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Apple Outsourcing Tech Support
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Consultant
macrumors G5
No, it's not what Apple said, it's what you CLAIMED you heard, despite evidence to the contrary. No user with any reputation supports your claim, so who is right?
Where are you located? In the US?
Doh! oink! Sorry, thinking about art.
Not to mention the fact that English is one of two official languages in both India and the Philippines, so if the CSR's were really from those places (which I don't necessarily believe), they were probably just as likely to be native English speakers as the OP. An accent from India is about as different from a US accent as an accent from Australia (or some parts of the south vs. California for that matter). The general sentiment (not referring to OP, but the general complaint about Customer Service from India) is definitely from bigotry -- I doubt there would be the same complaints if CSR's were Australian. I'm not happy about the reasons for outsourcing but when I've spoken to CSR's of other companies (I've only ever had Apple CSR's in the Central Time Zone, which usually comes up in the conversation) with centers based in India, I've never spoken to anyone who didn't have perfect, native-speaker English. Their accent was different from my accent, but that doesn't make any of us "idiots," we just happen to be from different places in the world, which extends beyond the U.S. borders.
Does it really matter where they are from? Customer service reps are usually useless regardless of their accent. Ive never had a good experience with phone customer service, american or otherwise, they never know what the hell is going on.
After telling the person that your computer still doesnt work after taking the battery out only to be told that you should take the battery out again isnt useful whether its from morgan freeman or a farm animal. A thick accent may add insult to injury but unhelpful information is still unhelpful.
After telling the person that your computer still doesnt work after taking the battery out only to be told that you should take the battery out again isnt useful whether its from morgan freeman or a farm animal. A thick accent may add insult to injury but unhelpful information is still unhelpful.
Well, if you want people to understand you, then stop using slang. Slang does not have a place when you are talking/writing to someone you don't know. There's a reason why slang is not used in official talks or documents.
Whether we like it or not, call centres all over the world are here to stay. Why? Because it's cheaper for companies. And what is a company's ultimate goal? Make profits.
If you don't like the service from a particular company, then don't buy the products. However, I doubt that the action of one person will have a major effect, because you'll unlikely be able to persuade everyone to buy from Apple.
If you did not mean it like you said (I am not in your head), then you should think twice (or more) about the words you are going to use. Writing does not convey tone very well. The way I'm reading the above quoted sentence is that you are an angry customer, and you are treating the CSR as an idiot for not understanding your English.
i've called applecare 4 times in the past 2 days and have gotten a filipino person every single time.
emailboy
macrumors newbie
I've always had excellent to outstanding experiences with Apple call centers. I usually ask where they are near the end of the call, just to be friendly, and they've been in various U.S. and Canadian locations. I've found the agents to be very knowledgeable and genuinely interested in helping. They seem to have access to the information and resources to help.
However, I had a couple calls that were almost surreal. It was like being in a joke about Rogerian therapy, where the counselor just mindlessly echoes back whatever you say. The agents had no interest in helping me, seemed totally incapable of understanding the situation or my request, and either didn't have the usual case information transferred with the call or forced me to repeat everything just for kicks. These calls were frustrating, unpleasant experiences. This had nothing to do with accent and everything to do with interest and ability. Yes, these calls to Hell were routed to India.
I know India has a great number of talented, smart, helpful people. A large portion of the engineers I work with are from India, and my company has engineering facilities in India. But the employees of the Apple call center there are obviously not the best. I've read that in India working in a call center is considered slumming, and working for an American company or answering calls from America is even worse. So, people who can do so get hired at higher status places. If true, this would explain a lot. It doesn't answer why Apple would send calls there, however.
However, I had a couple calls that were almost surreal. It was like being in a joke about Rogerian therapy, where the counselor just mindlessly echoes back whatever you say. The agents had no interest in helping me, seemed totally incapable of understanding the situation or my request, and either didn't have the usual case information transferred with the call or forced me to repeat everything just for kicks. These calls were frustrating, unpleasant experiences. This had nothing to do with accent and everything to do with interest and ability. Yes, these calls to Hell were routed to India.
