Bypass Indian Call Centers!

[KungFuKitty]

Hi all :)
Just a quick tid-bit i learnt today when calling VM to change some things around in my own account.. most of you will probably already know but i didn't! so passing this along...

When i called via 150 number pressing (5) for retentions i talked to a bloke who let me know that going through retentions is usually the best way for most things you'll want to do, as you bypass the indian call centers and get straight through to one of the two UK-based ones that arn't usually too busy.

He said they are able to assist you in everything other than Billing and Tech Support, in which case he said it's possible for them to just forward you on to another UK based call center, dodging the indian sites all together!

Thought this might be useful to some of you who find it hard to understand the people in the Indian call centers or simply don't like 'em :p:

~ KFK. :tu:

P.S: Apologies for wrong section, not sure where it would be suitable!

[Blairhoyle]

so if I phone them asking why me speed isn't what it should be they will transfer me to a UK department who will help me?

[KungFuKitty]

According to the guy i spoke to yes, just make sure you go through retentions.
UK help can be obtained from 8am - 8pm, all of it can be settled through UK centers if you state to retentions that you can't understand indian CS lol.

[Nopanic]

:erm: yeah ok .. :dunce:

[Ignitionnet]

Probably not wise to have this widespread. Get everyone doing this and fairly rapidly retentions get tied up as a glorified switchboard and UK TS/CS get tied up with retentions transfers, eventually retentions get prevented from transferring calls in cases where people genuinely need UK assistance rather than wanting to bypass offshore - not good.

[phileas]

I think we all need asistance from a UK call centre. :)

[kwikbreaks]

Get everyone doing thisConsidering VM have several million customers I doubt the few hundred that will see this thread will have any great impact.

[KungFuKitty]

Considering VM have several million customers I doubt the few hundred that will see this thread will have any great impact.
Exactly :D if it helps a few people avoid some stress on CF it's worth it! :tu:

[Maggy]

It is however amazing how much this sort of info gets passed on to other forums..and the small number will soon escalate.


I do have one tip that won't annoy VM staff so much and that is to actually phone CS at around 8 am and you more likely get a UK based operative.;)

[KenK]

I do have one tip that won't annoy VM staff so much and that is to actually phone CS at around 8 am and you more likely get a UK based operative.;)Useful info, but at 8am I'm usually on my way to work. If I didn't turn up they'd wouldn't pay me, and then I'd have no services to phone VM CS about ... ;)

[Nopanic]

Probably not wise to have this widespread. Get everyone doing this and fairly rapidly retentions get tied up as a glorified switchboard and UK TS/CS get tied up with retentions transfers, eventually retentions get prevented from transferring calls in cases where people genuinely need UK assistance rather than wanting to bypass offshore - not good.

you'll find once people call up and don't get put through to a UK agent they'll soon get the message ;) I think it was you who said how much Retentions will do to keep someone :cool:

[bandit2329]

Hi have always used this way to contact vm.

[Russ]

Thanks for the tip - trying this would make me far more inclined to call CS than hoping whatever the problem is will "sort itself out". Having an Indian callcentre really puts me off contacting VM :tu:

[Efour]

I agree, Ive recently been having(still having) connection problems and after 4 attempts to put my case across to Indian employees i got lucky and had a Uk one that heleped me within 3 minutes.

The offshore staff are good at doing the dog work but cant deviate from the script at all so its a total waste of time for anything more difficult with your service providings.

[theoldbill]

Why not ring the 0800 052 0431 (given by VM reps) until you get a UK bod!

[Peter_]

Why not ring the 0800 052 0431 (given by VM reps) until you get a UK bod!
That is the 50Mb Support Line so you would be transferred into the main queue and back to square one.:erm::D

[KungFuKitty]

Thanks for the tip - trying this would make me far more inclined to call CS than hoping whatever the problem is will "sort itself out". Having an Indian callcentre really puts me off contacting VM :tu:

No worries mate :tu: and yup i know what you mean, i've been through the indian centers a ton and it just makes the whole situation a hundred times more frustrating!

[Nicosia]

Hi all :)
Just a quick tid-bit i learnt today when calling VM to change some things around in my own account.. most of you will probably already know but i didn't! so passing this along...

