Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

[PyariCgudia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

^ agreed with PA.

I called them again the other day, and being quite experienced in calling my dsl company on a frequent basis, I know the typical questions they’ll ask. The girl was new and didn’t go through the steps I’m used to hearing (I guess since she’s new).

Anyways, after 2 minutes she’s like the problem can’t be solved, and she’ll have to send someone over to fix it. I said um…ok? And she proceeded to tell me she’s going to charge me 60 bucks for it!!! And on top of that, that I can’t get an appointment until mid-January because they’re booked. I yelled at her a bit, and she ended up getting scared that she’s going to lose her job,so she transferred me over to the supervisor, and I then gave her a mouthful.

Jeez. We pay so much money, and at least I expect the person on the other line to be able to communicate properly, to the point that I can understand them.

[Prince_of_Persia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@expatobserver

Obviously you haven’t accessed the outsourced Indian service lately. I called HP and the Bangalore guy who answered, gave answers in perfect French. han bhai, those who have preconceived opinions, won’t change their minds. Koi parak nahi parata. They still get the business and eat your lunch.

and some morons will still try convincing us that Urdu and Hindi are the same language.

[expatobserver]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@Anwaar Qureshi

That’s why I am outsourcing my work to Islamabad-Pakistan, a muslim country where we have a moral Islamic obligation as muslims to reach out for work in such countries, with our extpertise knowledge in whatever, for the betterment of the muslim Ummah

Sorry Anwar, marketplace does not recognize religion. It goes where it can get the most bang for the buck. If you make all your business decisions based on Ummah logic, you will be out of business before I finish typing this post.

[Nikki.M]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@PyariCgudia

Bull CRAPOLA!!!

His name is Vinod or Raj or Shiv or something or the other, and he lives in Delhi.

I am so ANGRY. WHY are companies outsourcing? I am so tired of calling tech support for computer related things and then getting Indians who have NO idea what I’m talking about.

I ask the guy a simple question - Bellsouth has this 2-Wire technology that is a built in modem and router in one. This (clearly white) tech support guy had told me about it a month ago. I’ve been having horrible problems with my wireless connection, so I called them to find out details on it, but I couldn’t remember the name of the technology.

I get on the phone and some Indian lady picks up and says that there is no such technology for my optic fiber connection. I tell her that she must be mistaken, so she transfers me to tech support. Richard from Tech support picks up and he has me on hold for 1 HOUR. I’m asking him about the technology and if it exists or if I talked to some ghost earlier, and he’s keeping me on hold while he checks my lines and does diagnostics. He gets back on the phone, and I’m like “Did you even UNDERSTAND my question???”

This was after repeating the question like 3 times.

His response was “I’m sorry…what was the question again?”

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

1. They can’t communicate that well in English, otherwise I wouldn’t be repeating the same question again and again.

2. They don’t know their own company well enough cuz they, despite being technicians who FIX these things, had no idea what a 2-wire gadget is.

3. They’re bloody foreigners and they’re taking away jobs from Americans who can do it better.

They finally transferred me to someone in Georgia and she, being an American and actually being able to understand the words COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH, was able to answer my questions and give me the details on this 2-Wire contraption.

I am sooooo frustrated at these Indian tech support people.

We pay for our service in dollars to get desi-quality service.

**
I don’t get it, ur main problem seems to be that he’s Indian or that your querie couldn’t get answered?**

[Nikki.M]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@Prince of Persia

and some morons will still try convincing us that Urdu and Hindi are the same language.

**
Yea right , that’s the reason why Indian movies are such a big “hit” with the Pakistanis. They dun understand a word of it, do they? Hindi and Urdu ain’t the same language, but if u know one, u can understand the other, unless of course ur trying too hard to prove a point.
**

[Mein_Chup]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

so if i can understand english and urdu at the same time it means they have to be the same language?

[Mograkali]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

PGC... why do I get the feeling that you would have perceived a problem with just about any desi tech support person however competant they may have been.

[PyariCgudia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

I frankly do. They are taking our rightful American jobs.

[AQ]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@expatobserver

Sorry Anwar, marketplace does not recognize religion. It goes where it can get the most bang for the buck. If you make all your business decisions based on Ummah logic, you will be out of business before I finish typing this post.

guess what.. we are not out of business and guess what.. we have gained fastest growth than ever...

now stop writing please :)

[PyariCgudia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

Since when is India part of the Ummah? I'm sorry, did I miss some newsflash? Because I could have sworn that most people in India are hindus, including the people picking up at my internet service provider's tech support.

[Nikki.M]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@Mein Chup

so if i can understand english and urdu at the same time it means they have to be the same language?

**No but if u only know Urdu, you won’t get English at all, whereas with Urdu and Hindi, it’s enough to know one language to understand the other. I did say unless ur trying too hard to prove an irrelevant point.

[queer]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@PyariCgudia

I frankly do. They are taking our rightful American jobs.

oh yeah american jobs. maybe you be more proactive about this. how about packing your parents up and sending them back to lalukhet instead of having them steal american employment here. after all, charity begins at home.

