Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Funny you would mention that, the reason they want non-Indian people is because Americans don't like talking to them when they call a call center

Our call centers have North African accents.

[kennyc]

That's only cause they don't speak French in India.

[GeoffC]

Just discovered there is an official 'hotfix' to enable Norton Internet Security 2011 toolbar to work on FF4; though why it isn't applied automatically I dinna ken .... ....

[beppe]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

just a thought; with so many genres and sub-genres, what does general fiction entail, exactly? or is it an umbrella term?

Try this:
Definition of General Fiction


General Fiction is sure to contain books that have made the Bestseller lists or books that contain some elements of the other featured genres, especially mystery and romance. Many times a book can be found in this category because it is hard to define. Perhaps it has so many of the various elements that comprise fantasy, mystery, romance or science fiction that the title stands by itself and may need to have many approaches applied to it.

or this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_fiction

I see that you are still a student because you use the word exactly in asking some information. A pro would never do that. that will be 300 dollars, please

[GeoffC]

Just had email alert ...

7.4 earthquake off Japan .....

and it's showing on my seismo trace ....

Edit : Now downgraded to 7.1....

[GeoffC]

Tsunami alert issued ....

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Funny you would mention that, the reason they want non-Indian people is because Americans don't like talking to them when they call a call center

how about this; Americans want to be able to speak to someone that they feel they have a snowball's chance in hell of understanding and vice versa. as well as not having the responses so completely stuck in a script that you may as well be beating your head against a computer

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Tsunami alert issued ....

oh my

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

how about this; Americans want to be able to speak to someone that they feel they have a snowball's chance in hell of understanding and vice versa. as well as not having the responses so completely stuck in a script that you may as well be beating your head against a computer

Not just Americans! There are several companies here in the UK that promote the fact that they have UK based call centres as a selling point.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Not just Americans! There are several companies here in the UK that promote the fact that they have UK based call centres as a selling point.

my blood pressure rises just at the THOUGHT of making some support calls anymore. I can imagine that there are quite a few things going un-repaired/tended because of that problem

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

my blood pressure rises just at the THOUGHT of making some support calls anymore. I can imagine that there are quite a few things going un-repaired/tended because of that problem

aye ....

[Mortis]

I find it amusing that people still think the world speaks English. I can't feel for people who refuse to try and understand someone who's English is not their first language. Most people who speak English as their first language, only speak one language which is sad, really. I feel ripped off not having learned a second, third or even forth language. My wife speaks 3 languages well and 2 others ok, her English is as good as any Canadian or American, better than most Malaysians to be sure, but almost everyone here speaks 3 languages. I worked with people who were learning English as their 5th, 6th even 7th language, it changed my views a lot, I started learning my first second language, but I'll never be proficient at it.

Call centers have been in India for years and I'll bet you wouldn't know it, these companies spend billions of dollars to "Americanize" the operators. Good call centers are almost seamless or so I'm told, I have never needed one, I can still read a manual.

So for anyone that is upset by having to talk to some foreigner about their products remember this. How many people do you know that would do that job for what these people are being paid. I doubt you would want the job, the average here in Malaysia is RM1500/month ($500 usd). Could you afford to live on that wage in any state, province or territory in a developed country? If you can you should write the book, you would be a millionaire! Companies like Dell and IBM (to name a few) keep their costs down, and making it affordable for you to own their products, this means you get telephone support from a 3rd world country.

If you are unhappy with this level of support, you should consider buying products that don't use out-sourced call centers, good luck finding any! I think you would be very surprised where your calls are rerouted.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

my blood pressure rises just at the THOUGHT of making some support calls anymore. I can imagine that there are quite a few things going un-repaired/tended because of that problem

Well at least I suppose you don't have to PAY to talk to an incompetent highly untrained person. In France all call centers are on paying numbers. Consumer associations managed after fighting for several years to get a ruling that the billing only starts AFTER you spend hours waiting for a human to answer, but that just makes me angry just looking at the telephone. And if you call a paying number from a mobile phone, you have to pay a surcharge to your mobile operator ON TOP of the extortion fee. I live in a great country.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Mortis

I find it amusing that people still think the world speaks English. I can't feel for people who refuse to try and understand someone who's English is not their first language. Most people who speak English as their first language, only speak one language which is sad, really. I feel ripped off not having learned a second, third or even forth language. My wife speaks 3 languages well and 2 others ok, her English is as good as any Canadian or American, better than most Malaysians to be sure, but almost everyone here speaks 3 languages. I worked with people who were learning English as their 5th, 6th even 7th language, it changed my views a lot, I started learning my first second language, but I'll never be proficient at it.

