Advertising UK call centres...

[KittyVentura]

Bit of an odd one this.

So, an advert just came on. Martin Clumes was trying to say something to that talking bulldog, who kept interrupting him and not understanding what he was saying.

Martin Clumes then said about how with only UK call centres at least that company will be able to understand him.

I can't up but see this as racist and encouraging racism. Given that I am yet to speak to someone in an offshore call centre who did not speak very good English... And I have spoken to many. Yes, there are usually issues, in that those you speak to typically do not receive the training and have the experience to enable them the knowledge to answer questions and so a lot is script reading etc... But this is not the issue the advert alludes to, they are implying that those outside of the UK do not understand what is being said to them... And it makes me uncomfortable.

Opinions? Is this racism? Or is it an observation that is ok to me made?

 

[joshiesmum]

Hehe i love them pair ill have to look out for that one though i dont think its racist altgo im with churchill and they are pants!!!! Xxx

 

[Sarahkka]

Uh, yeah, that sounds incredibly racist to me! Comparing someone who is ESL to a talking dog?
I won't get to see the ad, as I'm in Canada, but from what you described, that's brutal.
And I share your experience - I have not had a language issue with overseas call centres.

 

[marley2580]

I've got a Scottish accent and I find that the Indian call centres are rubbish at understanding me and vice-versa tbh. I usually have to jump through various hoops to get put through to a native english speaker. Does my flipping head in

 

[special_kala]

There is sometimes a communication problem when talking to over seas call centres and to be honest it does annoy me.

I had severe issues with VIRGIN and found the over seas call centres to be far more stressful because they didnt listen to what i was saying they just went through the script they knew and when they went off it things got lost in translation.

I dont think im racist because i think that. There IS a language issue that wouldnt be there if the call centre was in the UK.

 

[Foogirl]

I've yet to find an overseas call centre I've had a good experience with. Some of it is down to "lost in translation" stuff but I do find the combination of accent and poor quality telephone lines can make things difficult on both sides. Speaking face to face with someone who has a heavy accent causes me few problems, but over a less than clear line, as it often is, makes things near impossible

But the other part of it, for me, is, a company who is prepared to invest in the UK, creating jobs and paying taxes, is a company I'd rather do business with, just as I prefer to buy British goods. Not that I think imported goods are inferior, I just want to support our economy. Nothing racist about it.

In fact, I'm bothered by the implication that finding someone with a foreign accent difficult to understand is racist. Surely it's just a statement of fact? After all, we're currently making immigrants take English lessons and they have to reach a good level of english before they can work here. Is that racist?

 

[Foogirl]

Uh, yeah, that sounds incredibly racist to me! Comparing someone who is ESL to a talking dog?

Well, the Churchill character is more than just "a talking dog" But setting that aside, equally it could be taken that the talking dog is the native English speaker in the advert!

 

[Sarahkka]

Uh, yeah, that sounds incredibly racist to me! Comparing someone who is ESL to a talking dog?

Well, the Churchill character is more than just "a talking dog" But setting that aside, equally it could be taken that the talking dog is the native English speaker in the advert!

Maybe I need more context? Is the character an ongoing thing? Like it wasn't just a talking dog puppet invented for this particular commercial?
Because the connotations of the dog are certainly less than flattering, but if it was a character that was pre-existing, that would be different.

 

[vintage67]

Indian call centers are often a very real problem. My mother is 76 and I have to make most of her calls to catalogues or companies she deals with because she can't understand the accents. I also have a lot of trouble. I think it's a bit outrageous to call someone a racist who has difficult understanding a strong accent different that their own, over the telephone.

 

[Sarahkka]

I've yet to find an overseas call centre I've had a good experience with. Some of it is down to "lost in translation" stuff but I do find the combination of accent and poor quality telephone lines can make things difficult on both sides. Speaking face to face with someone who has a heavy accent causes me few problems, but over a less than clear line, as it often is, makes things near impossible

But the other part of it, for me, is, a company who is prepared to invest in the UK, creating jobs and paying taxes, is a company I'd rather do business with, just as I prefer to buy British goods. Not that I think imported goods are inferior, I just want to support our economy. Nothing racist about it.

In fact, I'm bothered by the implication that finding someone with a foreign accent difficult to understand is racist. Surely it's just a statement of fact? After all, we're currently making immigrants take English lessons and they have to reach a good level of english before they can work here. Is that racist?

I agree that there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep jobs local. That's generally just patriotic economics and helps support local business.
It isn't racist to state that you have trouble understanding an individual with a heavy accent, but to extrapolate and suggest that anyone working at an overseas call centre is going to be impossible to understand is making a sweeping and unfair generalization. If that is what the commercial is doing, then yeah, I would call that racist.
To be fair, Foogirl, there are times when I would have trouble understanding a thick Scots accent! Or a thick southern US drawl, for that matter. And I am a native English speaker. (Of course everyone understands Canadians because we have no accent and are very polite. ) So I do get your point about having trouble over the phone with accents.
Requiring proficiency in a language as a work skill is not racist. It is a skill that is necessary to work in that particular location. If want to work in any of our national parks, I am required to be proficient in both French and English, even if 90% of my clientele are English-speaking. I know that before I apply for the job. I accept that as a work requirement, same as the immigrants who wish to work in the UK do.

