Calling India

"I'm having difficulty understanding you, sir"
"Can you spell that out again for me, sir"
"I can't hear you properly on this line, sir"

The above is an almost verbatim extract from a recent telephone conversation I had with internet service provider Tiscali. Devoid of any technical knowledge of PCs and with a scant grasp of the English language, the operator struggled to assist me in a call which lasted an unnecessary and expensive 30 minutes.

This type of complaint is common to service users in the UK and elsewhere as an ever-increasing number of organisations relocate their call-centres to India. This relatively new culture - 'business process outsourcing' - is positively flourishing. Everyone from established multinational companies to greedy entrepreneurs line their pockets by offering products at competitive market rates with little regard for quality of service. There are a vast number of articles online which expand on the practice from an employee perspective, which in the case of some US companies dictates that staff immerse themselves in American culture, to the detriment of their own.

Consumers should take a stand. In future, it is my intention to avoid using organisations who take the BPO route and I would urge others to do the same.