How on earth are Indian Call Centers Profitable???

[GTaudiophile]

I just called my credit card providers to 1) find out what percentage they charge for international transactions, and 2) to let them know that I will be out of the country.

Here are my observations after calling the companies in the following order:

1) Chase Visa United Mileage Plus Platinum: 3% charge on international transactions, US-based call center, conversation took about 3-4 minutes max.

2) AMEX Delta SkyMiles Platinum: 2% charge, US-based call center, conversation took 2-3 minutes max. The CS rep definitely had a nice southern accent with southern charm. She was also the fastest of them all.

3) Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard: 3% charge, India-based call center, conversation took 9-10 minutes max. Reception was the worst. Not only was she quiet with a thick accent, there was that awful delay. And unlike everyone else I spoke to, she could not answer nor respond off the top of her head. She had to research and read replies from her computer.

4) USAA Platinum MasterCard: 0% charge FTW! US-based call center, conversation took 3-4 minutes max.

I can say without a doubt that my Citi card will NOT be used! Heck, I am tempted to cut it up into little pieces right now.

I mean, I have nothing against India or Indians. They are as polite as they are trained to be, they try their best, and their cuisine is the best in the world, but they should not be in the call center business. I guess they are being paid under half as much, but what difference does it make if the calls are 2x to 3x longer than everyone else? And to top it all off, it's just so aggravatingly slow! It just makes you want to discontinue doing business with a company that has call centers in India!!!

/Rant

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

I never understood it either, but I guess they pay the Indian workers so little money it is still profitable for them.

 

[RichUK]

?noq?1 d????

 

[episodic]

I've got to where when I sense difficulty in any CSR understanding me - which is often - I just repeat my demand to speak to someone in the USA till I finally get transferred. It has always worked except once they hung up on me. I called right back and got transferred. This isn't just credit card companies - but anything in general.

 

[kalster]

its funny when I get an operator from a call center in India and she notices my indian accent and drops her fake american accent

 

[jpeyton]

How on earth are Indian Call Centers Profitable???

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think they cost less to operate than US call centers?

 

[tasmanian]

I hate it when they spell stuff out by saying the letter then a word that starts with it.

 

[effowe]

Originally posted by: RichUK
?noq?1 d????

What is the upside down writing about? You trying to start some new fad around here, I noticed it in another thread too.

On topic, it's totally a pain trying to deal with them. It's not so much the fake accent but the script that they are required to spew off to you. After everything you say they're like "I understand your problem and will be very happy to assist you with it." They then proceed to click through a million prompt screens asking a bunch of irrelevant questions.

 

[lupi]

Actually, from a couple financial reports I've heard recently our poor Indian bretheren have gotten to liking the dollars coming there way. As such they are starting to want more money to get themselves more of the fancy things.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: effowe

Originally posted by: RichUK
?noq?1 d????

What is the upside down writing about? You trying to start some new fad around here, I noticed it in another thread too.

.?noq? uo ??,no? ???? ?n1? ? ???? ?,uop i

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I guess they are being paid under half as much

Not even close. Dell/GE/HSBC etc. pay freshers ~$300 per MONTH. With two years of experience, you are looking at maybe $400. I am guessing an American would make at least $2500 per month?

So yeah, it's a lot lower than half as much.

 

[Riverhound777]

I know what you mean. I got a replacement card for my citi driver's edge card and had to call to activate it. Usually this just involves a quick automated 2 minute call. This time I had to talk to an actual person from india. It was one of those cases where he was reading from a script trying to get me to go for a 30 day trial of some protection crap. I asked if this was something I would be charged for and he said I would have to call and cancel after the 30 days. I said no thanks, but he would not let it go. I kept having to tell him I did not want to have to call back but I guess he really needed the commission from this service or something because he started getting really rude: "why don't you want it, it is free for 30 days!" I said because I dont want to have to call you back up and cancel it. His responce: "but why, it will only take a minute" It was the worst experience i've had with someone from india. This went on for a good 5 minutes. I'm guessing he only gets 5cents per call but 25 cents if they get me to agree to sign up.

