours and we needed a new modem. By that time it was getting a little late to make the trip for the part. The next day the internet was still off and recalling, we found out that the service was out in the area close to us. We recalled the service department. Again, barely able to get them to understand us and for us to understand them, they told us that we were not in that area and we needed a new modem. We went and bought the modem, but didn't put it on when we got home because the internet was on. The next morning the internet was again off. I called the service again but this time I demanded to speak with someone in the states. They said they connected me and I asked about whether the service was out in our area. They said that it was not. I prepared to wait for my daughter to come home from work so she would change to the new modem. Guess what!! Two hours later I received a call telling me that the service was indeed out in our area, but it was not reconnected. Another three hours our internet came back and it has remained back on for over a month now. Luckily, we were able to return the modem we had purchased.

I do not have a problem with accents, or people with accents. In fact I love accents. But when I call someone on business I want them to be able to communicate with me and for me to be able to communicate with them. I want them to know what I am asking them and I want them to be able to answer my questions. Verizon's telephone service department is in our area, so why not the internet. I lost my temper, and although I hate to admit it, I was less than nice at the end of my dealings with them. I made a complaint with the company about the service and told them that I did not appreciate the fact that I had to deal with India about a problem that was in the middle of this country. Especially when they had no idea of what was happening here.

[CTDem24]

100. I'm the same. I just want my problem fixed.

[Firespirit]

133. I notice where you are located

There is a serious problem with AT&T DSL here in the sticks. With me, it is triggered by thunder within 30-40 miles. A small storm brews up 30 miles away, forget broadband. Oddly, it does not affect the dial-up connection or the phone, just the higher frequencies used for DSL. They try to say it's YOUR lines on YOUR property, that they are exposed to water, but I've spoken with neighbors and it is definitely a community-wide problem, not at all related to rain, but to electrical charge in the surrounding area. In the summer, this apparently means that you can forget having Internet service a third of the time.

If this is the same type of problem you are having, good luck getting AT&T to do anything about it. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to even provide broadband for rural users, let alone offer decent service. I'm afraid a class action lawsuit may become necessary to get them to fix their lines.

[noamnety]

4. I don't have thoughts about it one way or another.

But I've lived places where I was the one with an accent, and others had to adjust.

If you've always been the one from the dominant culture, never the one struggling to be understood in someone else's culture, it's probably easier to view a language barrier that exists equally between two people as being that Other person's fault.

Whenever I read these threads, I'm grateful that I've lived abroad, and that I've lived in communities in the US where English wasn't everyone's first language. I think it builds understanding and empathy.

[Inspired]

5. I admit to being very annoyed when this happens.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. I'm happy my cousin finally got a job.

;)

[Maddy McCall]

15. See...I was hesitant to post this...

because of good people like you and Lioness.

But if your cousin's the one I'm talking to on AT&T, could you tell him to try a little harder when Maddy calls?

:D

[Starbucks Anarchist]

20. I don't take offense to it.

Sometimes, even *I* don't understand them. :rofl:

[Maddy McCall]

27. Whew...

I'm glad you aren't mad at me.

:hug:

[Sanctified]

43. wrong reply. N?T

[Liberal Veteran]

7. I feel like the company cheaped-out on the CS department and puts profit above customer satisfaction

I used to work in a call center providing computer support for Microsoft. Obviously MS isn't barely scraping by and most of the people I worked with were making a livable, but hardly great wage and we took our queue on from a 20% customer satisfaction rate and brought it to a near 90% rate (which is VERY good in the industry).

But they decided they could pay some folks in India 2-3 dollars an hour and save a ton of money, so they pulled our contract.

I spent the last week at that job helping the transition and I shuddered at how frustrating it would be to have to rely on the new group for support.

[DFW]

8. If they can help and speak fluent English, fine

I don't care if they're at the South Pole. But if all they can do is read off a list
and in such heavily accented English that I can't understand them, then I don't care
if they're in Sioux City: they have no business doing customer service for an American firm.

[Jazzgirl]

9. Interesting....I have AT&T phone, cell, TV and haven't talked

to anyone overseas in a while. It seems like the last 2-3 months when I call I get someone in the US. It has been very refreshing because before that it was the same thing you experienced. I do believe they are moving a lot of their support back to the US.

[jobycom]

10. I feel better than when I get some redneck from deepwoods Mississippi.

"So whats dat dere problem you got? Broken computer? I had a computer once. Got rid of the darned thing. You should just plant flowers in and go to church instead of talking to crazy people on them intranets. Well, if you insist, I'll help you as much as I can. I'm pretty good at helping people. My neighbor had this pickup what wouldn't crank... awhight, don't get mean. You sound like yor from New York. Nuthin' at all wrong with that, I had a friend who knew someone who went up there once. Said all y'all Yankees was meaner than... Awhight, awhight, yeah, we can get back to the problem at hand. So watcha got? Yeah, that's what they sounds like when the water pump starts to go out... I meant the hard drive, what did I say? Well, here's what you do. First, put down the beer... Well, I just figured you did, I never heard a nobody what didn't have a beer in their hand at 10:30 in the mornin'... Well no wonder you's so high strung. Okay, now, pick up a hammer..."

:hide:

[Maddy McCall]

13. Don't make me spank you.

:grr:

:rofl:

[jobycom]

23. Well, you did say a foreign country.

[RB TexLa]

11. A person is a person, no reason to care where the live.

[Deja Q]

138. True, but how about quality of work or dedication? Or do facts like those bother you?

Forgive me, but your one-liner empty posts do not add to your cause, whatever that may be. :7

[Lyric]

14. It pisses me off and makes me feel like

the company doesn't care enough about my satisfaction to bother allowing me to speak with someone who understands me, and who I can understand.

I also hate "scripts." I used to work in a call center, so I've been on the other end, and I deviated from the "script" quite often. To do otherwise just seemed disrespectful, especially if it was obvious that the person I was talking to was having trouble understanding the question. (I was a Zogby polling rep.)

[donco6]

16. I just did this on Saturday.

Called Dish Network because my receiver wasn't receiving the channels it was supposed to get. Called D/N - ran through some basic tests - no dice. Got connected to a young lady in India who spoke excellent English. She reset the signal and the TV started working again. No problems. Done in 5 minutes.