Call centers have been in India for years and I'll bet you wouldn't know it, these companies spend billions of dollars to "Americanize" the operators. Good call centers are almost seamless or so I'm told, I have never needed one, I can still read a manual.

So for anyone that is upset by having to talk to some foreigner about their products remember this. How many people do you know that would do that job for what these people are being paid. I doubt you would want the job, the average here in Malaysia is RM1500/month ($500 usd). Could you afford to live on that wage in any state, province or territory in a developed country? If you can you should write the book, you would be a millionaire! Companies like Dell and IBM (to name a few) keep their costs down, and making it affordable for you to own their products, this means you get telephone support from a 3rd world country.

If you are unhappy with this level of support, you should consider buying products that don't use out-sourced call centers, good luck finding any! I think you would be very surprised where your calls are rerouted.

I am multi-lingual, so a lot of that argument does not pertain to me.

as far as corporate cost cutting.... that is a HUGE issue in the states. I have been aware for an extremely LONG time how outsourced these jobs are. as a technician there are many times I had absolutely no choice but to call these centers. sometimes it is for something as simple as an activation code. it is no longer possible to actively avoid companies that outsource as they are in EVERYTHING! I have been outsourced for tech support for my personal telephone account, not even working on something special.

the standard "people wouldn't work for the rates that are paid..." has achieved BS level. unemployment is rampant in this country. these corporations that are making money hand over fist by catering to Americans should be employing Americans (or whatever country they are servicing). it is corporate greed that migrates these services into countries that can get away with sub-standard pay, not to mention avoiding a great deal of taxes

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Well at least I suppose you don't have to PAY to talk to an incompetent highly untrained person. In France all call centers are on paying numbers. Consumer associations managed after fighting for several years to get a ruling that the billing only starts AFTER you spend hours waiting for a human to answer, but that just makes me angry just looking at the telephone. And if you call a paying number from a mobile phone, you have to pay a surcharge to your mobile operator ON TOP of the extortion fee. I live in a great country.

there have been many technical support calls I needed to make that required that. very awkward when you are the tech in the field trying to get someone to step up to the plate to pay for it

[beppe]

this makes interesting reading. I don't know how much updated this is.
Wait I checked- This page was last modified on 10 March 2011 at 21:15.

List of call centre companies

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

I am multi-lingual, so a lot of that argument does not pertain to me.

Your being multi-lingual has nothing to do with what I was saying, I was commenting, in part, to your comment earlier:

"how about this; Americans want to be able to speak to someone that they feel they have a snowball's chance in hell of understanding and vice versa. as well as not having the responses so completely stuck in a script that you may as well be beating your head against a computer"

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

as far as corporate cost cutting.... that is a HUGE issue in the states. I have been aware for an extremely LONG time how outsourced these jobs are. as a technician there are many times I had absolutely no choice but to call these centers. sometimes it is for something as simple as an activation code. it is no longer possible to actively avoid companies that outsource as they are in EVERYTHING! I have been outsourced for tech support for my personal telephone account, not even working on something special.

One of the ways for huge "American" corporations to reduce costs is to outsource work, this is not just limited to "Call Centers" there are many other out sourced industries.

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

the standard "people wouldn't work for the rates that are paid..." has achieved BS level. unemployment is rampant in this country. these corporations that are making money hand over fist by catering to Americans should be employing Americans (or whatever country they are servicing). it is corporate greed that migrates these services into countries that can get away with sub-standard pay, not to mention avoiding a great deal of taxes

How can this be BS? The yearly salary for a call center operator is RM18000 ($6000 usd). Could you or anyone you know living in the US live on $6000 a year? I doubt it, so it is not BS, it is a cold truth, the cost of living has exceeded the possible salary this position is worth to the American companies that have this position available.

Outsourcing is not a new practice in the US, they have outsourced to Mexico, Canada and China for years. As far as the pickers in the Southern states go, they all tend to be from Mexico, why? Because they will work for the low wages, unemployment in a lot of cases can be reduced if people were willing to "Lower" their expectations a little.

Lets face it Outsourcing is only possible because of greed, on both the employers and employees side.