 

[jackace]

Most call centers around here do not pay average workers even close to $2500 a month. When I worked for DTV it was $9/ hour with no option for overtime. Thats $360 a week. Basically $1500-$1800 a month is a closer estimate for call center workers in my area of the country.

 

[JEDIYoda]

prsonally I refuse to use any indian call centers...
Mainly becuae my timwe is worth more than say 5-10 minutes just explaining many times what the issue is...

I usually will ask to speak to somebody who speaks english fluently...
when they hook me to another indian who starts the conversation off by saying---herllooo...

I ask to speak to somebody in the united states....

never fails they hook me to that person..lol

 

[kalster]

there are many dumb customer service people in call centers based on US too, its just that they don't have a different accent,

 

[AgentJean]

In India $150/month is good money, but this is becoming to expenisve so companies are moving to 'Nam now

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I just called my credit card providers to 1) find out what percentage they charge for international transactions, and 2) to let them know that I will be out of the country.

Here are my observations after calling the companies in the following order:

1) Chase Visa United Mileage Plus Platinum: 3% charge on international transactions, US-based call center, conversation took about 3-4 minutes max.

2) AMEX Delta SkyMiles Platinum: 2% charge, US-based call center, conversation took 2-3 minutes max. The CS rep definitely had a nice southern accent with southern charm. She was also the fastest of them all.

3) Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard: 3% charge, India-based call center, conversation took 9-10 minutes max. Reception was the worst. Not only was she quiet with a thick accent, there was that awful delay. And unlike everyone else I spoke to, she could not answer nor respond off the top of her head. She had to research and read replies from her computer.

4) USAA Platinum MasterCard: 0% charge FTW! US-based call center, conversation took 3-4 minutes max.

I can say without a doubt that my Citi card will NOT be used! Heck, I am tempted to cut it up into little pieces right now.

I mean, I have nothing against India or Indians. They are as polite as they are trained to be, they try their best, and their cuisine is the best in the world, but they should not be in the call center business. I guess they are being paid under half as much, but what difference does it make if the calls are 2x to 3x longer than everyone else? And to top it all off, it's just so aggravatingly slow! It just makes you want to discontinue doing business with a company that has call centers in India!!!

/Rant

Please tell me you wrote this on a Dell, that irony would taste so wonderful.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I just called my credit card providers to 1) find out what percentage they charge for international transactions, and 2) to let them know that I will be out of the country.

Here are my observations after calling the companies in the following order:

1) Chase Visa United Mileage Plus Platinum: 3% charge on international transactions, US-based call center, conversation took about 3-4 minutes max.

2) AMEX Delta SkyMiles Platinum: 2% charge, US-based call center, conversation took 2-3 minutes max. The CS rep definitely had a nice southern accent with southern charm. She was also the fastest of them all.

3) Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard: 3% charge, India-based call center, conversation took 9-10 minutes max. Reception was the worst. Not only was she quiet with a thick accent, there was that awful delay. And unlike everyone else I spoke to, she could not answer nor respond off the top of her head. She had to research and read replies from her computer.

4) USAA Platinum MasterCard: 0% charge FTW! US-based call center, conversation took 3-4 minutes max.

I can say without a doubt that my Citi card will NOT be used! Heck, I am tempted to cut it up into little pieces right now.

I mean, I have nothing against India or Indians. They are as polite as they are trained to be, they try their best, and their cuisine is the best in the world, but they should not be in the call center business. I guess they are being paid under half as much, but what difference does it make if the calls are 2x to 3x longer than everyone else? And to top it all off, it's just so aggravatingly slow! It just makes you want to discontinue doing business with a company that has call centers in India!!!

/Rant

Please tell me you wrote this on a Dell, that irony would taste so wonderful.

More like hand-picked parts from newegg/hand-assembled.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: Riverhound777
I know what you mean. I got a replacement card for my citi driver's edge card and had to call to activate it. Usually this just involves a quick automated 2 minute call. This time I had to talk to an actual person from india. It was one of those cases where he was reading from a script trying to get me to go for a 30 day trial of some protection crap. I asked if this was something I would be charged for and he said I would have to call and cancel after the 30 days. I said no thanks, but he would not let it go. I kept having to tell him I did not want to have to call back but I guess he really needed the commission from this service or something because he started getting really rude: "why don't you want it, it is free for 30 days!" I said because I dont want to have to call you back up and cancel it. His responce: "but why, it will only take a minute" It was the worst experience i've had with someone from india. This went on for a good 5 minutes. I'm guessing he only gets 5cents per call but 25 cents if they get me to agree to sign up.

