Saturday, May 2, 2009

Customer Service or IS IT????



IN India, the term ‘customer service’ takes a whole new definition.

Dare to ask…..

I ll tell u anyways

I dont know why they call themselves so , but these telephone customer service executives.. to be precise BSNL, take it to another level.. And whenever you call them u come out feeling like shit, frustrated and pissed to the core.

To start off, the annoying automated answering machine goes off and in that horrible accent she says “ For English press 1, for Hindi press 2 and for Telugu press 3. “

Once u press 1 for English the call goes on hold for 15 minutes and the lady comes on saying something in Telugu.. Instead of taking down my complain, she asks me to speak in Telugu. I don’t know that language dude!!!!!!!! That is why I pressed 1 for English. Isn' t that common sense.. or what? Why the hell did u waste my time in the first place with that stupid selection menu. My hears hurt by now!!!!!

Then she puts me on hold for another 5 min and another chap comes on line saying something in Telugu. This soul does not know a word of English. He goes off for another ten minutes and calls another guy who speaks in very broken English and by the time I m done explaining him my problem he says ‘Telugu madam’

UGhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh





By this time, the content of my complain has changed. I wanna talk to their supervisor and get some English speaking customer service executives or whatever they call themselves!!!!!!!! I don’t care about my damn telephone service.

P.S. None of them spoke in Hindi either…

Haiku

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75 comments:

  1. LuciferMay 2, 2009 at 8:59 PM

    hahahahaha...u kno wat don't blame d customer service for this...thats south india for ya

    ReplyDelete
  2. PallavMay 2, 2009 at 9:02 PM

    ohh...ff......
    i can understnad the problem bcz earlier we use to face the similar prblm..then we switched to Airtel... n u wont beive here the prblm become worst...
    people dont knw how to speak, they takje ages to solve an issue..
    i thot it only happens with the BSNL..but...
    anyways..
    the worst part is wen they keep u waiting for atleast 15 mins... n with terrible automated tape " our customers r imprtant for us, pls be with us, wour executive will be shortly with u...
    uggggggggggghhh...

    very nice post...bucket full of emotion...
    hehehe...
    jst kidding
    hey hope u r well
    after long time u hv written...

    ciyaaa...
    n cheers :)
    Pallav
    vaisey yipeee i m the frist....

    ReplyDelete
  3. in search of ......May 3, 2009 at 12:33 AM

    look for a solution workhard....opt for vodafone or airtel....they have bttr customer service centre....n if u r troubled with them change again.....n change till date u r satisfied..its not a marriage tht u cant break....lol....complaining abt something wont solve....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amritorupa Kanjilal May 3, 2009 at 6:31 AM

    LOL! i love how you put my thought into words Saara

    ReplyDelete
  5. VeluMay 3, 2009 at 7:51 AM

    Crap absolute crap! I demand a recount of votes. or whatever to get BSNL in shape. Atleast here in maharashtra, the BSNL is better.

    Cheers,
    Velu

    ReplyDelete
  6. ShantanuDasMay 3, 2009 at 7:59 AM

    Haha! I fully agree. I would like to kill them all!! I have in fact lost it several times.. totally duds they are..

    Actually I may get angry, you may get angry, but what is happening is something that someone should sit up and take notice of..

    Proper people are jsut not available in INDIA.. and the companies are just using whatever they get.. Mostly I guess are call centres.. This is not just BSNL all are same!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. RazzerMay 3, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    Yep Yep...EVerybody goes thru that....and it's quite frustrating. That's why I had written this...
    http://takeuplaces.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-2-excuses-by-call-centre-agents-and.html

    I wonder if this wud help u? Hope it does. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. workhardMay 3, 2009 at 1:47 PM

    Mayz..Really? maybe i should move up north...

    Pallav: Hi.. thanks for asking but im good .. its just that i keep getting tied up in these ruts.. call the internet guy,, call the cable guy, call the network guy, and now because of the heat, call the ac, and the cooler techinician.. and huh.. the list goes on.. and u know what happens when u call them...

    thanks for dropping by.. will visit u soon..

    ReplyDelete
  9. workhardMay 3, 2009 at 1:49 PM

    in search of ...... After searching for the perfect 'bridegroom' i ended up with this.. i cannot stand vodafone and airtel service.. i guess i have to try idea..


