Well, one of the joys of the offshore call center is that the world is
now a much smaller place. This morning I went on a trip around
the world - several trips actually - and it only took about 45 minutes.
I had cancelled a subscription to an online accounting service, hosted
by a well known small business software company, I won't mention
their name (intuit), and it looked like they had doubled billed my credit
card (it turns out they did not, but that is another story).
So I go onto the web site, and like many companies these days there
was no phone number to call, just an e-mail option. Well, I want to
talk to a real person, so I call the number on my credit card statement.
The man that answered the phone was obviously of recent Indian
ancestry, but he was polite and asked how he could help me. I
explained my situation, and he says it is an online issue and he gave
me the number to the online help desk.
I call the number he gave me and it was PayPal. OK, maybe I
miscalled; no it was PayPal. So I call the man back, I get a different
Indian this time, explained my problem, and he said it was an online
issue and he will give me the number to the online help desk. Wait a
sec, I say, The last guy gave me a number and it was PayPal.
Paypal, that's not right he assured me, and indeed the number he
gave me was a different number.
I call the number he gave me and it was the online helpdesk. Excellent!
But after explaining my problem he says that is a billing issue, you need
to talk to the billing department, the number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Well, that
is the number I just talked to, twice!. I tell him this and he says, yes,
this
is indeed the people I need to talk to about billing issues. OK.
I call the number he gave me (the same number) and I get another Indian
gentlemen. I explain my problem and he says that is an online issue, I
need to talk to the online helpdesk. Stop, I say! I just talked to them
and they say I need to talk to you. That can't be he says, we can't pull
up any online transactions, only they can do it. But they can't do it
either,
I claim. OK - he will call them and they will get to the bottom of this. I
am put on hold. 10 minutes letter I am talking to someone new, I don't
know what department they belong to, I explain my problem and he says,
Oh, that is a billing issue, I will transfer you to the billing department.
(I
have now deduced that this gentleman was with the online helpdesk!) Oh
no you won't, you want to transfer me to xxx-xxx-xxxx don't you? Yes,
he says. Well they sent me to you! What is going on here? Hold on. He
says. Another 10 minutes later he returns: you need to go online and
e-mail your question, that is how all online support is done.
Well at least now I know.
Mind you, this is not a bash on Indians, per se, It is a bash on companies
that
think offshore, hence convoluted, customer support paths are cost effective.
They are not.
I had a very high opinion of Intuit but now I'm just frustrated. Until we
let
these companies know that customer service cannot be slighted (by taking
our business elsewhere) they will continue to do it.
kpg
PS - I just installed QuickBooks 2005. Oh well.