Customer Service worse than Sprint

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 17:58:54 +0000, John Richards wrote:

> Bachelor degrees don't mean anything if the person's accent is so thick that
> you can't understand them.

This is SO out of topic, but . . .

I was taking a physics class at the University of Florida one semester.
It was the first day of the class and since it was a higher level class
there was only 30 or so students in it. We all walked in and the
instructor proceeded to speak with his back to us in an *extremely* thick
Indian accent. We couldn't understand a word he was saying. The entire
class literally walked out together directly to the Dean's office and we
dropped the class in mass.


My point?

Well, if your job requires you communicate with people -- you pretty much
need to be able to communicate with the people you're dealing with.

---

› See More: Customer Service worse than Sprint

LOL, couldn't possibly agree more. Americans are far too used to their
overvalued dollar reigning supreme. You see all these people here whine when
some other "third-world nation with one-tenth the labour costs" beats them
fair and square on the cost-of-service factor, but eventually even that will
vanish. It's a global marketplace, price is the only consideration. If you
think your labour is worth ten times that of any Asian, then good luck ever
finding a job my dear friends.

What happened when the american manufacturing industry wasn't globally
competitive back in the 70's ? We ended up with a 'Made in
China/Korea/Japan/Singapore/Malaysia" label on everything. Don't see you
guys whining about the fact that your American cellular company does not
provide a _single_ phone made in the USA .....

The truth is that the service industry is going offshore too .... all that
America will be left producing is tanks, missiles, nukes and moronic
presidents.

-Bum

ps. to everyone who would love to dismiss me as a troll/bigot/foreign
bastard, I happen to share the same fate as many of you guys ... watching my
potential job market dwindle thanks to the outsourcing trend. The only
difference is that I refuse to blindly lay blame on those 'foreigners'.

"Justin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Steve Hanson wrote:
> >
> > > Do you think there are 150 million Americans without any marketable
> > > skill, so completely lacking in training and ambition that working as
> > > a call center drone is the best job they can get? I hate to break it
> > > to you guys but phone support is barely white collar. It's a step up
> > > from sweeping the floors.
> > >
> > > I suspect a part of this is a side effect of minimum wage increases
> > > and other regulations pricing these low skill positions out of the
> > > market (which Democrats insisted could never happen, ever). I mean as
> > > we know from SPCS the position barely calls for someone with a pulse,
> > > so why the hell should they pay more here if they can get a better
> > > deal in another country? You've likely dealt with Indian call center
> > > reps without even knowing it.
> >
> > Job export is not just limited to call centers. Jobs formerly held by
> highly
> > trained computer programmers earning $70-100K per year are also being
> > exported. Much engineering design work is also leaving the country.
> > All I can say is that I'm glad I'm retired. Pretty soon the only jobs
left
> > will be medical/social services and cashiers.
> >
> > --
> > John Richards
>
>
> Highly trained? LMFAO! Kids with four year degrees were getting out
making
> six figures with *no* experience whatsoever.
> Cashiers are going to be computerized. In fact, I was in Home Depot the
> other day and scanned my own items.
>
> The problem is that the US has such a high standard of living compared
with
> other countries that there is an imbalance. There's nothing about
Americans
> that makes them more capable of programming, designing, operating on
> patients, etc. The problem comes with free trade. Think of it as a lock
> system a ship uses. Once all the gates are opened, the water settles to
the
> same level. So will standards of living as the barriers to free trade are
> lifted.
>
>

Yeah, more customer service jobs for Americans.