    LGL.. we hit a score together on sharing emotions girl.. how u doing..nice to see u here

    ReplyDelete
  10. workhardMay 3, 2009 at 1:50 PM

    Velu.. Im moving to maharashtra then

    ReplyDelete
  11. workhardMay 3, 2009 at 1:52 PM

    ShantanuDas : how true when u say that they just dont have proper people in India to take care of customer service.. i think that the ppl i spoke to on the phone were like 10th fail.

    ReplyDelete
  12. workhardMay 3, 2009 at 1:53 PM

    Andy.. i read ur post and pretty neat..stuff.. what a helpful soul u are.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. AshritaMay 3, 2009 at 7:28 PM

    HAHAHAHA omg... This was hilarious! On a more serious note you should have given them a huge thrashing and spoken to their supervisor come what may. I don't know about BSNL, but Airtel sucked when I was in Goa and I am pretty happy with Vodafone these days orelse they used to suck too back when they were Hutch!

    ReplyDelete
  14. SmitaMay 3, 2009 at 8:59 PM

    It is damn frustrating...

    I have a tata broadband connection, every time it goes down I call them and register a complain for no connectivity and next day I receive a call telling me that I have registered a complain for shifting of connection. The worst thing is that the buggers don't accept that it was the mistake of their so called customer care.

    I can understand your feelings...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Swetha PadakandlaMay 3, 2009 at 11:08 PM

    hmmm!
    always i end up loosing my patience with customer care executives..
    but dint knew it wud be worst than this..

    especially that holding tone makes ma blood boiling..

    cheers
    swetha

    ReplyDelete
  16. vinnyMay 4, 2009 at 12:29 AM

    hey..so does this mean that u r still entangled with that virus of 'customer service'?? n i was wondering u MUST BE working hard as usual:)
    i am with u in word as well as spirit...:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. workhardMay 4, 2009 at 5:31 AM

    Satan's Darling.. In not sure if they would have understood the word 'Supervisor'..


    Smita: Tata tooooo...oh how i hate it when they dont accept their mistakes.. that irks me even more..

    ReplyDelete
  18. workhardMay 4, 2009 at 5:35 AM

    Swetha Padakandla: true.. tht hold tone especially when its in the language u dont know...

    Vinnie.. baby.. im working hard planning, plotting and scheming how to get back at these customer service people..


    And its really funny how they call themselves customer Care Executives..

    ReplyDelete
  19. SakshiMay 4, 2009 at 8:24 AM

    Hey let me give you an insight for the non availability of an english speaking executive even after u press 1. Well...it's Elementary, my dear Saara coz all the so called hinglish ispeaking ppl are assigned to torture NRI's and other foreigners who call up customer service.

    When we call from here I can make out in an instant that it's an Indian who is posing as an executive for my Bank Of America account. It's damn irritating that even though the idiot knows am an Indian from my very own accent he or she dares to ask me to spell out my name, and everything in between as if like they are hearing it for the first time. The moment they know we are Indians the accent takes up to yet another level...it's like they are thinking ohh u ass holes u made it to USA and still speak in ur mother tongue but we know Hinglish like the Americans...grrrr..well I have a whole collection of such incidents I had with customer service here but the best one was when I called one of them and after more than half an hr of talk when I saw we are not getting anywhere I took a chance and said Why don't you just speak in Hindi, Malayalam or tamil and there was a prompt happy reply O...malayali aano (R u a malayali too??). well we got done with the query in 2 seconds and for the next 10 minutes talked about the kerala rains, coconut and jackfruit seeds...

    ReplyDelete
  20. workhardMay 4, 2009 at 11:55 AM

    Sakshi...LOL.. that helped and u actually got into a conversation with that dude.. coconut and jackfruit.. now there was a positive outcome..;)

    ReplyDelete
  21. NRMay 4, 2009 at 12:25 PM

    lol...even if they are not able to speak in the language which they should, at least one would b satisfied if they help u for which u called them for approached them.

    Last week i had to go to this BSNL Customer Care Office where i wanted to surrender my postpaid mobile connection...believe being the customer care section no one was able to tell me where to go n surrender the connection as half of the staff as usual were not there....n they have no idea about how to get 3G connection!!!