I don't blame her for what our country now allows wrt shipping jobs overseas.

[Maddy McCall]

21. I'm not blaming the person in India....I blame the corporations....

By the way, you probably can reset your signal online. You can with Directv.

[MichiganVote]

17. Takes too long, hard to understand (India mostly) and connections drop

[thecrow]

18. Recently when I was in Wales my hostess needed a number

for the pub down the street....so she called information.
She was having the hardest time connecting and then relating the issue to the person who answered. Why? She was calling the Phillipines, of course.

I am not xenophobic, but when I make a call to customer service, I want to talk to somebody who 1. understands me and 2. whom I can understand.
I have wasted so much time on the phone with Comcast, EA Games, my credit cards (shudder),
etc. Then I have to worry about all the information I just gave these people. Are there laws that protect my information in their country?
Whatever happened to companies wanting their customers to be HAPPY?

[MadMaddie]

19. Sorry, I can't be nice in my answer...It pisses me the hell off!

Because I know that they are reading from a script and if the issue is not in their scripts then they can't help you. So you end up spending a fucking hour or more on the phone to discover you would be better off researching on your own, asking fellow DU members if they have had the problem or just waiting to see if you get lucky and get an American.

Just sayin...we have plenty of Americans that can do the job.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

22. I have dealt with AT&T HS Intenet Customer Service.

First off, they cannot speak english. Now, that I understand, because Indian dialects are their native tongue. But honestly, when you are providing phone support to english speaking people who need cogent answers, then something is broken.

Next, they suck. Really, from a technical viewpoint, they could not find their ass with both hands, a flashlight and a GPS. They had a friend of mine on the phone for an hour and a half, fixed nothing, fucked up much and left her hanging. She called me and I had her online in 15 minutes. And all of their "fixes" out of there.

Finally, their network sucks. They are still using client-based PPPoE and a network bridge, not far better network interface hardware and DHCP and a hardware firewall.Their scheme is ancient and discredited technology and is discredited because it is known to suck.

Ultimately, for high-speed internet, try another provider. Two thumbs down.

[Maddy McCall]

24. Thank god...someone else who's dealt with it with AT&T.

They TRIED to do to me what they did to your friend. Wanted me to go into my registry and make changes...I said, "Uh, NO. Transfer me now."

Here's the thing with my internet...I'd love to have another provider...but I live in the boonies, and the only provider that provides internet out here is AT&T, unless I want to do satellite internet.

I really wish I could get cable out here, but I can't.

So, can I have your phone number for the next time I have problems? :P

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

28. Go into the registry??!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh, that's rich. That's a good one. Registry(sniff).

If during a customer service phone call, someone tells you to open regedit, immediately demand to speak to a supervisor or ask for a Level 2 escalation. Escalation *should* get you to a native english speaker.

Next: What is the name of the box that AT&T sent you to hool your computer into?

[krispos42]

78. You might want to try Sprint Wireless Broadband

It piggybacks on the Spring/Nextel cell phone network. I have it and it works everywhere I've tried it. I have a modem smaller than a cell phone that plugs into any USB port. Downloads are typically in the 120kbyte/sec range, but I've seen a fair bit higher. And it's a very rock-solid connection. I've had very few problems with it, and they never lasted more than a few minutes.


Background story: my aunt lives in rural Illinois. Her only option (so she thought) for high-speed internet was a satellite dish, so she was using dial-up.

A little over a year ago, my family converged on her house for a little get-together. My brother's girlfriend was using her work laptop with either Sprint or Verizon wireless broadband, I forget which. But my aunt has pair of cell phone towers less than a quarter-mile from her house!

When I moved north of the Cities a few months later, I opted for Sprint Wireless Broadband instead of traditional cable internet. I figured "Hey, it doesn't cost much more and it'll work anywhere". So I got it.

A month ago I was in Illinois again, and this time I brought my SWB modem and got her desktop online. She was so impressed with the speed she tried to sign up for it right there!

And I finally got SP2 and MSIE7 installed on her computer... :-)

I pay about $60 a month.

[iamjoy]

25. I Feel The Same Way

Although, for many from India, English is their first language. However, their dialect and accent make it very hard to understand them.

As for them reading off a list of instructions, you get that here too (if you ever speak to some one from the US first). This is their standard list of how to handle these calls - for the lowest common denominator. You find it more frustrating from a person overseas because of the language and culture difference.

I think most of us share these feelings, although xenophobia (which implies contempt and fear rather than discomfort and frustration) is too strong a word. But there's no point in denying that most of us have a mild form of it. Otherwise, we'd be glad the people overseas are getting jobs rather than upset about Americans losing theirs. We'd embrace the different accent and speaking style and look at it as nice variety to the blandness we hear everyday.

I have to deal with people from India as part of my work and I share the frustration of communication and cultural challenges. I've had to train them to do certain aspects of my job. So, I've also had the fear that I am training my replacement.

I remind myself that they are probably just as frustrated by my accent as I am by theirs. I remind myself that there is still a lot of poverty in India - worse than here and these people are just looking to better themselves. I look at the positives - they have excellent technical skills and a willingness to please.

And I bitch with my stateside co-workers as appropriate.

[RazzleCat]

34. attn Maddy

I to suffered the on one day off the next with an ATT DSL. I did get it resolved, but it was not easy. In my case my DSL was being turned off at the pole, for a different customer, then I would get turned back on, and off they would go off and call for repair, and so on and so on. I don't know if they ever would have figured it out but one day I was at home when the pole worker was out their, I asked he what the problem was, he said the lines were wrong at the pole box, placed them back DSL ran great. Two days later no DSL, get another pole worker out, he to said the lines were messed up on the pole box, moved them DSL ran great. I figured it out, two different teams from ATT one team was setting up a different customer, up the pole they go, off line goes my DSL, I call the "repair" crew comes out, up they go, and off goes someone else's DSL/Land Line/TV. I cornered a repair guy, made him call his supervisor, made that supervisor come out to my house, pulled up my "repair" record and said, now compare this to your records and get one of us off that pole. He just looked at me, and I just looked at him and commented that you should have figured this out, you got guys out here every day going up and down the same pole, one crew comes out, pulls out a line and plugs in the new one, next day it's reversed.

