Picking Up on Frustration, Call Centers Move Back Home

Dell support defeats language barrier

By Rebecca Smith Hurd, Newser User

Posted Dec 11, 2008 12:28 PM CST

(Newser) – A new service from computer-maker Dell spotlights a customer-service trend: US-based call centers catering to American consumers. Dell users frustrated by language-barrier-induced difficulties they’ve encountered while on the line to India or the Philippines can pay $12.95 per month, the Washington Post reports, for access to a domestic agent and reduced wait times—services many say should be free.

More than a third of PC makers have shipped customer support overseas to cut costs, but satisfaction with foreign service is 23% lower than with domestic help. “When things go haywire, you want assurance, you want familiarity,” a sociologist said, refuting the notion that the complainers are racist. “What you don’t want is to have to work at understanding the person on the other end of the line.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Raul Counreu translates an international telephone conversation at the Language Line call center in Heredia, Costa Rica. (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert)

Sharon Castor, an at-home agent for Convergys Corp. of Cincinnati, works at her desk at her Florence, Ky., home. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

Many companies operate call centers in India, but with US customers increasingly dissatisfied with results, some are moving operations back stateside. Dell charges for guaranteed domestic support. (AP Photo)

In the past decade, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and some 230 other foreign companies have flocked to Dalian, China, to set up business software and outsourcing facilities. (AP Photo)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

There's a large chunk of people who can communicate in English somewhat, but if you put them on a call interacting with an angry American—that's hard."
- Deepak Desai, whose company sells a program to improve the business-English skills of overseas workers

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Man in Mugshot Explains Why He Has Half a Head (HuffPost)

Another Sign Rihanna and Chris Brown Might Get Back Together? (Celebuzz)

These Exes Were Spotted Making Out … and That's a Bad Thing (Bleacher Report)

Did We All Kill Whitney Houston---Or Did We Prolong Her Life? (Slate)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

Vostok

Dec 12, 2008 3:12 AM CST

Here, here! They take our money, ship out our jobs, and provide us with low quality products. Whats the solution? MORE GLOBALIZATION! Long live the Free Market!

bacimom

Dec 11, 2008 8:10 PM CST

I don't expect everyone to speak English. I expect a csr dealing with calls from US 800 numbers to be able to be understood by callers. The same goes for any other call centre, not just Dell's. I don't mind accents, I mind extreme accents of any type of people in a call centre, and I resent being expected to pay for the privilege of talking to someone in the USA.

vendetta

Dec 11, 2008 7:13 PM CST

If you had botehr do do anything but bitch you would understand DELL's are one of the best coptuers on the market for the last 5 years. The main reason americans bitch about tech support is because the yare lazy. Yes Indians are difficult to understand sometimes, deal with not everyone on the planet speaks english. If both parties are working to resolve the issue the issue gets resolved. Texas = Americas asshole.

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

E-Cigarette Explodes in Man's Mouth

Washington Post (Source Grid »)

Lawsuit claims Dell underpaid 5,000 US call center workers
CNET

Some doubt the 'backshoring' trend
strategy+business

Money • US • World

outsourcing • call center • Dell Inc • customer service • tech support

More Newser Stories

Netflix Was Ready for Your Hate

Call centers added employees to prepare for price hike backlash

(NEWSER) - Well, now we know what a portion of those new, higher Netflix fees could be used for: to pay call center reps to deal with angry customers . Customer service reps have been telling callers that the company not only told them to be ready for a backlash, it hired extra employees to take the calls, CNET reports. “We tested, we researched, we analyzed. We knew what the reaction was going to be,” a spokesman confirmed. “We are not surprised.” More»

How Call Centers 'De-Indianize' Workers

The allure of wealth drives call-center workers to shed culture

(NEWSER) - A salary of $5,000 per year may not sound like a lot, but in India, where per-capita income is just $900 per year, such a wage is highly desirable. That's why the systematic outsourcing of many customer service and sales lines to India, where US companies are more than happy to pay $2 per hour, has created a booming market for the possibly millions of applicants competing for call center jobs. New York native Andrew Marantz recounts his summer training to be a call center employee in Mother Jones , noting that prospective workers must shed their accents and abandon their culture. More»

Call Centers Return to US, With a Twist

More companies hire trained operators to work from home

(NEWSER) - It’s still not as cheap as outsourcing to India or the Philippines, but US companies are increasingly choosing homegrown telephone operators to handle their customer service needs. The trend is fueled by the advent of “phonesourcing” or “homesourcing,” which uses linkups to allow trained operators to work from home, instead of at your traditional brick-and-mortar call center. It costs less—about $20 an hour to the client, instead of $30. More»

Outsourcing Still Alive and Well

Rising costs of business are more powerful than 'backshoring' trned

(NEWSER) - Reports of the death of outsourcing have been greatly exaggerated, three specialists in the field write in strategy+business. While a few big companies such as Dell and Apple have scaled back on customer service operations overseas, these decisions remain the exception to the rule, no matter what you read in the mainstream business press. The practice simply makes too much economic sense to disappear. More»

Indian Debt Collectors See US' Dark Side

Outsourced call centers get ring-side seat for economic crash

(NEWSER) - Most Indian call center employees develop a fairly utopian view of the US, which seems a land of brand-name splendor and plenty. Not so at Aegis BPO Services, a call center specializing in debt collection, where employees are getting an up-close and personal look at the credit crunch. “It’s like people are totally drowning,” said one caller. “There has just been years of overspending and now: the crash.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Picking Up on Frustration, Call Centers Move Back Home