Dell Creates Customer Service Caste System

A NY Times article says that customer outcry has caused Dell and other American companies to send some outsourced customer service jobs back to the U.S.

Dell says customers are complaining that the technicians have to rely on scripts, and are unable to handle complex problems. That's for sure. When I had a recent problem with my Dell computer the techs in Manilla and India certainly were clueless, not to mention completely unintelligible through their heavy accents. It took several days and escalation to the executive level of the company before my extremely simple problem was solved. No money saved there: that call had to have cost them several hundred!

However, the Dell spokesman, Barry French, told the Times that it decided to route calls from large business customers to domestic call centers. That creates a caste system with small businesses that Dell claims make up 70% of their customers still talking to offshore techs.

"Some workers in customer service jobs in Bangalore, for example, are being instructed to watch reruns of "Friends" to acquaint themselves with the cultural norms of American consumers, said Mr. Disher, the Booz Allen specialist. Trainees at many firms are also asked to read American newspapers and magazines, and are coached on American consumer habits." Yeah, that should help!

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