[Maddy McCall]

36. THANKS!

This has been ongoing for MONTHS. I have copy/pasted your response so that I can have it handy when I call tomorrow.

THANK YOU.

[goclark]

26. Now they have more English speakers in other countries

talking to us.

Trying to trick us.

Here is a clue -- this really happened to me!

I was calling one of the 3 companies that handle Credit Security.

These people have every ounce of your Credit information.
She asked for my SS # , I told her I was not going to give it to her.
I asked her what her name was...

"Honey"

I had them on the speaker phone and my friend was sitting there with me. My friend shook her head and whispered.... I talked to "Sugar" from another company yesterday.

My friend whispered, "Ask to speak to her Supervisor."

Answer: She is not here

After telling her that I would wait, the "Supervisor" came on the line.

"Supervisor" --- Hello

Me: Hello, What is your name and Where are you located.

Answer (I swear on a stack of Bibles) My name is Wednesday and we are located in the North

Me: North of What City/ State or Country?

Answer: We are not allowed to give out that information

At that I gave them a piece of my goclark mind and told them that I was not going to give them any of my information because they already knew it!

I told them that I was reporting them to the Attorney General's Office of the State of California and that they better refund my money for the " 3 Month Trial" that I never signed up for!

All of a sudden, the Supervisor said that I would get my money if I wanted it.
I got it.

Realize that everyone that is working for any of these countries knows you SS # and your Mother Maiden name better than you do. It is a joke that any of the information is secure.

None of it!
Not even with these companies.

[Breeze54]

29. I feel angry that they're doing the job I used to do here!!

[Pavulon]

30. Depends on if they are idiots.

idiocy on any continent is a bad thing.

[madrchsod]

32. my cell phone company uses an indian call center

i called for a number and the poor guy had no clue on the name "mendota,illinois". he tried his best and apologized over and over but eventually we finally connected on the cities name. no use to get made at him because i`m sure he was timed and will get a reprimand for taking to long.

[sentelle]

88. i work in a call center here in the US

Note: I am not on the phones. All the same, the people answering the phones here will likely be drug-screened and background checked for a criminal record. This does not mean that they are smart. We do the checks because our vendors trust us with customer info. Stuff you don't want floating around the internet.

I for one could not identify Mendoka on a map, and I've been through college, twice.

It does make me worry when my call is answered overseas. Do they understand the importance of safeguarding my personal information.

Please note: I am not saying what company I work for, nor who they represent, because of contractual obligation.

[madrchsod]

134. my daughter worked the phones for about 6 months

to say the least she was amused and abused. i think it was a good experience for her. now she can handle rude people where she works now.

i share your concerns on the personal information...

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

37. Whatever your anger issues are, I doubt you can get them resolved...

by calling someone in India.

Maybe in-house treatment might benefit you?

[ikojo]

38. I hate that relatively good paying

jobs are now done elsewhere. I think that if all of this outsourcing is so good for all concerned why are the Indian customer service reps forced to lie and say their names are "John", "Pat" "Rob" or some such name?

[Maddy McCall]

40. Yes....

that's another thing that bothers me...the fake "American" names.

I'd rather talk to "Sanjay" than "Billy Joe."

[Ian David]

39. This is part of the Republican plan.

Eventually, PNAC wants to go to war with India, Pakistan, all the places our Customer Service is outsourced to.

They want us to hate the people on the other end of the phone, so that we will have an easier time killing them when the time comes.

We're going to go to war, and drop bombs on Bangalore, painted with phrases like, "Providing you with excellent customer service."

[tpsbmam]

42. With my cable company (Charter), I get the same crappy tech "help" from Americans....

I tend to agree with you and have had my share of infuriatingly useless calls to tech support that's been outsourced to foreign countries and it's especially frustrating when it's hard to understand each other. But I'm gotten equally crappy tech support from American tech support people, who are also typically reading off of scripts and don't really know what they're doing. And I do the same thing with them.....I tell them what I've already done. Waste of my time -- they don't fucking listen.

Try what I did. I wrote a 4 page type-written letter to the Charter CEO, COO & board chair. Their service is ABYSMAL and their tech support & customer service is worse. I outlined my experiences with the company. I also provided a few separate sheets of samples of similar complaints I pulled off of websites. Most importantly, I sent copies of everything to the local government officials responsible for awarding the cable contracts. I got a call from the area Charter manager the next day (sent the government stuff via email). I still have to deal with too many incompetents at Charter (and the occasional rare gem) but I do have another outlet when there's a problem and can call the manager to deal with it.

I shouldn't have to do any of the above, but what the hell, it's too often the way the world works these day.

[Sanctified]

44. When I speak with a woman it reminds me of the alternative.

Which is she could be selling herself for sex instead of making a livable wage in her country. I really get sad when I meet people who honestly believe that American jobs are more important than people trying to make a living in 3rd world countries.

[Breeze54]

52. So out of work US tech support workers should just turn to prostitution here?

Why do you hate America and it's workers? :shrug:

[noamnety]

57. that's quite a leap.

Treating other people with the SAME concern that we treat people in this country is not "hating" anyone.

There's nothing hateful in being decent to a working class person no matter what their nationality is, or in understanding why they might not want to be a prostitute.

I have a major problem with the attitude that we'd rather have those brown foreign women work as prostitutes than a good American.

I don't know the class or situation of the people on the other end of the phone when I call tech support. It's good to keep it in perspective. I hate thinking how spoiled we sound when we're pissed off cause they used a checklist, when the person on the other end might be dealing with some chronic illness that one of our companies caused, or dealing with a sick child, or worse.

The fact is, I believe US corporations and policies have probably done a hell of a lot more damage to India than their tech support is doing to us.

[Breeze54]

60. I need a job. I'm an out of work tech. I'm pissed off!

What that other person was proposing that unemployed Americans should just stop whining
and that my former job and my unemployment is a good thing is baloney! No, I won't stop
being angry about jobs being outsourced!! :grr: There's other ways to solve these issue's
and India isn't sharing the wealth of these outsourced jobs in their country at all and
they treat the poor in their country like shit. Look it up!