 

[Eternal]

I have yet to have a good experience with an overseas call centre, they do not understand what I am saying and they are rude. I'm not saying the uk ones are a particularly delightful experience but an improvement on the alternative.

 

[summer rain]

I have had problems with Indian call centres when it comes to broadband/DSL help I'm not saying they don't have broadband/DSL over there but it's obvious whatever system they have works a lot differently than the system we have. The people in the call centre are clearly using a flow chart and tip sheet to diagnose and assess problems as opposed to actually knowing the equipment firsthand and maybe even having it at home. When we had orange broadband it was a nightmare. We have virgin national now (via a landline not cable) and their call centres are usually UK based, it's much better they are familiar with the router and router software and it has taken less than 10 minutes to sort any problems out xx

 

[Ozzieshunni]

If you get someone in an overseas call centre from the UK and you cannot understand them and ask to be transferred to someone in the UK, they MUST transfer you back.

I don't think it's racist. I have a very good ear for accents (I must do, living in Scotland sorry Marley! ) and I still struggle to understand them. It's not about racism, it's about customer service and getting what you need done.

 

[Foogirl]

Maybe I need more context? Is the character an ongoing thing? Like it wasn't just a talking dog puppet invented for this particular commercial?
Because the connotations of the dog are certainly less than flattering, but if it was a character that was pre-existing, that would be different.

Yeah the Churchill character is a talking bulldog that's been around for years and years. As long as I can remember, really. I actually have a Churchill nodding dog toy. Its definitely a bit of an institution.

On your other post, I get what you are saying about extrapolating, but even then I'm not sure it would necessarily be racist. I've called maybe two dozen of these call centres since they started offshoring them. I'd say maybe 2 or 3 of them have been straightforward and easy to understand. So my experience leads me to assume the vast majority of people who work in them will be difficult to understand. Is that racist? Or an observation based on what has happened to me? I don't think any of them are ignorant or inferior to me, which surely is the basis of racism?

As for thick Scottish accents, my husband is more Scottish than i am (I was born an lived in England for some of my life) and yet he has trouble understanding many of my Scottish relatives, I guess it is about what you are used to. The irony is, someone with a thick Scottish (or any other UK) accent would probably not be given a job in a UK call centre.

Ay?

 

[vintage67]

For one thing, I knew that Kipper would never be involved in racism.

Kipper is a treasured part of our household and has been for about 8 years now!

 

[staybeautiful]

I work in a call centre for a major broadcasting company (not VM, they don't seem to have anyone based in the UK unless they're getting a sale out of you), and I would say that the amount of customers who I speak to who say "Oh, you're Scottish!" or "Oh, it's nice to hear someone who speaks English" is a lot more than I thought I would hear when I first started working there. The problem with outsourced call centres isn't with the agents themselves, it's with the way outsourced centres are run (in the UK and outwith. The company I work are mostly "Inhouse" call centres where all the agents are direct employees of the company, "Outsource" centres which just means it's a different company providing the bodies). Outsource centres, no matter what company, tend to have a script to run from, and in centres that are based abroad if they've been trained to say "Hi you're speaking to Linda, how may I help you?" and the conversation doesn't go as they expect it to go, there's very little they can do to recover it or understand local nuances of the English language that they won't be expecting to hear. I wouldn't say it's racist to be frustrated by this, because often when you have to speak to someone in a call centre it's because something's gone wrong or something needs fixed or explained, and not being a native speaker of the English language doesn't make it easy. I've spoken English all my life, and my Scottish accent means that I quite often have to really moderate the speed at which I speak so that customer's don't miss anything I say.

 

[Kess]

I don't think it's racist. I don't speak French as well as a native speaker, although I speak a bit. Even my French teacher admitted she didn't speak as well as a native speaker, that's just the nature of language. I find any outsourced call centre is fine for straight-forward queries, better sometimes than UK ones, but for anything off-script you've got no chance.

Sarahkka, the Churchill talking dog character is representing the company, has done for years. Nothing to do with this specific ad or racism.

 

[Quackquack99]

I don't think its racist, I've struggled with oversea call centres and my father is an indian man. But I have also struggled speaking to someone who had a very strong scottish accent. that doesn't make me racist just that I couldn't comprehend the conversation. Also on another note, call centres are all about delivering customer service and if the customer is struggling to understand then that company is essentially is sort of failing customer service.

 

[sparkle_1979]

I really struggle with them sometimes. Saying that I spoke to a lady in Egypt for vodophone the other day and she was of the best customer service reps I've ever spoken to. As a choice though I much prefer speaking to someone from the uk

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Having worked in a call centre and hearing the many, many racist comments from customers about our offshore agents I do believe an advert like this will only encourage that racism.
Having said that, an awful lot of the time the offshore agents were hell to liaise with because of the language barrier (and the fact that, at the company I worked they could make all the mistakes they liked, hang up on people and give dodgy advice because the company wouldn't fire them or put them on disciplinary like they would onshore agents - they were a lot cheaper than us! - so if you had a difficult issue you'd often find the call would drop). Then the centre of over 400 workers was closed to send the work to India and the Philippines last year. I found a lot of the complaints I got about offshore centres had something to do with that and the fact it was happening everywhere, rather than the customer service they received.
As a customer though I've had as many issues with onshore customer service as offshore.