Reply to: Ffffffing Indian Call Centres

[Euro-commuter]

Well with my bank I have to call an 0800 number at £180 a second and have to go through 92 menus which takes three hours, then get an Indian called Rupert who doesn't speak English.

When I call my Swiss bank I always get someone at my branch who speaks perfect English.

[wendigo100]

Change banks then, bleating on here won't help.

[GreenerGrass]

Well with my bank I have to call an 0800 number at £180 a second and have to go through 92 menus which takes three hours, then get an Indian called Rupert who doesn't speak English.

Change banks then, bleating on here won't help. If everyone did something about it, complained, changed banks, whatever offshoring would finally be reversed. I can't imagine Cater Allen having an Indian call centre - the account would be closed within a day.

As for High St names: "Halifax, the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Nationwide said they did not have call centres in India"

And on the unsolicited calls, since moving house I plumped for both an ex-directory number and registered with the TPS and don't think I've had any Guptas ringing up since.

[wendigo100]

Well with my bank I have to call an 0800 number at £180 a second and have to go through 92 menus which takes three hours, then get an Indian called Rupert who doesn't speak English.

[Ardesco]

I am getting sick and tired of being ripped off left right and centre by our greedy banks, utilities and other scumbags.
Anyone calling 0870, 0845x, etc nos is getting charged min 50p or so a minute. Most banks have cottoned on to that and have inserted another 10 sets of menus so that by the time you get to your choice you have spent about 10 mins, then if you need assistance, you are put in a queue and wait for another few mins (while they are happily charging you) and then when you hear a human voice (albeit an Indian one) you have to go through another 2 mins id verification (despite tapping all this on your phone beforehand) - all designed to rip you off nicely thnk you.
The newest trick is when some of them ring you on your mobile - someone did raise that earlier - and YOU PAY! They must be using a reverse charge system. UN - f'n - BELIEVABLE you may say. It's true and it doesn't always register as a debit unless you check straight away or have a PAYG mobile.
PS
LloydsTSB are in the process of closing their disgraceful Indian Call Centre and returning back to the UK after spending 000's over there. They also are about to provide individual nos for their branches having lost a significant amount of market share in the procees. Hope they and others have learnt a f'n lesson.

HTH

[oraclesmith]

No thankyou!

No need to get upset, o Belgian one, just stick to the facts.

[TinTin]

F**k me!

Do you work for BT? I expect I'll get someone from C&W saying they are cheaper!
Did you get my point or are you going through the spelling now?

[oraclesmith]

Anyone calling 0870, 0845x, etc nos is getting charged min 50p or so a minute.

Not true. National rate calls (0870) cost no more than 8p per minute from a BT landline. 0845 numbers cost the caller no more than 5p per minute from a BT landline. Less in off peak hours.

[TinTin]

Tele-cons

I am getting sick and tired of being ripped off left right and centre by our greedy banks, utilities and other scumbags.
Anyone calling 0870, 0845x, etc nos is getting charged min 50p or so a minute. Most banks have cottoned on to that and have inserted another 10 sets of menus so that by the time you get to your choice you have spent about 10 mins, then if you need assistance, you are put in a queue and wait for another few mins (while they are happily charging you) and then when you hear a human voice (albeit an Indian one) you have to go through another 2 mins id verification (despite tapping all this on your phone beforehand) - all designed to rip you off nicely thnk you.
The newest trick is when some of them ring you on your mobile - someone did raise that earlier - and YOU PAY! They must be using a reverse charge system. UN - f'n - BELIEVABLE you may say. It's true and it doesn't always register as a debit unless you check straight away or have a PAYG mobile.
PS
LloydsTSB are in the process of closing their disgraceful Indian Call Centre and returning back to the UK after spending 000's over there. They also are about to provide individual nos for their branches having lost a significant amount of market share in the procees. Hope they and others have learnt a f'n lesson.

[VectraMan]

I've registered both my landline and mobile with the TPS. Since I've been working at home a couple of days a week I'm amazed at how many of these phone calls I get in the middle of the day that I would have had no idea about. Most annoying is when there's nobody there at all.

TPS doesn't stop those, and doesn't seem to stop Virgin sending me spam text messages about Big Brother either.

[maximus]

Lloyds TSB broke one of the great taboos of corporate life this week. It acknowledged publicly that it had a problem with the honesty of some of its employees.

The bank has bought a new generation of super-smart computer sofware that will enable it to keep better tabs on its 67,000 staff. The computer program will monitor 75 million transactions a day by branch and call-centre staff in an attempt to identify suspicious patterns and nail the culprits.

Lloyds has been brave to raise the issue publicly and push ahead with a crackdown. It risks being accused of snooping on its own people and not trusting them. But with widespread evidence of criminal gangs infiltrating call centres, it is right to do so.

[xoggoth]

Perhaps worth me trying again then gonzo.

[Gonzo]

I get phoned at least four times as a rock bottom minimum.. Sometimes British companies like double glazing or similar, but often these poxy Indian accents. Frequently it just rings and is nobody there. I understand they have automated systems that ring lists of numbers and somebody speaks only if a there is a call centre BASTARD not busy annoying somebody else.

If anyone has a remedy I would love to hear it. I subscribed to the TPS over a year ago but it made no difference. This is a real problem as by about the fifth call of the morning I get so pissed off I pick up the phone and yell "whaaaaaaaaaaat ya f* want u baaastard??" only to find it is a genuine caller.

I found that using the TPS worked a treat. From memory, I think that there were two different places that you had to call for this to be effective.

I also remember reading at the time that it was necessary to repeat the process every year, but so far I have not had to and the calls have not started again.

[xoggoth]

I get phoned at least four times as a rock bottom minimum.. Sometimes British companies like double glazing or similar, but often these poxy Indian accents. Frequently it just rings and is nobody there. I understand they have automated systems that ring lists of numbers and somebody speaks only if a there is a call centre BASTARD not busy annoying somebody else.

If anyone has a remedy I would love to hear it. I subscribed to the TPS over a year ago but it made no difference. This is a real problem as by about the fifth call of the morning I get so pissed off I pick up the phone and yell "whaaaaaaaaaaat ya f* want u baaastard??" only to find it is a genuine caller.

[Moose423956]

Actually there is a large (albeit minority in the vastness of India) Christian population who might well have those names.

Maybe, but when one rang me and said in a broad Indian accent "Hello my name is Morgan McKenna", I nearly pissed myself. How likely is it that someone in India would have that name?