steve 46010
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I see that, according to this months Todays Railways Uk, National Rail Enquiries are moving to India from 2010. Does anyone think this will be an improvement?????? I doubt it myself.
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National Rail enquiries
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SqUaShIe P
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Thats stupid... Why are they doing that? for a cheaper workforce?
Surely they'd be able to do their job better from in the UK
Surely they'd be able to do their job better from in the UK
If this is true then it's extremely disappointing, and rather irresponsible of NR. They should be trying to keep jobs in the UK at a time like this, not shipping them off abroad to people who have probably never even seen a British train in their life. The problem with these foreign call centres is that if your question isn't 'in the script', you're stuffed. For example, I yesterday tried to enquire about the availability of advance between Doncaster and Reading compared to Hull-Reading, and the Cross Country Indian call centre simply didn't understand. Thus, I call East Midlands Trains, and get through to a very helpful girl (based in Nottingham I assume!) who completely understands what I mean and spends a good amount of time dealing with my enquiry. If this goes ahead, it's safe to say we can say goodbye to any kind of good customer service from NR.
MCR247
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Not being racist, but when I have rang up National Rail, they are often foreign and I cant understand them!
If the general population here and even some of this group cant get to grips with our complex ticketing and fares system what chance does someone in a foreign country have? They will probably only have the information in front of them on a screen. So no chance of us getting the cheapest fare.
Danielo
Member
I'm with three mobile, and they have an Indian call centre. Difficult to understand their accents at times, and they are a bit robotic, as in they can't really think out of the box. Fantastic cuisine though!
EM2
Established Member
Someone has worked out that its going to save them a few quid, and that's all there is to it. Forget about British jobs for British people, that world has gone forever. If you don't like it, good luck in uninventing telephones, the internet and planes.
Yes, but I believe this is only 'out of hours' - during the day it's UK call centres. I think this is the case anyway.
spoony
Member
Indian call centres in most cases can do a decent job, however when there is any aspect of local knowledge or understanding of systems required it gets a bit complex. Might as well employ an automated robot system.
voyagerdude220
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Agreed!
It's just a shame it doesn't help passengers obtain their required travel information though
:roll: 
Baltic dry index back up again this week, recovering from a 95% decrease from June. The world's on the move again
The_Rail_WAy
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Bit dissapointing during these times that jobs are being taken aborad for the sake of saving a few quid. A few issues that come to mind are:
(1) Difficulty understnding accents - I have had this with other foreign based operators.
(2) Lack of local knowledge.
(3) Pay and work conditions.
(4) Quality of customer service.
(1) Difficulty understnding accents - I have had this with other foreign based operators.
(2) Lack of local knowledge.
(3) Pay and work conditions.
(4) Quality of customer service.
BlythPower
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The_Rail_WAy
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Genuine Indian food is much different to the stuff you get in a retaraunt take-away in the UK due to dietry requirements and religious issues. For a kick-off the food is not eaten with a knife and fork, traditionally meals are eaten with a bread substance - usually a chipatti. Most dishes are also vegetable based. Chicken Tikka Masalla is not only the UK's favourite food, but a British invented dish, with tomato puree the basis of the dish. The concept of a traditional Indian dessert would shock many as well, again many being vegetable based, for example carrot fried with ghee and a milk substitute added is popular.
The concept of a traditional Indian 'lunch' is also much different to here. For instance many Indian railway workers take their equivalent of a 'lunch box' to work. It combines of a three tiered metallic box system, with each box containing a different mechanism of the meal. For example box 1 - various appetisers, box 2 - a chipatti, box 3 - a spiced potato dinner. Indeed, some UK companies have introduced this concept here in the UK wih reasonable success.
The concept of a traditional Indian 'lunch' is also much different to here. For instance many Indian railway workers take their equivalent of a 'lunch box' to work. It combines of a three tiered metallic box system, with each box containing a different mechanism of the meal. For example box 1 - various appetisers, box 2 - a chipatti, box 3 - a spiced potato dinner. Indeed, some UK companies have introduced this concept here in the UK wih reasonable success.
moonrakerz
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Sorry, but that is racist !
However, if the man in Mumbai can't understand your Geordie/Glaswegian/ Scouse/Brummie/West Country accent, that is due to "cultural differences" !
AlexS
Established Member
I don't bother ringing NRE anymore. My regular journey is from Loughborough. The first automated thing you get has never recognised it and always throws up Hull (Humberside).
Then get through to someone who doesn't get what I'm after anyway.
I've given up and just phone a friend now instead.
Then get through to someone who doesn't get what I'm after anyway.
I've given up and just phone a friend now instead.
I agree. I generally find Indian call centres very hard to understand, not a good move.
Tom B
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I've been told by call centre staff that "I'm sorry sir, you are being very difficult to understand because of your accent". Those who have met me will know that whilst it is obvious where I come from, I don't have that strong an accent. At this point I was going to seek out a friend from EK who has a very strong accent, just to irritate the call centre droid .
.Rail Enquiries is one of those fields that needs British people. I wonder how many of them will be able to spell Achnashellach, Garelochhead, Taynuilt, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Caerphilly, Porthmadog... Never mind try to pronounce them!
Anyone up for a few Achnashellach-Caerphilly phone calls; I guarantee you won't get anywhere with a foreign call centre.
Anyone up for a few Achnashellach-Caerphilly phone calls; I guarantee you won't get anywhere with a foreign call centre.
Because people in, say, Newcastle are going to be much better? No offence meant to those who do work for NRE, but call centre jobs tend not to be populated by the well qualified or the well motivated...
theblackwatch
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I've been told by call centre staff that "I'm sorry sir, you are being very difficult to understand because of your accent". Those who have met me will know that whilst it is obvious where I come from, I don't have that strong an accent. At this point I was going to seek out a friend from EK who has a very strong accent, just to irritate the call centre droid
Coincidentally, one of the reasons I tend not to like Indian call centres is because I find their accents difficult to understand! There have been occasions when I have had to ask them to repeat things three times, and even then not been 100% sure of the answer.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
or well paid...
The three tend to be linked, in something of a vicious circle.
Maybe the software is American. Try saying Loo-Ger-Borouger
Is that via Lie-Cester or Burt-Han?If it's designed in Yorkshire try missing out a few syllables and don't use the word "the"
(e.g. "I'm off ta' station ta' catch train from 'uddersfield ta' 'alifax" would be correct Yorkshire-speak for "I'm going to the railway station to catch a train from Huddersfield to Halifax")I used to work in a call centre
But only to finance the next year at uni. I don't like to boast, but I'd say I was well qualified and the money was good enough to keep me motivated!I do believe, however, that the basic geographical knowledge will give British workers a head start and being able to understand simple things as well; they might not know Achnashellach but I'm sure 99% of people could guess that it's Scottish and have a stab at the name. To be fair, though, if it was the other way around, we'd have the same problem with names like Secunderabad, Vijayawada and Machilipatnam.
Also, I have had bad experiences with Indian call centres. Back in my old work, we had to transfer customers "manually" for about a week because the system broke. This meant calling up ourselves, speaking to the person (invariably from India) and then plugging them through. Most workers failed to get the concept, and several hung up on me.
I also get them calling my mobile phone asking to speak to my father, who is the account holder. Most of them understand that he's not available (mostly because he lives on the other side of Glasgow, and works a lot in London), but some just don't get it. One called me up, asked me my name, address and DOB. Then said "you fail DPA" before hanging up on me(!).
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