[Mein_Chup]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@Nikki.M

**No but if u only know Urdu, you won’t get English at all, whereas with Urdu and Hindi, it’s enough to know one language to understand the other. I did say unless ur trying too hard to prove an irrelevant point.

Just cos they are similar doesn;t mean they are the same. They are separate languages.

[PyariCgudia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@queer

oh yeah american jobs. maybe you be more proactive about this. how about packing your parents up and sending them back to lalukhet instead of having them steal american employment here. after all, charity begins at home. :)

Only after they deport you.

[dope]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@queer

oh yeah american jobs. maybe you be more proactive about this. how about packing your parents up and sending them back to lalukhet instead of having them steal american employment here. after all, charity begins at home. :)

Stupid comparison, queer.
Here and there. See the difference?

[queer]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

p*g, but i am not the one complaining about outsiders stealing jobs. come on, do your part and put your money where your mouth is. send the rents away.

dope, you tell me - would you pay someone more money and benefits to come to your country and steal your job, or would you rather he stay in his country on lesser pay and steal your job?

at the end of the day, this isnt even a valid discussion because outsourcing is just way too beneficial to the american economy to stop. america has outsourced its manufacturing to the developing world long ago. why make a big deal about the services sector now?

[nikhil25]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@PyariCgudia

I frankly do. They are taking our rightful American jobs.

by what laws are these jobs “rightfully” american?

certainly not the laws of economics or trade theory.

basic economic theory does not allow a firm to pay 8 to 12 times more for Homer to say “please restart your computer” than for Apu to say it, and to pre-empt your argument that Apu is not fit for the job - basic economic theory does not allow a firm to keep Apu employed and suffer rejection by the market if he cannot perform the required task.

lol why do i get the feeling that if the accent in question was chinese or portuguese our friends on this forum wouldn’t be so enraged?

[PyariCgudia]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

Its simple. Americans lose jobs, and its hard to deal with foreigners trying to provide, of all things, CUSTOMER SERVICE and CUSTOMER TECHNICAL SERVICE, which involve being able to communicate with Americans. Indians in India living in some small sheher can't do that very well.

Also, please look over the thread to see my numerous posts and all the other reasons I give for my complaints.

[nikhil25]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@PyariCgudia

Its simple. Americans lose jobs, and its hard to deal with foreigners trying to provide, of all things, CUSTOMER SERVICE and CUSTOMER TECHNICAL SERVICE, which involve being able to communicate with Americans. Indians in India living in some small sheher can’t do that very well.

Also, please look over the thread to see my numerous posts and all the other reasons I give for my complaints.

i scanned through the thread and didn’t find any answer to my question. all i saw was, in all honesty, a laughably uneducated attempt at economic commentary by yourself.

the vast majority of indians in outsourced jobs work for companies with very elastic product lines (especially tech companies). there is no question of forcing the market to accept crap quality service. that isn’t how elastic markets work, despite whatever experience you may have had.

for the most part, it’s like name-brand cough syrup and store-brand cough syrup…for 5% higher quality, you pay $8 for name-brand when the store-brand costs $2.99…same exact ingredients, same outcome.

[dope]

Re: Hello, This is Tech Support. My Name is Richard

@nikhil25

i scanned through the thread and didn't find any answer to my question. all i saw was, in all honesty, a laughably uneducated attempt at economic commentary by yourself.

the vast majority of indians in outsourced jobs work for companies with very elastic product lines (especially tech companies). there is no question of forcing the market to accept crap quality service. that isn't how elastic markets work, despite whatever experience you may have had.

for the most part, it's like name-brand cough syrup and store-brand cough syrup....for 5% higher quality, you pay $8 for name-brand when the store-brand costs $2.99.....same exact ingredients, same outcome.

so you are talking about PED? I have read your post, like, twice, and i must say, i didn't quite follow it. So, you are saying since tech-call center jobs are elastic services, if prices go down (cheaper labor), people will demand more service? Or are you saying that since elastic goods tend to have more substitutes, crappy service cannot be shoved down people's throat?

I have my doubts regarding outsourcing. I know it has its pros and cons in the SHORT run, and we can debate the merits till the cows come home. But the reality is, it harms us in the LONG run, unless we INNOVATIVE. If americans lose the edge on innovation, then we are screwed. If we stay on the edge of innovation, and churn out different services and replace the old ones with the Indians, then i say outsourcing is a okay--not great-- idea.

We do have the infrastructure, capital and brains (at least for now) to stay on the edge, but my fear is as indian and chinese economies expand, they too will invest heavily on innovation, and when they do, we are doomed.

Also, outsourcing lets indian and chinese middle class expand and when you put money in their hands, they compete with us for natural resources like oil. Remember, the mini oil crisis (last summer when the oil prices went up?) was not a supply driven -like in the 70s-- but a demand driven one. Thanks to the chinese and the indians, who now have money to buy cars and oil at whatever price it is selling at.