[noamnety]

65. I understand being angry about being out of work.

but like you said, people there are hurting as much as we are.

"India isn't sharing the wealth of these outsourced jobs in their country at all and they treat the poor in their country like shit."

Kind of like the US in some ways, isn't it?

Please don't ask us to prefer that Those women become prostitutes, or that Those people go hungry. You can understand why that's offensive, right?

[Breeze54]

67. I didn't say I prefer it... so don't put words in my mouth!

Re-read it and learn what tongue & cheek is. His example was ludicrous! So he got a ludicrous reply.

[noamnety]

69. I didn't see his example as ludicrous.

But if yours wasn't serious, I'm glad I misinterpreted it.

(There are enough people - even on DU - that have openly said they'd rather have a foreigner starve to death than an American that it gets hard to tell the jokes from the racists sometimes.)

[Breeze54]

72. I don't want to starve and I don't want to see others starve but

sending millions of American jobs out of the country is just shifting the place where the poor will be located. India needs to do MORE for it's serfdom population. And the people there aren't making much money doing those jobs either and the only good news I've heard in all this outsourcing crap is that some companies are discovering that it just isn't worth it and are bringing some of those jobs back here because it wasn't as cost effective as they had been led to believe and was actually costing more and not just in money. And if life is so great in India, then why are they all moving here?

[noamnety]

73. um.

"if life is so great in India, then why are they all moving here"

is that part tongue-in-cheek too? What is that?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

140. Yes, we're an invading army.

:eyes:

[Sanctified]

68. My first Tech Job was with HP doing support for their Pavilion Line of PC's.

My good paying job was outsourced to India and I did not have an issue with it because the people in India have just as much right to making money as you or I. And your comment on the poor in India well it applies to the US too, look at how we treat our poor and then point the finger at India.

[Romulox]

84. Caring about Americans is RACIST!1!!1!!!!!11!

Furthermore, it is a mere coincidence that someone named after hard right economist Milton Friedman is advocating for outsourcing here on DU!

You see, he doesn't support the interests of corporations over people because he's a greedy rightwinger--oh no! He supports the interests of corporations over people because he cares too much! :puke:

[noamnety]

89. You do realize those folks in India

are also people, right?

The poster wasn't advocating FOR outsourcing or FOR corporations. Nor was he saying caring about Americans is racist. Only if you hold them in higher regard then foreigners, then it's racist, by definition.

You have a lot of logic problems in your post.

[Romulox]

95. It is obvious to me that you don't know who MILTON FRIEDMAN is.

Milton Friedman is the spiritual leader of the hard-right laissez faire movement. His lack of concern for US workers is not motivated for concern for the third world's poor, by any stretch of the imagination.

"The poster wasn't advocating FOR outsourcing or FOR corporations. Nor was he saying caring about Americans is racist. Only if you hold them in higher regard then foreigners, then it's racist, by definition.

You have a lot of logic problems in your post."

Well, at least I haven't confused nationality with race!

[pampango]

103. So one can be a nationalist without being a racist. That seems fair

enough to me.

One problem is that there are many racists, particularly on the right, who mask their racism as nationalism. They can urge that the US keep Hispanic, Asian, and African products and immigrants out of the country while masking this as mere nationalism rather than anything with racial overtones.

They are pretty good at making it more difficult to discern the true motivations of those oppose the entry of brown and black immigrants and products and services into the US. Most RW'ers who support the wall on our border with Mexico are probably not motivated by a desire to keep farms and companies form exploiting illegal immigrants and making more money. It is not too hard to figure why they support it.

At the same time many true "nationalists" support building of the wall to limit what they see as the damage done to American workers by illegal immigration. It is not too hard to imagine that quite a few RW racists hide behind the concept of "nationalism", since they know they are more likely to achieve their goals that way.

[Romulox]

110. You forgot one epithet: CORPORATIST

Your post has nothing whatever to do with the topic in the OP, by the by...

[pampango]

125. You're right that a large (and rich) part of the RW is corporatist.

Much of the RW base, though, is, IMHO, not so much corporatist as they are racist.

The corporatist elite of the RW is, of course, opposed to the wall on our Mexican border, as it stands in the way of increased profits. (Profits trump racism in this scenario.) But the RW base wholeheartedly supports the wall in spite of what farmers and corporations want.

It was the RW base that I was referring to with regard to those who use nationalist rhetoric to mask racist beliefs.

[noamnety]

104. Generally I find racism is at the root of this.

Otherwise we'd all be valued the same.

Fact is, on DU just as elsewhere, some people value others more because they share certain characteristics. "I would save a fellow American over a foreigner" quickly becomes "I would save a fellow American who is white" over "I would save a fellow American who is Latino and doesn't speak perfect English" and so on.

If you want to resent that user because of his user name, go for it. But the fact is, there was nothing written in that post that should have triggered your reaction. There was a gap in logic between what was said, and what you seem to think was said.

I just can't get all uppity about tech support having a foreign accent, because I'm very aware there's a good chance the equipment I need tech support for was made from the exploitation of others in developing countries.

Sometimes Americans have this attitude that we, as Americans, somehow DESERVE to own all jobs in the world. Except the shitty ones, which involve stripping small countries of resources - we want other people to have those so we can benefit from them. I'm not following why we have a god-given right to all white collar jobs in this country.

I'd rather put more energy into trying to buy local products, and especially local food, which helps the environment in a number of ways, rather than worrying about whether a person on the other end of a phone is local - the impact of that is much less. I think it's just jealousy and racism, like I said, a sort of attitude that life is unjust if Americans aren't at the top of the heap where they belong.

[Romulox]

108. Bottom line: Your ignorance of basic economics is not a legitimate basis to call people names

"If you want to resent that user because of his user name, go for it. But the fact is, there was nothing written in that post that should have triggered your reaction. There was a gap in logic between what was said, and what you seem to think was said."

Your ignorance of the context of Mr. Friedman's post is not a good excuse to insinuate that anyone who opposes corporatism is a bigot. Quit digging that hole.

[noamnety]

111. Did I call someone names?

I don't think so.

I pointed out flaws in logic and racism embedded in specific ideas.

