This is a depressing story about a small group of ugly Americans who rave and rant at call center folks in India (and elsewhere). And equally depressing is the reaction on the other side - "All Americans are ugly".
An Amex exec once told me they went to India for lower costs but have been impressed with the customer empathy of the staff. The agents spend longer with customers, are more patient in explaining things etc. Also staff turnover was half as much as in the US.
But if you do not want to deal with an Indian or a Filipino, use the "transfer me to an American" button. It is always
ok to ask to speak to another or a supervisor but screaming and ranting
at a poor rep is just not right. Go buy yourself a punching bag - even better if you have problems with the company or its policies do what I recommend in this blog.
On the flip side, offshore firms and staff need to adopt a thicker skin. Call centers are after all generally for customers with issues. Most people do not sit around and call in to harass call center employees. Quite often they call frustrated with some corporate policy issue. It is an occupational hazard in call centers. Allowing the mood to become "all
Americans are ugly" will only make matters worse.
