Indian Call Centres

I have just returned from the UK where the bus driver greeted me on arrival with “Happy to take you to Bournemouth my darling” when I asked if I was at the right bus stop – how lovely!

My stay with Dad, however, proved challenging when his router decided to give up the ghost (English idiom for completely breaking down) and I had to call Virgin Media’s call centre in India to get it fixed.

What a nightmare! Bad connection aside, on my second attempt to understand the operator, I decided to practise all those lovely telephone phrases I teach my students. After a frustrating five minutes, I finally got an appointment with a technician. Hooray!

“Could you repeat that, please?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Could you please speak more slowly?”

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand…”

So when the standard email arrived asking if I would recommend Virgin Media based on my recent call centre experience, you can imagine my response…

However, the lovely local technician restored my confidence when he installed a new router by going out of his way to make sure all of Dad’s devices were working. I could have hugged him 😊.

My Dad told me that after all the complaints British Telecom had, they have now switched to ‘home based call centres’ – I’m not surprised!