I know India has a great number of talented, smart, helpful people. A large portion of the engineers I work with are from India, and my company has engineering facilities in India. But the employees of the Apple call center there are obviously not the best. I've read that in India working in a call center is considered slumming, and working for an American company or answering calls from America is even worse. So, people who can do so get hired at higher status places. If true, this would explain a lot. It doesn't answer why Apple would send calls there, however.
I cancelled my contract with Orange because of stupid Indian call centres. I had a serious problem which was not sorted for weeks. In the mean time someone had stolen my number. I will seldom deal with a company that has Indian call centres now. No thanks.
thejadedmonkey
macrumors G3
There's nothing racist about it. No one is saying that they hate *insert minority here*. What we are saying is that we hate being forced to deal with *insert minority here who does not speak english in a way we can understand*. Big difference!
I don't get mad at them either, I get mad at the company who hired them, thinking I can understand a CSR who is so far away, doesn't speak english, and there's a noticeable voice lag!
frankly..i find your post a bit racist...foreign dumbos???? give me a break!!!
its funny that you talk about this cause I spent over 45 minutes with a customer care exec today...and guess what..she was American!!! I did have my problems trying to understand her accent and she had problems trying to understand mine; so before I made my 'foreign dumbos' accusation..I thought...I could try to be a bit patient and hear what she has to say...and you know what...it worked!!! So get off the high horse....We live in a global economy...learn to live with it!!😡
displaced
macrumors 65816
If you can't understand someone on the phone, try the following (in order):
It's really, really easy - and shouldn't be a source of anger. It's just a problem some, but not all people have with understanding accents. I mean, I can usually understand an Indian accent, having worked closely with a Sri Lankan guy for many years. But I'm easily thrown by a heavy Scottish accent, especially if they're using colloquialisms. Funnily enough, I spoke to a Texan on the phone last week and had to ask him (pleasantly) to speak a little bit slower since it's not an accent I'm used to.
All in all, relax and be civil. 9.9 times out of 10, civility is returned with civility. And most importantly, the second- (or nth-) language speaker of English is more than likely aware they have an accent and should be perfect understanding of someone having difficulty with the accent and asking to speak to someone else. They're not going to be offended by such a simple request. They've definitely not been in my experience.
- I'm sorry - I can't quite understand you - could you speak a bit slower and clearer?
- Pardon? No, I'm afraid I still didn't get that - can we try again?
- Ok - I'm not understanding you at all - could I be passed to someone else, please?
It's really, really easy - and shouldn't be a source of anger. It's just a problem some, but not all people have with understanding accents. I mean, I can usually understand an Indian accent, having worked closely with a Sri Lankan guy for many years. But I'm easily thrown by a heavy Scottish accent, especially if they're using colloquialisms. Funnily enough, I spoke to a Texan on the phone last week and had to ask him (pleasantly) to speak a little bit slower since it's not an accent I'm used to.
All in all, relax and be civil. 9.9 times out of 10, civility is returned with civility. And most importantly, the second- (or nth-) language speaker of English is more than likely aware they have an accent and should be perfect understanding of someone having difficulty with the accent and asking to speak to someone else. They're not going to be offended by such a simple request. They've definitely not been in my experience.
Peterkro
macrumors 68020
Did you have a bad experience with a Person-centred therapist or are you just throwing out a prejudice you picked up on Fox? It's odd that it's mainly USians who complain about English accents that are different from theirs,whereas it's USians I find hard to understand,not because of their accent but because of their bizarre use of words which they seem to bolt together at random.
Hmm.... The OP in this thread seemed to have a political agenda in posting. AFAIK apple has no call centers in India at least currently. I have only dealt with Americans speaking fluent US English when calling Apple. The last problem I had was addressed by a young man who spoke perfect English the only problem was that he sounded really nervous like it was his first day.
I have dealt with Indian based call centers when dealing with other companies, and have had mixed results. The worst are telemarketing calls, where the rep just starts rambling from a pre written script. This is always fun as you can always interject with questions or comments and they get all tripped up as they don't know how to respond.
