| | NOT SO FAST!...Dell India Says Not Redirecting Customer Calls To U.S.
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BANGALORE, India (AP)--A day after Texas-based computer maker Dell Inc. (DELL) announced it stopped directing calls from corporate customers to a technical support center in southern India, the office here claimed it was business as usual.
"We did not send back any calls to the U.S.," a Dell International Services' spokeswoman in India's high-tech hub Bangalore said Tuesday. She requested anonymity.
Technical support for Dell's Optiplex desktop and Latitude notebook computers - normally handled in Bangalore - will now be answered from call centers in Texas, Idaho and Tennessee, Dell spokesman Jon Weisblatt told The Associated Press in Austin, Texas, on Monday.
"Customers weren't satisfied with the level of support they were receiving, so we're moving some calls around to make sure they don't feel that way anymore," Weisblatt said.
"Now, I don't know why Jon said that," the Dell spokeswoman in Bangalore said. "We are committed to India, and we are growing."
Dell is among scores of U.S. companies that set up customer call centers in India - and other developing nations - to save costs with lower paid wages. Others have outsourced the work to Indian companies also to save money.
U.S. customers have complained that Indian support operators are difficult to communicate with because of thick accents and scripted responses.
Angry customers have said the Indian staff provided only standard replies to their concerns, and complaint calls required transfer to a U.S. center to get things done.
A bulletin board on Dell's Web site has attracted some scathing customer remarks on the Indian center's quality of service.
"Ever wonder why Dell always has long wait times? Dell has a major customer service/tech support in India! They do not speak English very well, and things get screwed up," a Dell customer said in a posting in August.
Another customer said, "Because Dell has fired its American support folks and outsourced the deal to India, the entire concept of customer service is compromised."
But, there were some happy customers, too.
"Complain all you want about Dell's India tech support, but if they continue to give me this kind of service, I don't care if they move ... to the moon."
-Edited by Ryan Woo
Updated November 25, 2003 6:19 a.m. |
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