This is what normally happens when an agent is called into the following offices:

-The Sales Manager, "I don't care about your Average Handling Time or Issue Resolution-yadayadayada...we need revenue! We need SALES! I am not taking a hit on my commission because you numbskulls can't sell people shit."

-The Team Leader, "I don't give a shit about sales. We have the worst AHT of all the sites. We are currently at 264 seconds - get it down to less than 210 seconds. I am not losing my benefits because you idiots don't know how to drop retarded customers and keep the queue flowing."

-The Universal Coach, "Why are you not sticking to the script? Do you know how often CSRs who swear they have memorized the script give out out-dated information?"

-The Area Manager, "Customer satisfaction is at an all-time low and customers are constantly bitching about your accents. Congratulations, this process if shifting to Manila next quarter and I will hopefully be on that plane. People, now is the time to get busy embellishing your resumes with things that only happened in your wildest office-themed wet dreams."

I have a friend who works for a major financial company: his base paycheck is $300 and he makes over $400 in sales selling people exactly what you described. He gets paid a dollar per sale. His manager gets two. He figures there is no way he can please all his bosses so he might as well make all the money he can. Thanks to the attrition rates in the call center industry, CSRs who bring in sales never get fired.

 

[zerocool1]

Originally posted by: tasmanian
I hate it when they spell stuff out by saying the letter then a word that starts with it.

i've heard other people do it besides indians

 

[ultimatebob]

India is too expensive! They should start opening call centers in Uganda, Burma, and Ethiopia instead

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I just called my credit card providers to 1) find out what percentage they charge for international transactions, and 2) to let them know that I will be out of the country.

Here are my observations after calling the companies in the following order:

1) Chase Visa United Mileage Plus Platinum: 3% charge on international transactions, US-based call center, conversation took about 3-4 minutes max.

2) AMEX Delta SkyMiles Platinum: 2% charge, US-based call center, conversation took 2-3 minutes max. The CS rep definitely had a nice southern accent with southern charm. She was also the fastest of them all.

3) Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard: 3% charge, India-based call center, conversation took 9-10 minutes max. Reception was the worst. Not only was she quiet with a thick accent, there was that awful delay. And unlike everyone else I spoke to, she could not answer nor respond off the top of her head. She had to research and read replies from her computer.

4) USAA Platinum MasterCard: 0% charge FTW! US-based call center, conversation took 3-4 minutes max.

I can say without a doubt that my Citi card will NOT be used! Heck, I am tempted to cut it up into little pieces right now.

I mean, I have nothing against India or Indians. They are as polite as they are trained to be, they try their best, and their cuisine is the best in the world, but they should not be in the call center business. I guess they are being paid under half as much, but what difference does it make if the calls are 2x to 3x longer than everyone else? And to top it all off, it's just so aggravatingly slow! It just makes you want to discontinue doing business with a company that has call centers in India!!!

/Rant

Please tell me you wrote this on a Dell, that irony would taste so wonderful.

More like hand-picked parts from newegg/hand-assembled.

I think he was referring to the fact that Dell = India-based CS

 

[DrPizza]

It's profitable because some people just give up in frustration, rather than resolving their problem with the company, which ultimately costs the company money.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: kalster
there are many dumb customer service people in call centers based on US too, its just that they don't have a different accent,

But I though we were talking about INDIAN call centers.....with the different accent comes a different undestanding of the language also....
In quite a few cases as evidenced on television the training is hardly adequate for what they are asked to do...which is basically understand and comprehend english and be nice even when they know they don`t understand what the problem is....

Peace!!

Nothing againt the people who are from India......
This is about the call centers though....

Peace!!

To the OP excellent question and topic!!

 

[async]

In the company I work for, the cost to the company per (support) individual is between $150 and $200k. Thats salary, benefits, employer tax, building rent, etc etc. Everything operational / number of staff.

The full cost for someone working in the Indian support centre is about $30k