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I have to do a quick vent (please be advised that when I vent, I use the "f" word).
So, I needed to make plane reservations today for August to fly to Florida for my mom's Ph.D. graduation. Easy peasy.
I tried to do it online using frequent flyer miles but it kept giving me some sort of "fatal error". So, it indicated that I should call Customer Support and they would give me a helping hand.
Ok.
"Hi, my name is Rachel and I would like to book a ticket on Delta from LAX to Ft. Lauderdale." Ok, Rachel - call Delta. "Ok." Here is how it goes:
"Hello, this is Apu, but you can call me Steve. Thank you for calling fucking INDIA. I don't understand English but I can probably figure out Newton's law of relativity. How may I fuck up your reservation today?"
Me: "I would like to book some domestic - in the US that is - travel using miles."
"Steve": "I'm sorry, ma'am. There must be a telephone bad connection because I no understand what you are saying. "
Me: "No. I'm speaking ENGLISH that's the problem."
Me: CLICK.
It really disgusts me that these major AMERICAN companies have outsourced AMERICAN jobs to everywhere else but America. We have a unemployment rate that rivals that of some third world countries and all of our jobs are being sent to a country halfway around the world. Call me crazy, but, when I actually pick up a telephone to call for DOMESTIC reservations, it would be nice to speak to someone who is domestic and doesn't make me repeat myself 12-18 times.
Is this racist? No. I love Indian people. They are a wonderful people and they are taking excellent care of my friend Heather who has been traveling the country for three months. But, I do not want them, or a French, Thai, Russian or any other out-of-country individual taking care of me when I call into an American company for help on domestic issues. It's bad enough that American companies are moving their plants to Mexico to reduce the costs of human resources. But, while their CEOs and CFOs and whatever other COs collect their multi-million dollar paychecks, the quality of service to their customers significantly decreases and the unemployment rate for Americans increases. Funny how they are correlated.
Well, I was finally able to book the reservation online without "Steve". All's well on that field. But, it still leaves me angered and bitter to know that operational cost efficiency has superseded the "cost" of customer service and American jobs.
I'm done venting. I hope no one was offended, because this was just me thinking aloud and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's my blog - I'll cry if I want to.
So, I needed to make plane reservations today for August to fly to Florida for my mom's Ph.D. graduation. Easy peasy.
I tried to do it online using frequent flyer miles but it kept giving me some sort of "fatal error". So, it indicated that I should call Customer Support and they would give me a helping hand.
Ok.
"Hi, my name is Rachel and I would like to book a ticket on Delta from LAX to Ft. Lauderdale." Ok, Rachel - call Delta. "Ok." Here is how it goes:
"Hello, this is Apu, but you can call me Steve. Thank you for calling fucking INDIA. I don't understand English but I can probably figure out Newton's law of relativity. How may I fuck up your reservation today?"
Me: "I would like to book some domestic - in the US that is - travel using miles."
"Steve": "I'm sorry, ma'am. There must be a telephone bad connection because I no understand what you are saying. "
Me: "No. I'm speaking ENGLISH that's the problem."
Me: CLICK.
It really disgusts me that these major AMERICAN companies have outsourced AMERICAN jobs to everywhere else but America. We have a unemployment rate that rivals that of some third world countries and all of our jobs are being sent to a country halfway around the world. Call me crazy, but, when I actually pick up a telephone to call for DOMESTIC reservations, it would be nice to speak to someone who is domestic and doesn't make me repeat myself 12-18 times.
Is this racist? No. I love Indian people. They are a wonderful people and they are taking excellent care of my friend Heather who has been traveling the country for three months. But, I do not want them, or a French, Thai, Russian or any other out-of-country individual taking care of me when I call into an American company for help on domestic issues. It's bad enough that American companies are moving their plants to Mexico to reduce the costs of human resources. But, while their CEOs and CFOs and whatever other COs collect their multi-million dollar paychecks, the quality of service to their customers significantly decreases and the unemployment rate for Americans increases. Funny how they are correlated.
Well, I was finally able to book the reservation online without "Steve". All's well on that field. But, it still leaves me angered and bitter to know that operational cost efficiency has superseded the "cost" of customer service and American jobs.
I'm done venting. I hope no one was offended, because this was just me thinking aloud and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's my blog - I'll cry if I want to.
posted by Rach2LA @ 10:11 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:09 PM,
Anonymous said…
rach,
you were doing so well with your little diatribe until you f'ed up. "....the quality of service to their customers significantly decreases and the employment rate for americans increases"???? doh! so close. btw, i'm with you on this one. anywho, when i'm this steamed i like to put on kelly clarkson's "breakaway" cd and all is good again. get back to partying.
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