The trend toward outsourcing customer service to businesses in India has apparently resulted in increased satisfaction among American consumers, according to a recent poll. Out of a thousand U.S. customers surveyed, at least 80% report they are delighted with the attention they receive from representatives in India as opposed to their U.S. counterparts.
"This is great news for industries that took a chance and outsourced their customer service divisions" said I.B. Lyon, president and CEO of Insult Airlines.
Asked if they received better attention from employees based in India, 75% responded yes. Many attributed the increased satisfaction to the ability of India employees to sympathize with the needs of American consumers.
"I was complaining because the airline switched my seat," said one consumer. "I told the guy: how would you feel is you chose an aisle and they moved you to a window? I was really pissed. Though the guy said he'd never been on an airplane once in his life, he was really sympathetic and explained to me that there was nothing the airline could do. Now I understand the big picture."
In cases were customers had disputes with the company, many said they were surprised that the Indian customer service employee was so willing to apologize.
"They changed my flight four times and eventually cancelled my entire itinerary," said one respondent. "But the nice lady in Bombay said she was very, very, very sorry. When I hung up, I didn't feel so bad even though I had to plan the whole trip over again at a much greater cost."
Other consumers appreciate the fact that the Indian customer service representative will never hang up on them, no matter how irate they become.
"I was screaming all kinds of racist and ethnic epithets at this one guy and he just took it," said one customer. "It felt good to get it all out even though the company didn't budge one inch. I still got screwed big time but at least I let the Indian guy really have it."
Many high tech companies have employed firms in India to help customers with technical software and hardware problems.
"I couldn't get an Internet connection so I called what I thought was an American company," said one man who took the survey. "I found out that I was connected with this guy in India and it was three in the morning where he was. He walked me through the same steps that I had performed ten times before I called him. I never did get on the Internet and actually hurled my computer out of the window. When he heard the crash, he told me to have a nice day and asked if there was any other assistance he could provide. That's when I jumped out of the window. These guys are so calm."
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