I have dealt with Indian based call centers when dealing with other companies, and have had mixed results. The worst are telemarketing calls, where the rep just starts rambling from a pre written script. This is always fun as you can always interject with questions or comments and they get all tripped up as they don't know how to respond.
To those who have been saying all the bad things about call centres in India, get used to it. If you don't like it, write to the companies' head offices. But you know what? Nothing will change. All the companies want is to do is minimize cost and maximize profits.
And to those who like to say that the CSR don't understand their problems, I have had similar situations with the call centres in Canada. I told the person that my trackpad button is not making a click when pressed and he was telling me what it was a software problem.
And to those who like to say that the CSR don't understand their problems, I have had similar situations with the call centres in Canada. I told the person that my trackpad button is not making a click when pressed and he was telling me what it was a software problem.
My beef with offshored call centers is that all too often, they're not trained properly. I guess out of sight, out of mind. The company just hands them scripts, and if your problem isn't in their script, too bad. That's not to say I haven't had the same problem with American-based call centers, but the problem seems more widespread with offshored ones.
Consultant
macrumors G5
There are some major problems in the false assumption that Apple sends calls to India,
and that users are guaranteed to talk to "idiots."
1. You think call centers don't have no training or quality control? The good ones do.
2. It is well known that a number of US companies that moved call centers to India have moved the call centers back to the US.
3. Apple looked into call centers in India, but pulled out in 2006.
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/06/04/apple-pulling-support-center-out-of-india/
Calling the US Apple phone lines, I have never talked to someone who has a strong foreign accent.
No.
Major news networks report that people who work at reputable call centers in India make way above average pay, and do very well. Not "slumming."
People who work for reputable call centers had to take lessons, even learning different accents from different regions of US.
Apple doesn't send US calls there.
and that users are guaranteed to talk to "idiots."
1. You think call centers don't have no training or quality control? The good ones do.
2. It is well known that a number of US companies that moved call centers to India have moved the call centers back to the US.
3. Apple looked into call centers in India, but pulled out in 2006.
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/06/04/apple-pulling-support-center-out-of-india/
Calling the US Apple phone lines, I have never talked to someone who has a strong foreign accent.
No.
Major news networks report that people who work at reputable call centers in India make way above average pay, and do very well. Not "slumming."
People who work for reputable call centers had to take lessons, even learning different accents from different regions of US.
Apple doesn't send US calls there.
That last bit is ridiculous. I think I'd rather listen to someone with a thick Indian accent than someone doing a poor Midwestern or Southern accent to try to trick me into thinking they're not outsourced.
Consultant
macrumors G5
Well depends, on the one hand,
Indian accent is good for something =p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw6RgIf6epQ
on the other hands, they do get good training.
There are people who never set foot in the US before who
can speak more clearly than those living in the US.
emailboy
macrumors newbie
I specifically referred to the classic joke, not the therapy itself. When I posted, I thought the joke was a good example of the situation, but I see that it would have been better not to have mentioned it. Sorry for any offense. (And, by the way, I don't watch TV news, much less Fox "news".)
Some here have complained specifically about accents. I did not. I think accents are a separate issue from what, to me, are more important: do the agents care, are they skilled in the product, do they have access to information, and can they do anything? In these areas, I've encountered U.S. based call centers that fail miserably (a cable company comes to mind as being especially egregious). Since my company has engineering facilities in India that are staffed by smart people with good skills, and since I work daily with many engineers from India, I know that there are top-notch people in and from India. I suspect they prefer not to work for call centers that take U.S. calls, making it harder for such centers to attract good employees than for centers elsewhere.
As for accents, I agree it can be frustrating for both parties when accents make it harder to understand each other. Part of my job involves conferences with engineers from around the world, and I am sympathetic to the difficulties that accents and speech patterns pose for everyone involved. I don't think there is any solution. Asking the speaker to slow down, repeat, rephrase, etc. is often necessary (and this applies equally to speakers from all countries, including of course the U.S.)