More customer service reps who don't know the difference between
fellowship and fellatio.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"Bum" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> LOL, couldn't possibly agree more. Americans are far too used to their
> overvalued dollar reigning supreme. You see all these people here whine
when
> some other "third-world nation with one-tenth the labour costs" beats them
> fair and square on the cost-of-service factor, but eventually even that
will
> vanish. It's a global marketplace, price is the only consideration. If you
> think your labour is worth ten times that of any Asian, then good luck
ever
> finding a job my dear friends.
>
> What happened when the american manufacturing industry wasn't globally
> competitive back in the 70's ? We ended up with a 'Made in
> China/Korea/Japan/Singapore/Malaysia" label on everything. Don't see you
> guys whining about the fact that your American cellular company does not
> provide a _single_ phone made in the USA .....
>
> The truth is that the service industry is going offshore too .... all that
> America will be left producing is tanks, missiles, nukes and moronic
> presidents.
>
> -Bum
>
> ps. to everyone who would love to dismiss me as a troll/bigot/foreign
> bastard, I happen to share the same fate as many of you guys ... watching
my
> potential job market dwindle thanks to the outsourcing trend. The only
> difference is that I refuse to blindly lay blame on those 'foreigners'.


It's a sad truth. The reason the dollar is so highly valued is because it
appears so secure. Look what happens when we took a hit on 9/11. Other
economies dropped as well. It's all tied back to the global trade barriers
being removed. Eventually, this will be a great thing. Americans will be
on a more even footing and will be able to compete again.

It's just the coming down that will hurt.

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> > And while you're at it you better quit using the number system too (and
> > consequently your computer, your calculator ... - might just have to
start
> > using those brain cells if you have any)
>
> India invented brain cells too?!

Perhaps if you read through that sentence one more time you will see that I
am merely speaking about the number system, and am in no way implying that
they "invented brain cells" (if ever such a thing could be done).

The number zero was invented back in 100 B.C. by Aryabhatta, and the modern
number system (i.e. place values and decimals) was widely in use in India by
the 5th century (a full 700 years before it was used in Europe). This number
system is the foundation of modern mathematics and consequently also of
modern computing, most of which of course we owe our thanks to American
academia for.

http://www.ur.ku.edu/News/99N/DecNews/Dec9/hero.html

-Bum

John Richards wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>Steve Hanson wrote:
>
>> Do you think there are 150 million Americans without any marketable
>> skill, so completely lacking in training and ambition that working as
>> a call center drone is the best job they can get? I hate to break it
>> to you guys but phone support is barely white collar. It's a step up
>> from sweeping the floors.
>>
>> I suspect a part of this is a side effect of minimum wage increases
>> and other regulations pricing these low skill positions out of the
>> market (which Democrats insisted could never happen, ever). I mean as
>> we know from SPCS the position barely calls for someone with a pulse,
>> so why the hell should they pay more here if they can get a better
>> deal in another country? You've likely dealt with Indian call center
>> reps without even knowing it.
>
>Job export is not just limited to call centers. Jobs formerly held by highly
>trained computer programmers earning $70-100K per year are also being
>exported. Much engineering design work is also leaving the country.
>All I can say is that I'm glad I'm retired. Pretty soon the only jobs left
>will be medical/social services and cashiers.

Yeah, I've heard this familiar lament before. Whenever the economic
landscape changes, worrywarts argue that we're going to lose all our
jobs. I heard this back in high school and every mild downturn I hear
it again. The sky is falling.

Look at it this way. We can still steal money off the table from
Europe, which is much more a hopeless case. And most jobs are
produced by small or mid-sized companies. Do you think some
100-employee firm is going to outsource IT support or programming to
India? Think again.

So a few big corporations farm call centers out. Big ****ing deal.
And despite what you say good programmers and engineers are still well
compensated and sought after. However during the boom everyone who
ever wrote a macro started putting "programming experience" on their
resume and getting hired for ridiculous salaries (given their skill
level). Admittedly corporations have gone way overboard with H1B but
a good programmer can still compete (for starters the language skills
of H1Bs is often atrocious). Smarts and excellent output trump cheap
any time in a true profession.

The best thing to do in these fields is become a free agent. That's
what I'm working towards. Next year I plan on being 100%
self-employed. No more taking it from The Man. If you are a call
center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying for a
position in the food service industry.