    Next to useless!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. workhardMay 4, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    Nazish Rahman: How true.. i went to BSNL office once to change my number and they had no clue where to direct me.. and they made me run around to 3 buildings and none of them knew what to do.. i got so frustrated.. i decided to keep this number...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Geanina CoditaMay 5, 2009 at 12:22 AM

    Many Greetings from Romania. You have a very nice blog with lot of color and text that you represent. See you soon!
    http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=ro&ie=UTF-8&u=www.geaninacodita.blogspot.com&sl=ro&tl=en&history_state0=ro%7Cen%7CMulte%2520salutari%2520din%2520Romania.%2520Ai%2520un%2520blog%2520foarte%2520frumos%2520cu%2520multa%2520culoare%2520si%2520text%2520care%2520te%2520reprezinta.%2520Pe%2520cur%25C3%25A2nd%21%250D%250A

    ReplyDelete
  24. pradeepMay 5, 2009 at 1:57 AM

    Hey I was scared to know that you follow my blog...was a pleasant surprise...But after cuminnh to your space I realised how big is your world and hv been trying to figure out whats happening around your blog..!! Please help me open my eyes !!
    pradeep

    ReplyDelete
  25. OnwardMay 8, 2009 at 2:35 PM

    I think i have a solution for you..its the quickest and easiest method considering we r talking about BSNL here...it goes like this...u should learn TELUGU....hehe...therz absolutely no other way around it....i toh have never had this problem..airtel customer service people have always been really good to me...damn i miss them..hehe

    ReplyDelete
  26. Uncertain PrincessMay 9, 2009 at 12:07 AM

    it hapened with me2..they made me stay on hold for 15 mints and hung up,damn frustrating. din't feel lik calling again ever and changed ma sim 2 airtel!
    fine blog dude n loved d post...

    ReplyDelete
  27. bacteriaMay 9, 2009 at 12:13 PM

    hey it is not all that bad. i keep calling tata broadband and i get to a call centre in Hyderabad. everybody speaks too fast and they don't solve your problem. they thank you for calling them and also tell you that they are at your service and if there is something else they can do for you. i am so tempted to tell them to send me a dosa for dinner!

    ReplyDelete
  28. AnonymousMay 9, 2009 at 12:42 PM

    Ohh this language thing happened with me too..

    I selected english and up came kannada...

    he even said that when i was in karnataka i ought to know kannada in broken hinglish...

    how do i tell him that i was posted by the govt... he wont understand now would he ?? :P

    Thanks for dropping by my blog..

    salutes...

    wolfy.

    ReplyDelete
  29. workhardMay 10, 2009 at 1:37 AM

    Geanina Codita: Thanks for dropping by

    Hi Pradeeep.. Just hang in there and you ll learn yourself.. thanx for the nice comment

    Dream R.. HOn.. Telugu is not an easy language to learn.. its not impossible.. but not easy... and i really dont think .. im gonna learn telugu only for these suckers

    ReplyDelete
  30. workhardMay 10, 2009 at 1:39 AM

    Uncertain Princess: You are most welcome here.. i have been jumping from one phone service to another.. and thats frustrating

    bacteria..LOL.. can you order some for me toooo
    That was funny man...

    Wolfy...Join the frustrated club ;) Really man.. these people can get to anyone....Welcome here...

    ReplyDelete
  31. ARUNAMay 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM

    lol lot of complaints against BSNL customer service........my dad is DGM in BSNL,let me pass this to him, they shd know right!! But its not only with BSNL u know, a lot of customer care depts r stinking like this....i faced a lot of trouble dealing with credit card customer care while i was in chennai!

    ReplyDelete
  32. HoneyBeeMay 11, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    Bwahaha!! Oh my, your description is just so livid yet funny. And I thank God that although the operators here are slow, they can still speak good English.

    ReplyDelete
  33. CarlaMay 14, 2009 at 5:43 AM

    LOL! I'm feeling your pain! I dread calling ANYWHERE for help. The picture says it all.

