Call Centres?

[#1]

I have had to call plusnet a couple of times over the last week for a bit of assistance setting something up..both of the plusnet staff I got through to sounded Asian..prompting me to wonder if Plusnet have now started subbing the work out abroad.
Is this the case?
If so its got to be a shot in the foot for plusnet, given all of the bad press and general disgruntlement with foreign call centres...plusnet have slipped a little in customer satisfaction (which magazine) if they have started farming the work out abroad the the slippery slope is going to get a coat of grease.
The reason I and a lot of other people left Orange is because of the awful customer service provided from abroad..which can only be described at best as a joke!
So, plusnet..whats the word?

[#2]

to make sure you get through to CSC Sheffield  0114-296-5198
theres a few threads all ready about the south affica call centre

[#3]

Hi there,
We commented about our two call centres in this blog post.
http://community.plus.net/blog/2008/09/29/customer-support-centre-update/

[#4]

Hi James...thanks for the reply..
The two call centre staff I spoke to certainly didnt sound very South African though....and I spent a fair chunk of the time on the phone saying 'pardon?'
In times where UK companies are punting their business on the strength of them having British call centres going to a foreign one now is crazy....if its not about money what is it about then?...if its not about money when not set something up here?
Like others, one of the big selling points for PN and the reason I too joined was the fact they had British call centres, PN used to sell this point..obviously knowing that Asian ones DONT WORK.
Its funny how all companies use the British accent for their recorded messages before you get diverted to 'Paul' in New Deli...did anyone ever noticed that when they their old ISP up to complain and ask for a Migration Code...you get put straight through to a very British call centre operative to try and talk you out of it???!!...the irony!
As for the 0114 number... ;D...you have got to be kidding..I got hold of Lord Lucan riding Shergar twice while I was waiting to get through on that number!
Disapointing PN...
I dont want to change providers, and in all fairness my problem was dealt with ok...the staff were  very polite and helpful..certainly more so then  Orange have working for them (not say much I know)  once they had transfered me to the right dept..even after explaining my problem...and I wont change for the sake of it as I rarely have any difficulties..and I do find PN a very good company
So lets see how it goes....but if you notice your numbers dropping and people asking for MAC codes...or ISP surveys like Which? giving you low marks...it wont take much working out why'

[#5]

This is why Plusnet are desperately forcing new subscribers to lock-in for 18 months.
The UK base for their call centre was a prime reason for favouring Plusnet over any other internet provider - a cheap service, but with rubbish service isn't worth having.
AFAIK the ex-Indian, South African call centre was never advertised as a plus.

[#6]

A fact not mentioned often is that Plus Net inherited the South African call centre when they took over the John Lewis set up,  at first it was said it was going to be a reserve centre, but who knows now?

[#7]

The South African call centre handles a number of our customer service calls.  All technical, faults, sales and customer options (retentions) calls are handled by the UK.
Jeremy - I often find your conspiracy theroies amusing, but as usual you're fairly wide of the mark.
TPP - How long were you waiting for?  The longest wait yesterday was 11m10 a little after 2pm, which is longer than we aim for (we aim for a longest wait of 8-10 minutes).
http://csc.plus.net is a good indicator for how busy the phone lines are at the moment.

[#8]

Hi James..

Quote

TPP - How long were you waiting for?  The longest wait yesterday was 11m10 a little after 2pm, which is longer than we aim for (we aim for a longest wait of 8-10 minutes).

Maybe less then five minutes..but waiting time were not the suject of my original post....but, if you have taken steps to address the waiting times problem then thats great..given the bad write up you had in Which? magazines last report on ISP waiting time..but 8-10 mintues in my opinion is still an unacceptable time to wait...(especially when your paying for the call), I think PN have set their standards a bit low here and are happy when they achieve them.

Quote

All technical, faults, sales and customer options (retentions) calls are handled by the UK.

