# Keep some jobs at home - redirect phone support to Canada??



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Got this in the email this morning



> A lot of us do not realize this option is open to us.
> Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications,
> health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc. ) and you find that you're talking
> to a foreign customer service representative (with an accent, difficult to understand
> ...


Far too often I have to get a manager online when a rep insists it's one way in marginal English and I KNOW they are wrong. Don't have time for ESL lessons.

Thoughts on the issue and the campaign?

I do think there are enough Canadians that might appreciate the extra work even if the wages are miserable, especially if they can work from home.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

You know, if the rep is handling my call well, I don't care where they're from--but when they're reading their lines from a cue card, I will try that option next time


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I agree that it is an option worth considering, keeping in mind that if successful, the end result is likely to be driving the cost of service up on your invoice in future months. You can bet your sweet bippy the companies involved will not eat the extra costs incurred to hire all Canadian phone reps.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

FWIW I had to deal with QWest in the US on several occasions. Always got an American rep. That said a black Alabama accent can be every bit as hard to understand as an East Indian one.

I do find the Telus routine of sloughing customers off to India or Pakistan quite irritating.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

I bought ProSupport on my Dell specifically to be able to speak to a North American technical support representative.

Thanks for the tip though.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

MacDoc said:


> Got this in the email this morning
> 
> (SNIP)
> 
> Thoughts on the issue and the campaign?


*My first thought is:* this is bogus (anything that ends with "pass this on to 10 of your friends" is a red flag to me). Is this *really* the law? I doubt it.

*Second thought*: this reads SO MUCH like all those g-d subtly racist emails that _-and sorry but in my experience it has been true 100% of the time -_ seniors keep sending around to get one another riled up.

*My third thought: * at least in Nova Scotia, the 'call centre' phenomenon has been a joke as an employment scheme. Most of these international bodies finagle tax breaks, or payroll supplements or other incentives from the provincial government to set up shop, and inevitably close their doors in the space of a few short years, ultimately contributing nothing to the long-term viability of the economy.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Just the messenger.
The poster however does go out of the way about it being positive to Canadian jobs rather than a cultural diss.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

.


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## [email protected] (Dec 26, 2010)

It's bogus. There's no such law. This is a piece of US spam someone has copied and pasted "Canada" into.

snopes.com: Foreign Call Centers Must Transfer Customers to U.S. Reps?


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## Jason H (Feb 1, 2004)

Ummmm I don't think being connected to a Canadian call centre is going to decrease the chances of taking to somebody with an indecipherable accent and/or no grasp on the language.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

MacDoc said:


> Just the messenger.
> The poster however does go out of the way about it being positive to Canadian jobs rather than a cultural diss.


No slam intended, Dave - but that's exactly what these purveyors of prejudice do... put in a "denial statement" that they believe then gives them carte blanche to advocate discriminatory practice.

As I am now in my mid-40s, I am fearful of my future mind. Will I, too, lose my ability for rational thought and succumb to the "common sense / common outrage" of an increasingly conservative point of view, and start believing things like the immigrant settlement hoax? The Canada Post email surcharge?


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Being cheesed at being connected with someone unintelligible is not prejudice. I have had to tell enough people--whether from Canada or elsewhere--that I simply can't decipher what they're saying and that unless they can put me in touch with someone else, the call must cease. I am not "pre-judging" them, I am judging their ability to communicate.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Macfury said:


> Being cheesed at being connected with someone unintelligible is not prejudice. I have had to tell enough people--whether from Canada or elsewhere--that I simply can't decipher what they're saying and that unless they can put me in touch with someone else, the call must cease. I am not "pre-judging" them, I am judging their ability to communicate.


FWIW a Scottish burr or an Irish brogue can be every bit as unintelligible as any Indian or Pakistani or Ebonic speech pattern. Ragging companies that employ customer relations people who lack the ability to communicate clearly is not in the least some hidden form of racial prejudice. It is a clear statement that these companies clearly do not attach any value to their customer base.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

eMacMan said:


> ... Ragging companies that employ customer relations people who lack the ability to communicate clearly is not in the least some hidden form of racial prejudice.....