    ReplyDelete
  34. CarrieMay 14, 2009 at 10:58 AM

    Thanks for your visit to my nativity blog and for your lovely comments. Hope to see you at my regular blog too.
    Carrie - Oak Rise Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  35. workhardMay 14, 2009 at 11:30 AM

    Hey Aruna : Ur dad works for BSNL.. girl.. changed n number of services.. and i know what u mean when u say they everywhere...

    Hi Honeybee.. I wd say you got luck then ;)

    ReplyDelete
  36. workhardMay 14, 2009 at 11:39 AM

    Carla.. I think we all better be careful whome we call for help..Thanks for the visit..


    Carrie.. I will definitely visit you again..Thanks fro dropping by..

    ReplyDelete
  37. KartzMay 14, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    Ah... Why am I not surprised.

    Take heart, ma'am. You are not alone. The situation exists everywhere. Even world class universities like NTU and NUS (Singapore) have these punks who can't even speak basic English. :|

    Long story. Will rant sometime.

    Anyway, trust things are fine at ur end, ma'am.

    Tc.

    Peace.

    ReplyDelete
  38. workhardMay 14, 2009 at 1:33 PM

    Hey Kartz.. Hmm in Singapore too...
    i guess they have this section everywhere.. Nice to see you here and for the nice comments..:)Will be visitng you soon

    ReplyDelete
  39. IreMay 16, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    I agree with your post. It is frustrating!

    ReplyDelete
  40. SabahMay 17, 2009 at 2:06 AM

    Oh boy.. You can write, damn right!! and I can identify with ya babes cuz im forever confused too.. be it anything.. keep writing , I am a follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  41. workhardMay 17, 2009 at 2:40 AM

    Hi Nikki.. thanks for dropping by

    HEy Sabah. Hey thanks for the encouraging words girl..

    ReplyDelete
  42. JulezMay 18, 2009 at 12:59 AM

    I completely agree with u....this has been the case with me so many times......
    Poor us!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  43. PreetiMay 18, 2009 at 3:48 AM

    alaest learn a few gallis in Telgu ...fire them rt there and tell them thats what u know ..


    Airtel is far better ...time to change :-)

    ReplyDelete
  44. workhardMay 19, 2009 at 5:02 AM

    Hi Julez.. Nice to see u back girl.. Ture.. Pooor Us...

    Preetii..LOL.. my telugu is rally bad girl...
    but i think its worth a try..

    ReplyDelete
  45. EntertainerMay 22, 2009 at 3:40 AM

    good one babez..indeed good one.. hilarious..i chuckled in between..

    ReplyDelete
  46. Amritorupa Kanjilal May 22, 2009 at 3:54 AM

    hey ssra long time no post... wassup?

    ReplyDelete
  47. workhardMay 22, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    Hey Enterntainer.. im glad this made u laugh...

    LGL.. honey.. im waiting for someone to really piss me off....LOL.... I ll post, i ll post.. gimme sometime sweetie

    ReplyDelete
  48. NiveditaMay 23, 2009 at 12:47 PM

    hhhaaahha...I miss India...honest! :))

    ReplyDelete
  49. Happy To Be/ Gl♥riaMay 24, 2009 at 11:17 AM

    May you have a wonderful weekend my friend...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

    ReplyDelete
  50. workhardMay 24, 2009 at 11:21 AM

    Hi Niv.... yeah.. there are a few things about India that u dont find any where else in the world

    Hi..GLoria.. Thanks sweetie..

    ReplyDelete
  51. tunafishMay 27, 2009 at 12:59 AM

    Hahaha! you bet! I am struggling with Tata Indicom since last 2 days! I guess IT here more stands for Indian Torture... :)

    ReplyDelete
  52. workhardMay 27, 2009 at 8:55 AM

    Hey Tuna fish..LOL.. IT.. Indian Torture.. thats creative...

    ReplyDelete
  53. IreMay 28, 2009 at 9:37 AM

    update?

    ReplyDelete
  54. workhardMay 28, 2009 at 9:44 AM

    Hey Nikki.. yes.. will do very soon...

    ReplyDelete
  55. ARUNAMay 28, 2009 at 12:18 PM

    saara, no new post!!!

    ReplyDelete
  56. workhardMay 28, 2009 at 12:30 PM

    Will do babes.. Aruna where were you..