When i called via 150 number pressing (5) for retentions i talked to a bloke who let me know that going through retentions is usually the best way for most things you'll want to do, as you bypass the indian call centers and get straight through to one of the two UK-based ones that arn't usually too busy.

He said they are able to assist you in everything other than Billing and Tech Support, in which case he said it's possible for them to just forward you on to another UK based call center, dodging the indian sites all together!

Thought this might be useful to some of you who find it hard to understand the people in the Indian call centers or simply don't like 'em :p:

~ KFK. :tu:

P.S: Apologies for wrong section, not sure where it would be suitable!

that is a very useful tip! I hate getting through to india because i never understand them and 9 times out of ten they dont understand me either and when a tech came round to my house one day he told me that virgin medias biggest complaint is about the indian call centers

[Sirius]

I had a issue with my telephone number not being recognised by the new phone system when you dial 150 or 151. I was put through to the Indian call centre who told me my number had been removed from the exchange and i would need a new number issued. :erm:

1. So did i accept that answer and have them change my number

2. Say thank you and put the phone down in shock .

3. Just put the phone down and :rofl:

BTW the fault was actually my phone keypad which i found out later when i tried to phone a friend and found that the 9 key was not working

[Mick Fisher]

Wouldn't it be refreshing if they just said "I'm sorry Sir I don't know but I know a man who probably does." before transferring your call to 2nd line support in the UK.

[qasdfdsaq]

Their scriptings doesn't allow that.

[Peter_]

Wouldn't it be refreshing if they just said "I'm sorry Sir I don't know but I know a man who probably does." before transferring your call to 2nd line support in the UK.
It is very rare that you would ever get to speak to a 2nd line agent as they do not usually take calls from 1st line agents.

[Risco]

The problem with their call centres is not the fact they are Indian, but that they are completely and utterly clueless! Compare this to say Dell support who also base theirs in India and it is night and day.

Instead of paying them peanuts and training them to be script reading idiots, actually give them some decent training and make sure they don't have an accent that is so thick, it makes it difficult to understand.

I think at the very least if you are on VIP, then that is what it means. Therefore you should be guaranteed a UK call centre up til midnight. I and others are paying top dollar, the service should reflect that.

[Mick Fisher]

It is very rare that you would ever get to speak to a 2nd line agent as they do not usually take calls from 1st line agents.
Well I did say it would be refreshing. :)

!st line 2nd line who gives a toss just transfer me to someone who has a clue and some will to try and do the job they are paid to do.

---------- Post added at 19:31 ---------- Previous post was at 19:28 ----------

The problem with their call centres is not the fact they are Indian, but that they are completely and utterly clueless! Compare this to say Dell support who also base theirs in India and it is night and day.

Instead of paying them peanuts and training them to be script reading idiots, actually give them some decent training and make sure they don't have an accent that is so thick, it makes it difficult to understand.

I think at the very least if you are on VIP, then that is what it means. Therefore you should be guaranteed a UK call centre up til midnight. I and others are paying top dollar, the service should reflect that.
Well said. In principal I find myself agreeing with you except for the VIP bit. A decent support service should be available to all subscribers.

[Sleeper919]

I agree with a lot of points made here. I tried to explain a problem I've been having wth my modem to a CS guy from India, and while his english was good he didn't understand the issue and sounded like he was just reeling off lines from his monitor.

[KungFuKitty]

It's not so much where they come from, lol, as you know. It's the fact of them being scripted and terribly trained and also the fact that... sorry if this isn't "pc" enough for some people... but their indian accents can be so thick it's hard to understand. I've had a couple of guys from Indian Call Centers that spoke great english but were still trained horribly, yet 9/10 times, for me anyway... it's very hard to understand.

To comment on the "VIP" top-dollar service i disagree, anyone paying for a service should be able to speak immediately with somebody who'll take your issue seriously, not just follow a script and also be able to speak very well in the company's user based language.

If somebody was phoning one of their services in India and they recieved a thick scottish accent that basically just went down through a script, barely listening, i'm sure they'd get frustrated too.

[dgcarter]

I think at the very least if you are on VIP, then that is what it means. Therefore you should be guaranteed a UK call centre up til midnight. I and others are paying top dollar, the service should reflect that.

I thought it meant Very Impressive Package