[Romulox]

112. You don't have the courage to "call" people names. You insinuate a good deal, though.

"I pointed out flaws in logic and racism embedded in specific ideas."

LOL. You are still stumbling over your economic illiteracy and the fact that you have difficulty separating the concept of race from that of nationality.

[noamnety]

115. Well, that's the argument Lou Dobbs uses.

It's not one I find to be sincere on his part. Do you?

[Romulox]

117. And yours is the same one that Wal Mart and Monsanto uses.

I actually believe you are sincere, just poorly informed. By the way, I find it hilarious that you describe yourself as an "anti-capitalist" in your profile, but are here shilling for big-business with this "it's racist to care about your neighbors!" cant! :rofl:

[noamnety]

121. I'm hardly "shilling for big business"

This is funny, because I think the capitalists here are "shilling for big business" as long as they keep it in the US.

Me, I see the larger problem as the gap between the highest paid salary in a company and the lowest paid salary, no matter which country it happens in.

If Indian employees were paid as much as American employees, would you be okay with them having the same access to jobs that you or I have?

(and you can knock off the "you don't care about your neighbors/you don't care about Americans" line, it's tired mocking of something that you imagined in your own head and attributed to me for some reason. Please read and comprehend: I don't put one group of people above another. Sorry. Either you don't either, or you do.)

[Sanctified]

129. Milton is my first name and my last name starts with F.

So basically because I give 2 shits about the people of the world I care about corporate interests? Guess what, I hate seeing children and women having to sell their bodies so they can eat, you may be ok with that if it keeps Americans working but I am not.

[Bettie]

93. So, we should feel good about jobs being outsourced?

My brother, who had to write training so that his job could go to someone in India who will make 1/3 of what he made should feel happy that his move into unemployment and poverty will help someone else?

He doesn't hate the person taking is job, what he hates is that the company is still reaping huge profits while he tries to find a job that can allow him to support his family. Unfortunately, more and more good or decent paying jobs are going overseas.

Have you ever lost a job to outsourcing? Been unable to find another one? Is it better for my brother and his two children to become homeless (once their savings are gone) so that a person in India or the Phillipe ans can have a good job?

Sorry if I sound harsh, but really, I can't see where we're supposed to care MORE about the residents of other countries than people who work here.

[lukasahero]

94. I had to teach my job to someone when it was outsourced to

West Virginia. Should I feel better about that because at least it went to a good 'Merican? (In case it's needed, that "good 'Merican" bit? = :sarcasm: )

I work in IT and haven't been out of work in over 5 years since I taught that West Virginian my job and was laid off. Best thing that ever happened to me actually - I've more than doubled my salary since that layoff.

[Bettie]

97. No, you aren't required to feel good about that...

My point is that no one should be "forced" to feel happy about losing their job and the idea that somehow, people in foreign countries are more worthy than people living here is just foolish.

Training someone to take over the job you are being fired from is humiliating....you're good enough to train them, but not good enough to keep the job.

You are fortunate that you were able to find a new and better job.

Frankly, not everyone is so fortunate.

Why is it racist to want to see corporations that are making huge amounts of money here (and avoiding their taxes and generally screwing anyone they can at any turn they can manage) at least provide jobs for people in the country where they do the majority of their business?

I guess I'm just a terrible person.

[Romulox]

98. Not caring about your neighbors is "progressive", don't you see?

Don't make me insinuate you are a racist for caring about American workers a second time! :sarcasm:

[Bettie]

102. And the thing is, I DO care about people in other countries

But I don't believe that they are MORE entitled to jobs than workers here.

I really do believe that there are ways for other countries to better the situations of their own citizens...and it sucks for the workers in India (or wherever) when a call center moves there and then six months later leaves to move either somewhere even cheaper or back to the States. That's not fair either.

But people HERE deserve to have jobs too. Yes, there are many idiots here, but then, there are idiots everywhere. There are lazy people here and everywhere else...frankly, no nation has the corner on the less stellar aspects of the human experience, just as no nation has only the more admirable qualities of humanity in their citizenry.

We're all ultimately just people, doing the best we can to live our lives and take care of ourselves and our families.

The same can't be said for the corporate decision makers, who live insulated from the realities of day to day living. To take 200 jobs from a community (an example, not a statistic) means nothing to them because it registers only as a net profit on the bottom line.

For every job that is moved overseas, a family here suffers, and yet, somehow, some people think it is OK to have zero empathy for them.

I just don't get it.

I guess I really am a racist. ;)

[noamnety]

106. I find your words insincere and obfuscating.

If you think Americans and Indians should have EQUAL rights to have a decent job, you aren't a racist.

If you think the belief that Americans and Indians should have EQUAL rights to have a decent job equates to "zero empathy" for anyone, you might be guilty of a logical fallacy.

If you think Americans and Indians should ideally both have decent jobs, but you kinda think Americans have more of a right, well, I have a hard time finding a nonracist justification for that.

[Bettie]

107. Fine, I'm a racist.

I think that if a corporation is making money by selling a service to consumers in a particular country, they should employ people from that country if at all possible. So, that makes me a racist.

I'm also a racist because I don't think that it is good for communities to have decent jobs taken from there and replaced with....um, nothing.

I never said that Americans have MORE of a right to jobs.

If you choose to read my posts that way, fine, do it.

However, yours can easily be interpreted as meaning that people in India (or wherever) have more right than people here to have a job. It cuts both ways. So, American, because they are evil by nature, don't deserve to have jobs. Got it.

So, fine, I'm a racist for wanting people here to have jobs while you are the best, nicest, most progressive person in the world for thinking that people here have LESS of a right to decent jobs.

So, I should really reorient my thinking to believe that corporations move jobs for purely philanthropic reasons, to ensure that greedy american workers don't suck up all the employment opportunities in the world.

Got it. I'm a racist and probably the most evil person in the world.

[Romulox]

109. You are too much. If you don't agree with me, you're a RACIST!!1!1!!!!11!

You don't even know the basics of what you're talking about, and rather than educating yourself, you just fling about hateful insinuations.