>> If you are a call center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying for a position in the food service industry.

Not all call center employees are high school drop outs. I graduated
valedictorian and am 10 weeks away from a Bachelors degree in
Information Technology. Call centers just pay very well in my area and
something has to pay the tuition bills.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

In article <[email protected]>,
Steve Hanson <[email protected]> wrote:

> If you are a call
> center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying for a
> position in the food service industry.


Supersize my fries please.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (3G Geek) wrote:

> Not all call center employees are high school drop outs. I graduated
> valedictorian and am 10 weeks away from a Bachelors degree in
> Information Technology. Call centers just pay very well in my area and
> something has to pay the tuition bills.


Moving to New Dehli are you?

>If you are a call center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying
>for a position in the food service industry.

Starting wage for Sprint PCS Customer Care is $1.00 less than double minimum
wage and the benefits - health care, retirement plan, etc. is very good and at
a reasonable price. Yes, those wages may seem low for people in high paying
jobs - but it is very much better than jobs sweeping floors, fast food or
retail clerk.. If you survive the call floor and advance into other positions
the wages are much higher.

And there are a lot of people ( call center I worked in) that had degrees, were
going to graduate school while working at Sprint and getting their tuition paid
for by Sprint.

>> That is why the only people willing to do the job in America are those who can barely speak coherent sentences unless they are reading them off a cue card. I.e. morons.

There are also those making $35K + a year working in call centers. In
my area call centers pay very well, and yes there are the lower level
call center employees who make much less and require less experience.
However, there are also those who do Technical Support with a degree or
pursuit of a degree being a requirement.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

My point exactly!

[email protected] (Whoishere9160779) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> >If you are a call center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying
> >for a position in the food service industry.
>
> Starting wage for Sprint PCS Customer Care is $1.00 less than double minimum
> wage and the benefits - health care, retirement plan, etc. is very good and at
> a reasonable price. Yes, those wages may seem low for people in high paying
> jobs - but it is very much better than jobs sweeping floors, fast food or
> retail clerk.. If you survive the call floor and advance into other positions
> the wages are much higher.
>
> And there are a lot of people ( call center I worked in) that had degrees, were
> going to graduate school while working at Sprint and getting their tuition paid
> for by Sprint.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

3G Geek wrote in <[email protected]>:

>>> If you are a call center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying for a position in the food service industry.
>
>Not all call center employees are high school drop outs. I graduated
>valedictorian and am 10 weeks away from a Bachelors degree in
>Information Technology. Call centers just pay very well in my area and
>something has to pay the tuition bills.

Fine, include students in the list of people for whom a job at a call
center makes sense. I delivered pizza when I was in college. We're
not talking skilled labor here and that was my point.

Not trying to step on toes, I agree with you to a point, but call center
billing representative is one thing, call center technical support is
completely different.

Steve Hanson <[email protected]> wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> 3G Geek wrote in <[email protected]>:
>
> >>> If you are a call center employee I would suggest taking your GED and trying for a position in the food service industry.
> >
> >Not all call center employees are high school drop outs. I graduated
> >valedictorian and am 10 weeks away from a Bachelors degree in
> >Information Technology. Call centers just pay very well in my area and
> >something has to pay the tuition bills.
>
> Fine, include students in the list of people for whom a job at a call
> center makes sense. I delivered pizza when I was in college. We're
> not talking skilled labor here and that was my point.

[posted via phonescoop.com]

>We're
>> not talking skilled labor here and that was my point.

That is partially correct but you might be surprised at how much training is
given, how many weeks in Lab after training before CSR goes to call floor. 5-6
weeks of training in classroom and 2-3 weeks in lab (where there are several
Sr. Specialist and other experienced CSR to help with calls). Training classes
consist of 15-25 people. There are some CSR who learn nothing because they
don't want to - and some never make it through training - they are terminated
or just quit. There is a lot to learn to be a CSR.