A Telstra call center based in the Philippines is now under media scrutiny over claims that a call center agent offered an Australian worker to wipe away his $557 bill for just a mere $60.
For years, I’ve worked as a call center agent supporting big players such as Comcast, Toshiba and Qwest and I know based from experience that killing a customer’s bill would be technically close to impossible and not mention, a very risky work (unless one’s a hacker). These call center companies have advanced CRMs and as agents, our access to customer records are very minimal. While it is true that we can view customer details, I don’t see the point why it can be harmful. Come on, postal workers see people’s names and addresses all the time but it’s never been considered a threat. And a big thumbs down to Today Tonight for misrepresenting the Philippine call center – none of the agents shown in the video are Filipinos. I can tell from the accent that they are either from India or Bangladesh. No offense meant to agents from these countries. I’m just criticizing this News program for deliberate misrepresentation.
The victim, Sam McNeil, said this incident could have been avoided had Telstra hired locals, his reason being Australian employees are paid better. I say no culture, no matter how wealthy or technologically advanced, is immune to wrong values. If this incident is indeed true, it is more likely an isolated case – a wrong decision made by someone without any integrity. Just because Philippines is a third world country doesn’t mean that we’re culturally inclined to scam other people. In fact, Filipinos working for call centers are usually the cream of the crop which goes without saying, they are college educated working professionals who are earning more than the average citizen. Whereas call center jobs in other countries are looked at as just an in-between job which even a high school dropout can do.
I know that a lot of people from US, Australia and UK are against outsourcing (I actually had numerous debate sessions about this with an Australian exboyfriend) but these people should start considering the advantages outsourcing has to offer – reduced cost for companies, more revenue for the government, higher service level and less waiting time for consumers. We are not taking jobs away and this is not the reason for unemployment or recession in other countries (as some claim). I actually recommend spending a day as a call center agent so people can experience firsthand the “challenges” we go through as well as the curse words often hurled our way.
I’m not saying this report is false. Yes, it could be true but it could also be a demolition job against companies who outsource, it could be that the agent is just lying about how she can erase the customer’s bill or it could even be another tale about a lover spurned (there goes my romanticism). I mean, hey, what kind of extortionist would send pictures of herself to her victim?
Bottomline is, there’s more to this story and definitely a lot more to outsourcing than what this video presents.
The freelance explorer 