How about this: if you don't care about Americans (some of whom are, gasp of Indian extraction!) then perhaps it is you who are the racist? Hmmm? :silly:

[noamnety]

114. Perhaps you'd like to clarify why you think I "don't care about Americans".

I'm sorry if you believe caring about other people negates the ability to care about Americans.

That's a sad state of mind if it's what you honestly believe.

[Romulox]

118. Oh, I didn't say you didn't care about Americans!

Oh no! I just exposed the far-right, corporatist shill logic inherent in your posts! :hi:

[noamnety]

122. I think I'm going to bow out.

Like arguing with my cat over whether it's raining at the back door, too.

[Romulox]

123. LOL. You've called a couple people racists and learned absolutely nothing. You deserve a rest!

:rofl:

[lumberjack_jeff]

79. I get confused. I thought stereotypes were bad. n/t

[Romulox]

83. LOL. A "progressive" named after MILTON FRIEDMAN, huh?

I see that the average poster here on Center/Right Underground doesn't even get the joke! :rofl: :hi:

[lukasahero]

92. One who's been here as long as you and has donated

Maybe you should put your money where your mouth is?

[Romulox]

96. So it's OK to advocate for HARD RIGHT economics on DU, so long as you share the ill gotten gains?

:puke: :puke: :puke:

"Maybe you should put your money where your mouth is?"

Like in supporting causes that are not championed by Ronald Reagan and Augusto Pinochet's favorite economist, you mean? :silly:

[Sanctified]

132. How is opposing women having to sell their bodies HARD RIGHT economics? n/t

[Sanctified]

130. My first name is Milton and my last name begins with an F.

And Milton Friedman would not have cared about women and children who have to prostitute themselves since he would have considered it part of the benefit of a free market.

People in the US need to get over the idea that they are more deserving or superior to everyone else in the world, if some guy in the US has to do without getting a new 42" plasma every year so some girl does not have to sell her body for food I am ok with that.

[noamnety]

137. NO!

You are hardly the expert on what your username refers to! ;)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

139. His name *actually is* Milton F (something), dumbass.

[Romulox]

45. Americans by and large support outsourcing manufacturing jobs

So I enthusiastically support outsourcing IT and call-center jobs. No reason job losses should be limited to Michigan and Ohio. :hi:

[Regret My New Name]

46. Depends on a few things...

From a purely customer service stand point, then it would only bother me if it got in the way of resolving the issue... Of course that applies everywhere...

Now, as for the job issue. Well, I for sure do not blame the person on the other end of the line... They are just trying to survive and better their situation. The companies who do the outsourcing are the ones who upset me. Particularly when they shutdown shop in the US just so they can take advantage of cheap and less regulated labor in other countries... ehnn.

[Booster]

48. I hate it. Not because the person on the other end is a foreigner

but because I usually can't understand them and I'm no whiz on a computer anyway so half the time I wouldn't know what they were talking about if I could understand them. The last call was with a young girl from India whom I couldn't understand and she couldn't hear me. Out of frustration I said "I've seen pictures of the telephone lines in India and it's no wonder you can't hear me". God, I wish they would bring those jobs back.

[Enthusiast]

49. My attempts to correct a less than

optimal performing DSL resulting in dealing with foreign tech support. I got no satisfaction and my service remains substandard to this day. The guy could barely speak English.

[carlyhippy]

50. They have such a hard time understanding my southern accent

I think they get frustrated with me. I hate the holding for 30 minutes before a customer service person takes my call, accents I can deal with, elevator music in a tin can sound I cannot.

[csziggy]

53. I'm polite to the CS person - it's not THEIR fault the job was sent overseas

But if I can't understand them, I tell them that repeatedly, until they can say it so I do understand or they transfer me to a "supervisor." If enough people take up the time like that, the companies will eventually realize that the time that poor communication takes costs them more than simply keeping the CS jobs here.

[blues90]

54. at times frustrated

because I can't understand what they are saying. Mostly , because i am paying the bill to a US company who has employed someone on slave labor who will do what ever necessary to buy food. An american company who screws everyone and anyone they can, because they can. An american company who is titled a person.

[CrispyQ]

55. I've been trying to cancel my ATT DSL service & connect with Qwest.

It's been very trying with both companies! I thought I could have overlapping service, but it turns out that ATT leases the line from Qwest, so Qwest cannot connect me until I cancel my ATT service. At that point, ATT will tell Qwest to cancel the leased line & then Qwest can begin my service. It wasn't until my third call that I got a rep that understood the process & could explain to me why my Qwest DSL service has never taken effect. All three calls were answered by North American reps.

It's been three weeks since I canceled ATT & I still have service. I swear their waiting until I go into my next billing cycle so they can ream me a full months charge for a few days service. I've made three calls to ATT to try to find out what the hell is going on & those three calls have all been foreign. Not one can explain what the hell is going on -- they simply read the script. Tomorrow, if I still have service, I am going to demand a manager.

I've wanted to make this change in service since the ATT spying issue came out, but this experience is exactly what I feared would happen. It was the FISA immunity bill that motivated me to finally do something about it & now I'm wondering if it was worth it. :banghead:

I'm four weeks & six phone calls into this process & still have no resolution. The foreign reps were more difficult to understand, but ultimately it's about crappy customer service & lack of training regardless of where the reps are located, & that's the companies' fault for cutting expenses & subjecting their customers to poorly trained reps.

[notadmblnd]

56. it depends on their English, but mostly annoyed

But I also get annoyed at Americans that speak like they have a box of rocks in their mouths. I got a call from a Comcast rep just the other day, her speech was so garbled that I hung up on her.

[bamacrat]

58. Ha Ha thats funny I work for AT&T. It does bother me.

But that is odd, in my time with att I have never called customer service and talked to anyone outside america. Oh just saw the home phone internet thing, yeah I mostly deal with wireless but it does annoy me. Especially when what you are calling about may have to do with things that require geographic locations, and the pronunciation of alot of cities is horrible.

[earth mom]

59. I don't like it because it is the THEFT of American jobs by greedy corporate America.

:grr:

[BlooInBloo]

61. Nuthin I hate more den dem dam furiners!

[Romulox]

85. LOL on someone with a "UNION YES!" avatar speaking out to support outsourcing! nt

[TexasObserver]

62. Don't like it. But it's not about race, it's about jobs for Americans.

We have rules in our country that drive up the cost of labor. When we send the work elsewhere, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We are both supporting the lower living and working standards of the other country, and we're depriving Americans of work, while pricing their employers out of the market.