Does it really matter where they are from if the call centre staff speak poor English in the first place?
As I said, I rarely have to ring plusnet given the fact that the site itself has plenty of information..so lets just see how it goes for now.
PS...who is the sweet Scotish sounding old lady who does the menus when you first get through to PN?...its really nice to hear a friendly voice instead of that weird home counties posh laddette drawl that seems to be poular with a lot of phone services.

[#9]

plusnets foreign call centre,how to upset a customer in one easy step. A quick question about home phone. "excuse me PN you have made a mistake on my bill" , "no sir your bill is correct" , "but you havnt charged me for calls" , "thats because they are charged in arrears" , "yes i know but you havnt charged me for last months calls on this bill" , "calls are charged in arrears sir", "yes i know and you havnt charged me for them". And so it went on like hitting wall with head so decided to try something different to explain. "you also havnt charged me for caller display etc","that is because you dont have them sir" , "thats strange because account and phone say i do" , "oh yes that is strange it says you have 2 at £4.99","no they are discounted because i have 2" , "that used to be so sir but the information we have is that anonymous call no longer counts" ,"your website says it does" ,"does it,most strange,it cant have been updated yet" ,and so this phone call comedy went on till " dont worry sir if there are calls missing due to information delay they will be added to your next bill " .So it was of no surprise to recieve an interim direct debit notification well before next bill is due for calls not charged.
I have no problems with foreign call centres EXCEPT when they struggle to understand me , when they seem to blatently read from a script , when they give such blatently wrong information , when i have to put the phone down in frustation cursing the person who hired them.
so i am afraid PN for increasing CS to shorten waiting time you get an A+
For not ensuring that they are properly trained in dealing with people in this country you get an F (please see teacher after class)
Rant done feel a bit better now 

[#10]

Hi Dodgydog,
If you'd like to drop me a PM with a number, name and a suitable time to call I'll make sure that you're phoned to discuss your bill.
I'm sorry that you feel frustrated with the level of support from your phone call.

[#11]

Hi JAMESEH
thanks for the quick reply and offer , as far as i can tell the bill is now righted due to interim DD. My point was that i was telling him i had not been billed enough and he either didnt or wouldnt understand what i was saying and kept just repeating the same thing as if it was being read out from a sheet.
Also i did not mean to infer that it was all outer uk call centre staff as on a previous call i was helped by a lady at your "other call centre" who was polite , knowledgable and  sorted my problem there and then,she also took the time to call back next day to ensure it had been done , I just think that maybe some are not quite qualified for the job they do hence lowering the reputation of all, after all a bad experience will generate 10 times the response of a good one , Again many thanks for offer

[#12]

@dodgydog
I still think it would be a good idea to talk to James  on the phone nonetheless. This will be the opportunity to at least put a few things right.

[#13]

Foreign call centres are like the curates egg.

[#14]

[#15]

Quote from: The

I have had to call plusnet a couple of times over the last week for a bit of assistance setting something up..both of the plusnet staff I got through to sounded Asian..prompting me to wonder if Plusnet have now started subbing the work out abroad. Is this the case? If so its got to be a shot in the foot for plusnet, given all of the bad press and general disgruntlement with foreign call centres...plusnet have slipped a little in customer satisfaction (which magazine) if they have started farming the work out abroad the the slippery slope is going to get a coat of grease. The reason I and a lot of other people left Orange is because of the awful customer service provided from abroad..which can only be described at best as a joke! So, plusnet..whats the word?

After being with aol for ten years, id had enough suffering of the indian call centers, im sure wen i looked at the plusnet site it said UK BASED CALL CENTER, cannot see that now, how ever, after quite a few fone calls, ive yet to speak to one english sounding operator, this morning i got through to 'Tiffany' who sounded more asian than the local takeaway, im sorry PN but this is really not on, especially after i had just left one nightmare call center for another, and now i am tied for 19 months, wish id never left aol, who incidently offered me unlimited for 5.99 a month to stay, was using the 5.99 package with PN but within 2 weeks i had used my usage and have had to upgrade to unlimited at £15.99, £10 more than aol, i feel conned and pissed off with PN and cant wait till my contract is up, will certainly be leaving