Funny call to a collection agency when I was at work. . .
Date: Wed, 06/11/2008 - 22:35
I work for a major cell phone company, in a big call center. Our department handles billing disputes, but it also does some support for the collections department. We aren't a collections department, in fact most of our calls to customers are to say that we owe them money, but I get treated as a bill collector all the time.
It's rather funny to get a suspicious treatment from somebody on the phone or somebody hanging up the moment they hear I'm from my company. . .when I'm calling to tell them that we owe them money and not vice versa.
However, earlier this week I had an amusing call with a collection agent. . .one of our companies own.
A customer had a past due balance with us, and had set up a payment arrangement to pay it off in two payments two weeks apart. However, the way it was entered into our computers was wrong, and we'd have to close it (which would shut off her phone service). So, I have to get the customer on the phone, conference the call to collections, and have them re-enter a correct payment arrangement into the computer. A bill collector quickly promises her said extension (even though I knew it was against our policies to give her one, I honestly didn't expect her to get the extension). The collection agent hangs up, and I tell the customer everything is OK and she hangs up. Then I look into the computer, and the agent didn't do anything other than put a memo on the account that the customer promised to pay on a specific date, if I closed the outstanding payment arrangement (as I had to) she still would be shut off.
So, I call the Collections department back to talk to them about this. The first time, Collections hangs up on me as soon as I identify myself as an employee of the same company there to discuss collections efforts on a customer's account. The second time, I get someone who was speaking very heavily accented English and kept treating me like I was the customer as soon as I gave her the account number, telling me that I have to pay my bill or my service will be shut off. I keep telling her, I am an employee trying to process a misfiled payment arrangement, she tells me that I am not going to get any payment arrangement and if I'm not careful this will be sent to an outside collection agency and I may be sued. I kept trying to explain to her, in simple words as it was clear that she didn't understand English very well and I don't speak Hindi, that I am an employee of the same company as she is, I am not the customer, and I am calling on an internal matter to discuss errors made in collection efforts on a customer's account.
At this point she just goes "Thank you for calling
I just thought it was funny that I got the hard-sell collection treatment from a collector who didn't even understand a word coming out of my mouth, it was like she was reading a script she couldn't deviate from, or she only knew enough English to make collection threats.
wow....this is just one example of why outsourced call centers a
wow....this is just one example of why outsourced call centers are a major problem for our country. It's common practice by many companies these days, including many cable and phone companies.
The cable company we used to use did the same thing - you would have trouble with your cable, and call the "help" number, and end up somewhere in India with someone who couldn't possibly know what was going on with your cable connection. All they did was read from a script and tell you to try powering down your cable box & turning it back on. It was ridiculous.
I have to say, one company I dealt with, our phone company, had an overseas call center, but also had people here in the states. I complained about being transferred overseas to someone who didn't seem able to help me, and the American I spoke to encouraged me to file a complaint at the presidential level of the company to push the company to eliminate the outsourced call center. I did - and about a year later, it was in the news that they had brough several thousand jobs back to our country's shores by eliminating the foreign call center.
Too bad all companies would not follow suit. But a lot of compan
Too bad all companies would not follow suit. But a lot of companies, Like Dell, do not want to spend much on customer Service and Tech Support. All they want is to make the sale.(and $$$$) After that, who cares if you have problems?
I found those commercials funny, Dell saying "Award winning service and support" on their commercials. What kind of award? The "I can no a speak a enga lish" Award??
Dell is not the only company that outsources (and yes, you may be lucky and talk to someone in the U.S. sometimes) and I would rather do business with companies that care about service after the sale, even if I have to pay more.