I agree - but that's not the issue here. What is the motivation for the email in circulation that MacDoc posted above? Since it's patently false, and the person who wrote it would know that, then why do it? If you look at the phenomenon of this and the other kinds of emails I noted above, then a prejudicial / racist foundation is not at all unlikely.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

If the case is that it is a false claim on being the law then the motivation is suspect indeed.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

I think it must be an e-mail from the union of Canadian Call Centre Employees.


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## fellfromtree (May 18, 2005)

CubaMark said:


> *Second thought*: this reads SO MUCH like all those g-d subtly racist emails that _-and sorry but in my experience it has been true 100% of the time -_ seniors keep sending around to get one another riled up.


Got a good laugh out of that. I've received a version of this email from a senior, though little attempt to be subtle in message.


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## Sonal (Oct 2, 2003)

My cousins in India were telling me about the good call centre jobs--not only to they get trained to speak in a North American accent, they also get given a persona... i.e., your name is now Susan, and you are in Calgary. 

When I hear an accent on the phone, I usually suspect the person _is_ in Canada, where they don't train them out of it.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

If I can understand the individual clearly and they are able to help resolve the issue, I doubt that I would know or care where the call was directed. 

OTH If the accent is so thick that I struggle to understand, then I will ask to talk to someone else. Of course the poor hearing that afflicts many seniors can aggravate this problem. This is not prejudice. It is common sense. My job is to get a problem resolved. I am not being paid to attempt to improve someone elses command of the English language nor is this a job I would volunteer for, as more qualified English Teachers than I are available.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Sonal said:


> My cousins in India were telling me about the good call centre jobs--not only to they get trained to speak in a North American accent, they also get given a persona... i.e., your name is now Susan, and you are in Calgary.
> 
> When I hear an accent on the phone, I usually suspect the person _is_ in Canada, where they don't train them out of it.


Except Telus who does use overseas call centres, and does not care whether or not the call centre people have even a passing acquaintance with either English or French.


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## jfpoole (Sep 26, 2002)

CubaMark said:


> As I am now in my mid-40s, I am fearful of my future mind. Will I, too, lose my ability for rational thought and succumb to the "common sense / common outrage" of an increasingly conservative point of view, and start believing things like the immigrant settlement hoax? The Canada Post email surcharge?


No. You, sir, will be a pinko commie until the day you die.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Hah - despite what some in here may think, the pinko commies wouldn't have me. I don't have faith in the ability of most of the population to embrace the principles of service to society over selfish satisfaction. Maybe it's because, once contaminated by the consumerism that arises from capitalism, letting go of "stuff" is just too difficult... social programming, and all that.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

CubaMark said:


> Hah - despite what some in here may think, the pinko commies wouldn't have me. I don't have faith in the ability of most of the population to embrace the principles of service to society over selfish satisfaction. Maybe it's because, once contaminated by the consumerism that arises from capitalism, letting go of "stuff" is just too difficult... social programming, and all that.


For the record Mark, I happen to think you are a fine, decent and caring man. Any dealings I have had with you have been a pleasure and I have never thought of you in any other terms but a guy with the guts to stand firm on his principles. That noted, you do have a couple of minor irritants, but being a new Dad now, will cure that soon enough.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

CubaMark said:


> Hah - despite what some in here may think, the pinko commies wouldn't have me.


Who will have you then? Just frustrated socialists?


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## ayeamcdn (9 mo ago)

MacDoc said:


> Got this in the email this morning
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have spent more than 6 hours on the phone, plus more on line, trying to get my luggage which was separated from me 7 days ago by FLAIR AIRLINE. Their call centre is in SOUTH AFRICA. I've gotten NO satisfaction & asked to be transferred to someone in Canada. A manager/supervisor at the SOUTH AFRICAN call centre told me they have no such access to any Canadian number. I think this must bewrong & FLAIR needs to correct this. My 10:15 a.m. 19 APR flight to Ottawa left Fort Lauderdale at 1617hrs. but no luggage, for any passenger, was loaded on that plane. Flair Airline reps said luggage would arrive Friday, 22 APR. Our 0700hr. 21 APR FLAIR flight to Halifax was cancelled that morning.
We then flew on FLAIR to Halifax on Friday. 
I have a tracker in my luggage & it arrived in Ottawa Friday afternoon. The luggage arrived in Halifax Saturday afternoon. My luggage is still at Halifax airport at this time. I cannot contact anyone at FLAIR in Canada to get my luggage.


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