    ReplyDelete
  57. RazzerMay 29, 2009 at 5:53 AM

    Hey, when is the NEW post coming???

    ReplyDelete
  58. workhardMay 29, 2009 at 11:26 AM

    You are so impatient Andy boy

    ReplyDelete
  59. tqmcintlMay 31, 2009 at 5:40 PM

    love the way u rite

    ReplyDelete
  60. Sharmistha GuhaJune 2, 2009 at 12:26 PM

    Goodness!!!!! I could write a thesis on the umpteen number of times I've screamed in frustration having to deal with untrained, dim-witted individuals muttering predictable and useless dialogues!
    And no, its not ONLY BSNL...every god damned customer service personnel, barring one or two exceptional ones, are frustratingly ignorant...

    ReplyDelete
  61. workhardJune 2, 2009 at 12:37 PM

    Totally agree with you SGD, join the club.. Today i went to Pizza hut and one of the guys there pissed me off...i know what u mean when u say.. every customer service..

    ReplyDelete
  62. alxJune 3, 2009 at 4:37 AM

    lol....bt once i askd for an english speaking customer service executive & d lady started speaking like the australians n i hardly understood a thing....bt my pride ws at stake n i acted as if I followed wateva she spoke

    ReplyDelete
  63. nsiyerJune 7, 2009 at 10:44 AM

    Lovely! why don't you write more.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Ronak JainJune 26, 2009 at 11:49 PM

    Very True, Even i witnessed the same thing few days ago.

    BSNL by their so called customer care service proves that the our Nation still have long way to go..!!

    ReplyDelete
  65. ♥ BrajaAugust 16, 2009 at 2:43 PM

    Yep, been there....:)

    ReplyDelete
  66. Ashish SukhadeveAugust 26, 2009 at 9:36 AM

    All these press this-press that recordings are meant to drag money out of our pocket, and what we get in the end put us in a real pickle.

    ReplyDelete
  67. KrishnaAugust 27, 2009 at 11:01 AM

    :) I guess thats India. Maango kuch, milta kuch aur hai.

    ReplyDelete
  68. MishikaSeptember 3, 2009 at 7:51 AM

    Thankfully, this doesn't happen in Delhi. Yes they do put me on hold for endless hours, but then since Hindi and English are the only two options, and I am fluent in both of them, Its not all that bad.

    Best of luck to you though, in case you ever plan to call up again!

    ReplyDelete
  69. StupidosaurSeptember 5, 2009 at 12:41 PM

    Why does the post have link to this site at bottom left?

    http://www.haiku.com/


    Did either of your problems get solved till date? :)

    ReplyDelete
  70. Sunil BalaniSeptember 10, 2009 at 9:11 PM

    You are right...customer service usually is never customer friendly most of the time they test test your patience....

    ReplyDelete
  71. Olive OylSeptember 15, 2009 at 8:42 AM

    i have had to bear this avatar of bsnl too. grr! same everywhere! :O

    ReplyDelete
  72. mayank_dreamsSeptember 15, 2009 at 9:52 PM

    lolzz..but u gotta give it to these ppl..they can easily piss off anybody..give em ur enemies numbrs..:P

    ReplyDelete
  73. InsigniaSeptember 20, 2009 at 3:45 AM

    I have faced this lotta times, it irks me a lot. Sad part is dont know where to complain!!

    ReplyDelete
  74. itsyvitsySeptember 27, 2009 at 2:16 PM

    This is so very true. Just the past weekend I have been trying to pay the darned telephone and broadband bill - two visits for nothing. Their billing and payment system had called the day off! I was really amazed by the calm in the lady's voice across the counter that said that the problem has been that way for the past 24 hours. BSNL, for crying out loud, is India's biggest service and 24 hours isn't enough to get that godforsaken system up? Pathetic! Now they are going to charge me a late payment fee, and if they I wish to beat the living daylights out of them!

    -Vittal.

    P.S.: I can't stop but read all your posts! Quite engaging, interesting and wonderful. I am going to follow you from this very instant. :)

    ReplyDelete
  75. Nikki...October 8, 2009 at 12:31 PM

    ha..ha.. Welcome to the world of super efficient customer service :)

    ReplyDelete

Hey, im very sensitive person, but i think i can handle anything:)

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