With the ruling capitalists, it's always about undercutting the lower levels of labor in order to effect the benefits such downward pressure elicits from the laboring classes. It's how they keep laborers cheaply paid, and living paycheck to paycheck.

[Skittles]

63. disgusted

absolutely fucking DISGUSTED and I don't care how well they speak English or now much tech know-how they possess - it disgusts me that America pimps off jobs to the lowest bidder

[spin]

64. I do my best to be polite...

it's not their fault.

However, I believe that if a company advertised that their technical support was located in the U.S. their sales would sky rocket.

They probably would be viewed as racist.

[pampango]

86. "They probably would be viewed as racist." That's an interesting observation.

My guess is that most at DU would not view it as such. While an "Americans only" hiring policy might inadvertently result in the hiring of a larger proportion of whites, since these whites would be American citizens, I doubt that DU would accuse the company of being racist.

Now if this shifting of jobs from minorities to whites occurred within the US, it would indeed be rightly attacked as a racist hiring policy. Perhaps this goes to show that nationality trumps race, at least in this regard.

[Romulox]

99. Umm, look upthread. The "you're a racist if you oppose outsourcing!" crew is out in full force. nt

[begin_within]

66. I have the same experience with AT&T.

I feel like I've talked with half of the company before I finally get to the right person who can answer my question or address my problem. They seem to have set up this maze of menus ("press 2," etc.) that you have to find your way through to get to an actual person... then several more calls until you get to the right person, and even then they give you canned answers to everything, and don't really do anything. I really miss the days when you could call the 800 number of a company, a live person would answer, listen to what your problem is, and if they couldn't take care of it, they would transfer you to someone who could. Now you have to go through all these menus and press all these numbers, and wait endlessly as they keep playing a recording of "Your call is very important to us" while they are proving exactly the opposite.

[pitohui]

70. yes i have a very heavy nonstandard accent

i have a heavy accent plus it's hard for me to understand spoken words on the phone

then put a person who is speaking english as a second, third, or fourth language on the other end of the line and let the fun begin!


how i handle is i try to find a way to communicate my issue by fax/email, i can see why this wouldn't work w/ the phone co. tho

how i've handled my phone/dsl? to be honest i've had someone close to me give up and go out there and fix it himself

otherwise i might still be waiting, in fact, i think i AM still waiting over a downed line in summer 03, not to mention same line went down in katrina

[EFerrari]

71. I have AT&T and have never had a problem that I don't have

with any tech help desk.

[Faux pas]

74. I have a totally tin ear when it comes to thick accents. The

dish satellite company I deal with has customer service reps in India and the Philippines. Not only do I have to have them repeat what they are saying a dozen times per service call, they have me repeat what I'm saying to them. Very frustrating for all concerned. When I signed up with the dsl service I have, I asked them flat out where their customer service reps were located, they promised that all calls are in the US. So far the only accents I've had to deal with have been from the Southern states.....I've got a great ear for Southern....lol.

[woolldog]

75. The foreigners working at these call centers

are more educated than most americans. They also speak better english than most americans.

I'm not a xenophobe, so I don't mind. I've never found them to be anything other than prompt, courteous, and effective.

[snooper2]

91. I love it when people pull stats out of the blue..

just so matter-of-factly :rofl:

The company I work for tried to outsource our internal IT helpdesk...That lasted about 6 months :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Greyhound]

119. Bingo!

I work for "the world's largest hardware manufacturer" and the entire company has now been outsourced. The only parts left in the US are the executive offices, an office building, a small core of primary designers, and a whole lot of lawyers.

We don't make any part of any of our products here, we don't do the customer service (all of them are outsourced now, including my former position), all of the follow up design and development, all of the practical engineering, in short, the whole company is outsourced. If/when they declare that they are out of business there are no assets left in the US to liquidate to pay off creditors and share holders.

[VOX]

76. If I get someone in Bangalore or Buenos Aires, I cut them slack. They're human stress-blotters...

And they're paid crap, something like $5,000 a year (not a typo). If you read stories about these folks, most are college-educated, and they have a keen interest in American culture and perhaps in visiting America some day. Unfortunately, the way they're treated on the phone has dimmed their perception of the U.S. They have to absorb some of the most abusive, racist, overly-frustrated, hot-headed customers on the planet.

I have found that if I can just keep cool, and engage them in a bit of chat to defuse any tension, that they relax and are extremely helpful. I inadvertently missed a payment on a credit card (a large consolidation loan at 3.9% APR), which I knew would derail the low APR. The gentleman I spoke to in India comprehended the situation entirely, promised to get everything back in order to reinstate the favorable APR, etc. And he did.

My cable TV company has its call center in Buenos Aires, and they've worked very hard to extend every kind of promotion available, and have generally kept my cable bill pretty low.

These international call centers are the reality, they're not going to go away -- so sharing a kind word and understanding the amount of pressure these people are under is the best I can do.

[ullad]

77. Language barrier

very frustrating when you can not understand them or you be on hold forever.

[lumberjack_jeff]

80. Annoyed.

I used to work tech support - a manager. I made good money.

The company I worked for now has a 50,000sf facility that is entirely empty except for the handful of people who manage the contracts with the folks in Bangalore who answer the actual calls.

And I have had it with the racist (yes racist) assholes who justify this on the basis that those who now do that work are better educated, skilled and more deserving than american workers. Some kinds of stereotypes are just fine, apparently.

I'm an american citizen and an american customer. I want an american answering my questions for the same reason that I have a bias toward american-made cars and union businesses. I'm not conflicted about it at all. No one has a greater claim to my job than I did.

[Greyhound]

81. It's not even customer service anymore, it's customer pacification

with a side of sales pitch. They honestly couldn't care less about our problems, collecting payment while providing no service is very profitable so a service outage is just another revenue stream.

[1]

82. i don't care where my help comes from. but here is the thing...

i get no help.

when i first call and i get "jagdish, but you can call me bob" and he asks me to pull the plug out of the socket for 20 seconds and plug it back in. and i tell him i already did that. and he reads off his list asking me to do it again.

