Do any of the travel web sites have American call centers?

Seriously?

Was supposed to go to Training in Boston next week, it was cancelled, and I'll admit I'm getting hugely annoyed of the guy on the other side of the world reading from a script and not being any help at all.

You're lucky to find a call center at all that has a site in the US anymore. Partially because it's cheaper, partially because inbound call work is some of the worst things you can do in life, and you can't get quality people.

American call centers are extremely rare in general. It's many times more expensive than one in India or Mexico staffed with slum-dwellers. The supervisors in there probably don't make the equivalent of any US minimum wage.

GameboyRMH wrote: American call centers are extremely rare in general. It's many times more expensive than one in India or Mexico staffed with slum-dwellers. The supervisors in there probably don't make the equivalent of any US minimum wage.

Exactly. Couple that with the fact that americans seem to have lost any semblance of behaving like human beings- and you have recipe for disaster. I lost my last job over me finally standing up for myself against shiny happy people that liked to call in and berate me constantly for no reason. The part they never got was, they had a problem. Not only is it my job to fix it so it behooves you to treat me nice so I don't make your life hell, I am the best in the business at it. I will solve it. But I will ruin you if you treat me like E36 M3. It's a lot easier to work in a call center when you don't understand the term "cocksucker" and its ilk.

mndsm wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: American call centers are extremely rare in general. It's many times more expensive than one in India or Mexico staffed with slum-dwellers. The supervisors in there probably don't make the equivalent of any US minimum wage.

Exactly. Couple that with the fact that americans seem to have lost any semblance of behaving like human beings- and you have recipe for disaster. I lost my last job over me finally standing up for myself against shiny happy people that liked to call in and berate me constantly for no reason. The part they never got was, they had a problem. Not only is it my job to fix it so it behooves you to treat me nice so I don't make your life hell, I am the best in the business at it. I will solve it. But I will ruin you if you treat me like E36 M3. It's a lot easier to work in a call center when you don't understand the term "cocksucker" and its ilk.

Handling claims for State Farm was essentially a call center as well. The instant anyone used any offensive, curse, etc word, "Thank you. I will not tolerate obscenities, have a nice day" Click.

It helped that our managers and their higher ups backed up on this.

Just sucks to be someone willing to pay more for quality customer service in a nation of Wal-Mart shoppers.

z31maniac wrote:

mndsm wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: American call centers are extremely rare in general. It's many times more expensive than one in India or Mexico staffed with slum-dwellers. The supervisors in there probably don't make the equivalent of any US minimum wage.

Exactly. Couple that with the fact that americans seem to have lost any semblance of behaving like human beings- and you have recipe for disaster. I lost my last job over me finally standing up for myself against shiny happy people that liked to call in and berate me constantly for no reason. The part they never got was, they had a problem. Not only is it my job to fix it so it behooves you to treat me nice so I don't make your life hell, I am the best in the business at it. I will solve it. But I will ruin you if you treat me like E36 M3. It's a lot easier to work in a call center when you don't understand the term "cocksucker" and its ilk.

Handling claims for State Farm was essentially a call center as well. The instant anyone used any offensive, curse, etc word, "Thank you. I will not tolerate obscenities, have a nice day" Click. It helped that our managers and their higher ups backed up on this. Just sucks to be someone willing to pay more for quality customer service in a nation of Wal-Mart shoppers.

Funny you should mention SF. All of their call centers are in the US. But that doesn't really help you getting a flight.

Phonesourcing: Bringing Call Centers Back to the U.S.

Call Centers are coming back to the U.S. for some industries. The companies are setting them up in economically depressed areas within the U.S.

I used to work for a large company who's name began with two letters very close to MF in the alphabet. They built their call center in the deepest mountain hollow of VA so as to keep the salary costs down to staff the center. It worked. They get the low compensation levels they're after and the people who live there are thrilled to have, in comparison, high paying jobs. It's a win-win for all involved.

Interesting. I use a phone service for long distance, international calls. Very good service, clear calls, no dropped calls. TEL3 Advantage. Their call center is not in the US, but is in Miami. Close enough. Never had a problem with them.

The last few times I've had to call Orbitz, they've had Americans on the other end. Or at least very capable native English speakers.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: The last few times I've had to call Orbitz, they've had Americans on the other end. Or at least very capable native English speakers.

Thank you sir, I will keep that in mind.

Royal Caribbean cruises have their call center in Springfield, Oregon. I know its not gonna help get a flight to Boston, but I think it does involve travel of sorts.