4 of 10

Write now Article Tools

When I ordered my laptop from the giant US corporation whose name rhymes with "hell," my salesman was a good ol' boy from down south, complete with southern manners and a drawl. I had contact e-mails and multiple phone numbers to track him down day or night. It was a smooth transaction and I couldn't wait to receive my computer.

When said laptop's hard drive committed hara-kiri just two months later, I was upset but I figured their "award-winning 24/7 customer service" would have me back up and running in no time. What I ended up entering was the maze from hell, which is apparently located in India.

Every support number initially featured a perky American female voice, who promised me that my call was important, and that somebody would be right with me. One time I actually waited 80 minutes before my important call was answered by a human, followed by more time on hold, more transfers, and absolutely zero resolution of my problem. In addition, their accents were often difficult to understand and their names unintelligible. I was informed that for an additional $150 a year I could have access to "North American" technicians who would answer my calls within 3-4 minutes. Am I the only one who finds this outrageous? To me, this is a warning that their award-winning customer service is anything but, and that I will be forced to fork over even more cash to get it done right. It's incredible how they can pay an American to TAKE your money initially, but once they have it they pawn you off overseas.

The attempt to repair my laptop became something of a cosmic joke that lasted a very long week. My favorite part of this (mis)adventure was when I received an automated call from India to resolve my "open" issue; I was put on hold for 15 minutes, then treated to a recording stating that "we are experiencing a higher than expected call volume and cannot answer your call at this time; please call again later." Um, YOU called ME?

I finally tracked down the Texas corporate headquarters phone number. It had a nice Texas area code, which I excitedly dialed. Got the American female voice, got put on hold for the requisite 15 minutes, then my call was answered in...India!

Eventually my problem was resolved by resetting everything to factory default, but it took over 12 hours of holding and explaining my problem over and over to India. When I had to reinstall my Internet security software, the Texas customer service number for that company also connected me directly to India. I was beginning to see a pattern that unnerved me.

The icing on the cake came last week, when I found out that, due to rising costs, the scientific editing that I have been doing for over 10 years will soon be outsourced overseas! Our entire department is being eliminated because they can do it much cheaper, and apparently just as well, over there. So, now we are all out of work. Something is very wrong with this picture. We need to keep American work in America!

During the course of my 12 hours on the phone with India, two of the technicians praised my computer skills, and said I should come over there and be a technician. I just may have to take them up on their offer!

Learn more about this author, Carol Nissenbaum.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Commentary: How our entire economy is being outsourced?
We want to hear your view. Write now!