*sigh*

and then i humor bob for another 10 minutes doing things i have already done knowing that is not the answer because i have been down this path before and i have already attempted all of this level 0 shit...

*fight, fight, fight*

and then i get leveled up to "steve" from texas who asks me to "pull the plug out of the socket for 20 seconds and plug it back in."


and insists i do it before we can proceed.



aaarrrggg...

[The2ndWheel]

87. Foreign country? No such thing exists

What I do is just remember that the globe is becoming the same no matter where you are, and in time, all languages will be the same language. There is no such thing as outsourcing(since you need a "here" to outsource from, and a "there" to outsource to), and even if there was, it comes with the territory of instant global communication.

[Bettie]

90. I feel frustrated too

I absolutely hate that American corporations send jobs to other countries. They reap the profits and generally don't even end up paying their taxes here so they screw us over in every way they can.

Then there's the communication/service issue. I have seldom had good or even decent service or communication from overseas call centers.

But I have to say, the big thing that annoys me (and I warn you, its petty) is when the call center personnel use "American" names..."Hello, this is Debbie!". We're not so stupid that we can't recognize an accent!

[alfredo]

101. Well, that's a job my niece won't get.

[LanternWaste]

105. When it happens...

When it happens, I think to myself how tiny the world has become. I don't really have any moral or political reservations or judgments about it one way or the other.

I guess I'm in the minority in that haven't had too many problems with ESL customer service reps.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

113. As always, it depends on the service they provide. Where it comes from is a matter of indifference.

Just like American service. Some good, some indifferent, some lousy.

I've had some interesting conversations with people in India and the Philippines. Nice people.

[Juneboarder]

116. I just recently dealt with this...

Whenever I call an 800#, I now ask the rep that answers where they are located before I give them anything, including my name. Not only do I not feel comfortable releasing my personal info to someone clear across the world, but I also do not support the outsourcing of our precious jobs.

Just last week I had to renew my gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness; and that was the biggest CF I've had to deal with in a while. The person that answered was in Panama City, Panama and said that they are not allowed to transfer to anyone in the US. I said that is ridiculous, as I know I've dealt with a rep here in my local town of Carlsbad where their corporate office is located, so don't give me that shit about nobody in the US is available. I got the rep's name and ID and she transferred me to another rep. He laughed at the thought of my desire to speak with someone in my country, so I got his info as well and called back. This time yet another rep adivsed that there is a special 800# to call for the US, which they did give to me.

It only took 30 minutes of frustration, but dammit... I'll do it every time in support of our jobs. I then followed up with a complaint email to the corporate office naming names, dates and times and exactly how I felt. If only I had saved my email, I would post it for you to read...

:patriot:

[lukasahero]

120. How do you know you're being transferred to a foreign country?

Seriously, I hired a young woman recently who has an accent. I heard a lot of comments from the people she dealt with on the phone who were happy to finally be dealing with someone in the states. I enjoyed telling them that my co-worker was sitting right next to me in America.

How is it we as "progressives" are generally supportive of the rights of Mexican/foreign workers to come here but not of the work being done in their own countries?

These conversations have to be had but DU is really not an adequate forum for them. There's too much grey, too many nuances and, for all the great things about DU, nuance isn't one of it's finer points. I applaud your efforts at trying to bring this discussion up but don't think the thread has really garnered much introspection or enlightenment.

[dysfunctional press]

124. i wouldn't know, as i've never spoken to a customer service person who wasn't in the united states..

although- i am really surprised at the number of american customer service phone reps who have indian accents...:sarcasm:

[Dorian Gray]

126. How do I handle it?

I try to be as polite as I can be on the phone with customer service. If I have difficulty understanding their accent, I will feel free to ask them to repeat until I get it, and I will be happy to do the same. I ask them to speak slowly so I can understand them, and I do the same.

It's pretty simple. (I don't think that there is anything to "handle." It may be frustrating that our jobs are being shipped overseas, but I can't blame the person on the phone who is just making a living doing what he or she was hired to do.)

[MsTryska]

127. I've got an even more confusing conundrum

I'm of Indian descent working in a tech support call center in the US. Been here since i was 5 years old. (in the US, not the call center)

my issues in no apparent order:

1. I am resentful that my jobs have gone overseas
2. I am thankful that my people are getting an economic leg up
3. Callign tech support in India irritates me, because i know the deal, and the scripts kill me. That and the determination to stick to said script. One thing about India - you're not taught to think outside the box. That's a cultural thing
4. I am equally irritated when people who call me, thinking I'm not Indian, make snide remarks about being thankful they are not speaking to some Indian in Bangalore.

I'm often torn as to whetehr I should tell them I'm Indian or to just ignore it and end the call because it's neither here nor there to the job at hand.

So yeah - I'm conflicted.

And as a sidenote - don't be jackass when i pick up your call. I'm not having it. I'l still get you fixed to the best of my ability - but there will be long hold times so that you can have a timeout. I dont need your attitude, especially when you come on presuming I don't know jack. You're calling me for help, not the other way around, and respect works both ways.

Also another note - the basic troubleshooting? it's there for a reason - you might know what that reason is, but if you have a good tech, they are alreayd mapping out where your issue is as you are giving them the basics. They know their network better than you do. I'll bet money on it.

[BreweryYardRat]

128. It's a mild annoyance.

I can usually understand them pretty well, and they've generally been able to solve my problems in a hurry.

They aren't responsible for the jobs getting shipped to them. They're just trying to feed their families. If you want to get mad, get mad at the fucking CEOs and boards of directors who shipped the jobs out in the first place.

[IndianaJones]

131. relieved that I'm probably not talking to a white person. nt.

[Ilsa]

135. I'm hopeful that it will lead to universal or socialized healthcare.

I don't like that the jobs are going overseas, but if we have american employers going over there, and foreign employers coming here, then maybe foreign employers will insist that govt cover the cost of healthcare in order for the companies to compete in the US.

[Lorien]

136. As long as they help me I'm cool with it. It's not their fault, it's the CEOs

if someone from overseas offered me a great job I sure wouldn't turn it down either!