call-centers

You've got pink slip! AOL plans to reduce its workforce by a third as it prepares to be spun off from its ill-fated Time Warner marriage. Who will be left to "cancel the account?" [AP] (Photo: RogueSun Media)  More »

Travel with Consumer Watch columnist Jon Yates of the Chicago Tribune to the training ground of our nation's elite. The few, the powerless, and the often berated: Comcast customer service representatives. Yates sat in on a training class for new reps, sat in on many live calls, and shared the secrets of agents' formation. Sort of.  More »

Out of the shadows steps a dark figure, sporting wrinkled khakis, a retractable namebadge, and a headset dangling from his ear. It's the telermarketing insider, and he's going to confess to you how his industry really works and how you can resist and even fight back:  More »

Chris is a student who bought Windows 7 through his university, then tried to install it to a new computer after his old one broke, but ran into problems. He called Microsoft customer service and ended up talking to Oreck Vacuums.   More »

You've most likely seen those surveys you receive on your receipt, or after a chat session or phone call. Most people ignore them unless they get something in return, or service was exceptionally bad or exceptionally good. According to our source R., though, not answering that survey could help the rep you've just talked to lose his or her job.  More »

Christoff knew the dangers, but he went ahead anyway. He bought a Linksys router. And lo, it broke. The day had come for him to deal with their outsourced tech support. Over four hours of conversation and hold time, mainly hold time, later, he has a 2nd replacement router. Both replacement routers had the same problem as the first. Read of his trials and tribulations, inside...  More »

You're not alone hating Indian call centers. Indians hate them too, mostly because they get stuck dealing with an even lower caste of customer service representatives than Americans. The well-educated smooth talking CSRs get the prestigious jobs infuriating foreign customers, while the the untrained masses are paid basmati to cater to India's domestic customers.  More »

Cracked takes a stab at explaining why your calls to customer support inevitably lead to frustration. You'll probably recognize your own experiences as you read their article, and learn a little about why being a customer service agent sucks so much, too.  More »

Delta Air Lines is the latest company to "repatriate" call center jobs previously outsourced to India. It's not just that the economy is down and fewer people are flying, but more specifically that absolutely everybody hates dealing with foreign call centers.  More »

After a long day of work, John called Comcast's "24/7" customer service line to downgrade his service. Press 1 to upgrade, 2 to downgrade, chirped the phone. He pressed two and was told that he was calling after hours and would have to call back later. He hung up and redialed and pressed 1, "upgrade," this time, and within 30 seconds was connected with a customer service rep, "who was more than happy to help me DOWNGRADE my service. It was literally a 2 minute call, and I had cancelled the services I don't use and am saving almost $40/mo," blogs John. Clever, Comcast, so clever.  More »

Do nothing. By doing nothing, you can trick the PBX into thinking you have a rotary phone and force it to get you an agent.  More »

Did Citi set up its "homeowner helper" site to comply with Obama's mortgage assistance programs, but then not actually attach it to any humans that will help homeowners? After inputting his info on the site, Citi told reader CoarseLive to schedule an appointment with a representative. No one ever called him. When he tried calling Citi directly, multiple agents told him they had no idea what he was talking about, and they hung up on him, again and again. His story, inside...  More »

United Airlines doesn't want to talk to you on the phone about your complaints — so they're disconnecting it. MSNBC is reporting that starting in April, the airline will shut down the call center that deals with customer complaints.   More »

"Thank you for holding, your call will be answered in the order it was received by an incompetent drug-addict whose training consisted of watching funny stuff on YouTube." That's the substance of this insider confession from a former trainer at Teleperformance USA, one of those outsourced call centers that turns your customer service call into the modern-day version of The Trial. Hear about the restroom sex, drugs sold on-site, and employees getting away with writing down and running off with customer's credit card numbers, inside...  More »

Wanna know why your call to customer service went so poorly? Maybe because it was routed to an outsourced call center run by Teleperformance USA where, according to an insider, customer service goes to die...  More »

There was an amusing little tangent in my conversation yesterday with an Orbitz rep when I went to change my ticket. Talking with her was the first time I've ever hinted to a telephone customer service rep that I write for The Consumerist.   More »

A former Chase call center rep tells the story about this one thief who was able to rip off one customer for over $40,000, thanks to his constant outwitting out the internationally out-sourced security department. It wasn't that hard. Over and over again, he was able to commit credit card fraud just knowing the guy's name, social, and mother's maiden name.  More »

In 2006 we reported that McDonald's was testing a system in which drive-thru orders were being taken by employees at a remote location, usually in another state altogether. Nearly 2 years later, the system has proven successful in some areas and is being used in over half of the McDonald's in Hawaii, according to KITV. Apparently, the system enhances the speed and accuracy of orders and most customers don't even realize the difference. More, inside...  More »

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