Support desks

[sobrique]

Don't get me wrong, I think the world is a better place for multiple different cultures.

But I really do think that when one is trying to troubleshoot a technical problem, on a fairly critical system, that you'd really rather hadn't gone wrong at all, having someone with a poor grasp of English, or just a really bad accent is not helping matters one iota.

Comments

[girl-working.livejournal.com]

Try talking to someone who can't understand you back due to a speech impediment. At least you can easily be understood immediately instead of people having to adjust themselves for your voice... :P

Meh. OK, end of bitterness... :P

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

Bitter? If you're just going to be bitter about the hand you got in life, then the world is going to seem a miserable place. That's true regardless of your circumstances. It matters not what you've got, just what you do with it.

But in much the same way as losing one of your legs in a car crash means you're not fit to be a fireman, not being able to speak clearly IMO means you really shouldn't be answering phones in a call centre.

OK, so language skills _can_ be taught, but in this particular situation, I don't think that on the job training is appropriate.

[girl-working.livejournal.com]

*lol* Hence why I'm not answering calls in a call centre... :P

Nah, I'm annoyed 'bout my speech problem, and that the docs messed around with it so much that my palate has, I believe, a lot of inflexible scar tissue... If they'd left it, yes, I'd be worse, but it'd also be a lot more fixable now... Hindsight is a wonderful thing...

I have a job I love, a boyfriend I love even more, and I'm happy... I'm just annoyed I had to go through what I did as a kid because of a stupid bit of my genetic code...

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

The people with the strongest accent always end up in the call centre, because everybody else very quickly talks their way out of having to deal with customers.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

I'm resisting the temptation to reply to this. And failing.

It's true. One of the things I noticed when certain UK businesses started outsourcing their call centre work is that the helpdesk staff overseas often have less noticeable accents that some (most?) of the people in the UK...

"Aha - you sound like English is your third language and you grunt between words...? So I'm through to the Scunthorpe call centre, then. Any chance you could transfer me through to India so I could speak to someone coherent...?"

Sad but true (well, mostly).

[the-wood-gnome.livejournal.com]

just don't be tempted to start messing with a neogenic ray, all those extra arms might seem like a good idea but y'know, ultimately they'd just get in the way.

[xarrion.livejournal.com]

and *definitely* keep it away from Tristan...

[malal.livejournal.com]

Nooooo!! I want my extra two arms!!! Nooooo!!!!

[badriya.livejournal.com]

It's not just the accent though that is a problem with call centres in India. They don't have background information that UK residents have. They find it hard to hear names of places for instance because they've never heard of them.