I have to talk to a call center several times a day, 6 days a week for work & this hasn't been my experience.I don't think it has anything at all due to outsourcing customer service centers overseas. I have had problems when I'm on the phone with a customer service person from the northeast who talks too fast and in a brusque way that you can't catch what they are saying. Or a southerner that has such a twang it's hard to decipher. Or a quiet-talker. They are the absolute worst! Or when you hear so much background noise from other agents that it's like trying to hear through a cacophony in a tin can. That drives me bonkers. And as a disclaimer, so no one thinks I'm bagging on people with regional accents, I have a slight southern accent that I can't get rid of even though in the last 52 years, I've lived up and down the east coast!
I have to talk to a call center several times a day, 6 days a week for work & this hasn't been my experience.
I end up hanging up over and over again until I get one that I can understand. My boss all the time says "Can I please have someone that speaks English without a foreign accent" when he calls places!
I end up hanging up over and over again until I get one that I can understand. My boss all the time says "Can I please have someone that speaks English without a foreign accent" when he calls places!
That sounds so mean, but declaring one's ignorance is presently "en vogue".
If your boss is American it is also hilarious as most of us speak a warped version of what came over from British colonization. Now we call it American English and British English to be polite. I'd wager if your boss is backward enough to hold bias against accents It's likely that they would consider someone speaking British English "speaking English with a foreign accent".
Not to mention the U.S. has incredible linguistic diversity across regional areas.
When I hear an obvious accent, I am more inclined to think the odds are higher that I am speaking with someone more dedicated, cultured, and intelligent- after all they mastered at least one second language to speaking ability. America is statistically behind the rest of the globe in this to an embarrassing degree- no doubt largely in part due to those who share your boss's position.
Language is a means to an end- communication. Of course it can be used as art, etc., but the primary function is meant to be understanding each other in a deeper and more transferable way than body language. In that wat there is no "best" or "proper" as long as the meaning holds. I certainly do not ascribe to the view that American English is the pinnacle of linguistic achievement.
O.P. to your original point- I'll take a thick accent with a clear-headed and well-informed speaker who has great customer service skills over so many other things.
Or, you know, be willing to actually pay more for it - given that outsourcing is 100% a cost-saving measure to remain competitive without raising prices. And let's face it, it's unlikely the current business model is going to change because it would be a big financial risk to revert call centre jobs back to the US/Canada where employee costs are so much higher and would have to involve price increases. Regardless of the level of service, most people will still contract with the lowest-cost provider, period.While it is impossible not to patronize businesses that outsource, I find infuriating to know that jobs are being outsourced and I (as a customer) am also being inconvenienced by outsourced employees who are not able to articulate properly. I typically ask to speak to someone who is better able to communicate or just hang-up and make a mental note to try not to patronize said company as often. I think the more that consumers demand US based customer-service with their wallets, the more businesses will ultimately have to comply.
Actually, the American School was founded in 1946, and Elvel School was founded in 1967. There are several other bilingual schools that started way before 2007. I know someone who just turned fifty and studied at Elvel School since kindergarten. But she's a doctor and I doubt she'd be interested in that type of job. I'm surprised that anyone who attended a bilingual school over there would be after that type of job. Those schools are quite expensive, and attended mostly by children of wealthy families who have high expectations for their future. But I agree that jobs are few there, so maybe they hare having to settle for less
https://amschool.org/ http://www.elvel.com/
I guess it depends on who you're calling. In my experience, most call cI have found that while they are harder to understand, the CS reps with heavy foreign accents know how to answer my questions better than the ones with American accents do the majority of the time. Especially the ones at FedEx.
lol... I live in South Florida. American accents aren't a problem for me, regardless of what part of the country they're from. I talk to people all over the country.You're very lucky you've never had to call the New Jersey DMV, the Walton County Electric company in Georgia or any utility in South Florida then, lol!
I think the more that consumers demand US based customer-service with their wallets, the more businesses will ultimately have to comply.