800 numbers...

[wompus]

I do this all the time. I'm sick and tired of trying to talk to someone who didn't make it here to the USA to own a friggin 7-11 !!!



I want to ask each of you to consider doing the following when you are talking on the phone to any U.S. company's customer service representative that is based in a foreign country (like India ).
Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following:

After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely (very politely - this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America ."

The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ." YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED to a rep in the USA . That's the rule and the LAW.

It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to the USA . Tonight when I got redirected to a USA rep, I asked again to make sure - and yes, she was from Fort Lauderdale .

If tomorrow every US citizen who has to make such a call, and then requests a U.S. rep, imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of US jobs that would need to be created ASAP. Imagine what would happen if every US citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on. If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.

Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep. You may even get correct answers, good advice, and solutions to your problem - in real English.

If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10 people they know....etc...etc...

.

[canedriver]

Unfortunately that is in fact NOT a law.

I dealt with this in 2008 with a PoS <s>laptop</s> paper weight I bought from Dell. Over 50 logged phone calls and the only time I ever spoke to an American was when I was able to track down email addresses for the executive board. After one phone call from an admin assistant every subsequent phone call was from the Philippines.

I wrote several letters to my congressman due to the problem.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by WOMPUS

That's the rule and the LAW........If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10 people they know....etc...etc...

What's the law? I want to look it up. or is this just another "I got it in an e-mail" B.S. type message?

[canedriver]

Its one of the laws you wish we had but unfortunately we don't.

There has been a few congressmen to propose the law and one even proposed a 10 or 25 cent tax per call that was routed outside of the states, but they never went anywhere :'(

[MarkG]

Good luck on finding somebody in the US. My father asked one where Fort Lauderdale was located. It is in California near San Francisco. They are programmed to tell you whatever they think you want to hear.

[desertdog]

A couple of weeks ago I had to call Moen (they make plumbing faucets and fixtures). I was pleasantly suprised when the automated answering system said " If you wish to continue this phone call in English, just stay on the line" then it switched to Spanish, (I can comprehend just a little) and it said in Spanish, " If you wish to speak with a Spanish Speaking Customer Service Rep press 2".

The customer service rep I spoke with was in NJ. Very polite and helpful. A nice change from the usual foreign customer service BS I usually run into.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Nothing worse than being hard of hearing as I am and then trying to understand some foreigner.

[ringadingh]

When I was recently speaking to Magellan about my GPS unit the person was located in Trinidad, but put me through to someone in the states.