CALL CENTRE 2

"Thank you for holding, our customer service team is aware you are waiting and will be with you shortly."

Such automated messages can prompt callers to lose their cool. You may think that people feeling frustration when phoning a call centre ought to relax a bit, drink more herbal tea and chill. But according to a report from Citizens Advice, anyone feeling stress when phoning a call centre is not alone, in fact, it seems they are in the majority. The Hanging on the Telephone report, from the UK's largest provider of free advice, catalogues widespread discontent with customer service standards offered by UK call centres. A staggering 97% of people surveyed for the report said that they found at least one aspect of using a call centre annoying.

Citizens Advice claims that almost six million of the problems it deals with each year fail to be resolved over the telephone. In particular, the charity says that call centres are failing people who are trying to resolve complex problems and also those with learning difficulties or who don't speak English as a first language. "Critical problems about money, debts and benefits, often affecting people on very low incomes, simply are not getting resolved as quickly as they should be," David Harker, Citizens advice chief executive said. "Call centres should be an effective gateway to services and problem resolution not a barrier."

According to the report, the chief culprits are call centres operated by energy and water firms, the government and High Street banks. Overall, the charity found that four out of 10 customers were dissatisfied with call centres operated by utility firms, while a third were unhappy with government and High Street bank lines. Georgina Walsh, a spokeswoman for consumer group Energywatch said, "Our experience is that all too often information disappears into a black hole between call centres and back office staff. Complaints over wrong billing often follow a similar pattern."

She added, "A customer will be promised that they will receive an amended bill on half a dozen occasions only for the back office to continue to send out red reminders. This can end in threats of disconnection and the customer may even acquire a poor credit rating." One high profile call centre failure occurred when the government's new tax credit scheme was launched in April 2003. The "disastrous" start, as government spending watchdogs called it, was marred by a series of well-publicised delays and computer problems, with thousands of UK families receiving the wrong payment.

Those issues were then compounded by a call centre system not capable of coping with many thousands of calls a day. As the problems rumbled on, call centre workers, some of whom were receiving death threats from furious members of the public, staged a walkout to protest at their working conditions. The Call Centre Association (CCA) readily admits that there is public discontent with the service offered by some of its members. Spokeswoman Anne-Marie Forsyth said, "The problem is that a lot of company advertising raises peoples' expectations too high. Firms promise round-the-clock service, through their call centre, but don't empower front line staff to sort out the problems they face."

Ms Forsyth added that automated services are increasingly allowing people to access information without having to talk to a person. Callers can press a few buttons to access the information they need and get off the line, saving them time and the call centre operator money.

Lloyds TSB is closing its call centre in Mumbai following a storm of protest from customers who complained they had difficulty understanding the staff in India. Steve Tatlow, assistant general secretary at Lloyds TSB group union, said, “The Mumbai call centre has been a disaster for the bank. It is no coincidence that, while customers were being forced to deal with the India operation, Lloyds TSB’s market share has fallen. This is a victory for common sense. Lloyds TSB’s reputation has been seriously damaged because of customer dissatisfaction with having to deal with the India call centre, with customers and staff often unable to understand each other.”

The bank opened the site in 2004 as it was closing its call centre at Newcastle upon Tyne with the loss of almost 1,000 jobs. Now the bank will recruit hundreds of new staff in the UK. Sally Jones-Evans, managing director of telephone banking at Lloyds TSB, said the shake-up would improve service. She added, “We have seen a huge increase in the number of customers using our new automated service which means calls going into Mumbai have been steadily reducing.” All 2,000 Lloyds TSB branches will give customers their direct telephone numbers instead of referring them to a call centre. (Source: The Sun, Mar/07)

Research carried out by India's call centre industry has found the 1.6 million people who work in them, mostly in their twenties, are plagued by ailments arising from the stress of dealing with irate customers. The Indian government is so concerned about the problem that it is preparing to launch a health strategy for the workers. A study conducted by Strathclyde University for the Union of IT Enabled Services, which informally represents call centre workers, found that 77% felt "very" pressurised and 45% identified difficult customers as the main source of their stress.

The report supports the findings of a health survey by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations which found that the outsourcing industry was most at risk from diseases that would hit productivity. Researchers estimated that heart disease, strokes and diabetes would cost India more than £100 billion in lost productivity over the next 10 years. Staff in call centres dealing with customers in Britain say they have been shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks they encounter. Some companies offer counselling to employees to help them overcome psychological problems.

Archana Bishta, who runs the 1to1help.net advice service in Bangalore, said she had helped workers who were suicidal or having a nervous breakdown. She said, "Most call centre workers live in big cities, away from home, so they have no family support. Dealing with angry customers can make them very emotionally fragile. They blow their top or cry over the smallest thing." The company's clients include IBM-Daksh, Dell International, CapGemini, Fidelity and Tesco Hindustan Service Centre, while other companies, such as Infosys Technologies in Bangalore, have set up 24-hour staff help lines, manned by psychologists.

Worried call centre managers have also provided cafés, sports facilities and gyms for their staff and offer neck massages, disco nights and picnics in an attempt to ease the pressure-cooker atmosphere. Anbumani Ramadoss, the health minister, has promised to introduce a policy specifically for the call centre industry. A spokeswoman for Tesco confirmed the company had a contract with the counselling service in Bangalore, which was available to staff to discuss all kinds of personal problems, not just those related to their employment. (Source: Daily Telegraph, Jan/08)

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