El-Kabong

Oh for the love of god! So I had to call Columbia House to find out why they've charged my credit card 23 bucks twice when there should have been no transactions in that time period.

Ok, I'm at work and don't have my account information on hand - still, it shouldn't be a problem right? That's what they have computers for. I've got the dates the two charges were made, I know my home address, I can provide the credit card number - it might take a bit longer, but I'm willing to kill some time.

Then, I get out of the hold line. I get some kind of strange Indian accent on the other end, and instantly I know I'm in trouble.

"What's your last name?"

"Case. C-a-s-e"

Now I'll admit that my name isn't nearly as common as oh, say Smith or Jones, but it's not all THAT unusual or hard to spell. It's not like trying to spell Straczynski or something. Still, the simplicity of the name confuses the CSR.

"What was that?"

"C-a-s-e"

*long pause*

"I'm sorry, what?"

"C. . . a. . . s. . . e. . . Car, Adam, Sam, Exit."

*another long pause*

"What was your first name again sir?"

AAARRGH!

Eventually I stumble around the language barrier, and get her to grasp the simple concept that 2 extraneous charges were applied to my card. From there it was only a slightly excruciating process to apply the appropriate credits to my account. So - it took about 45 minutes to complete a transaction that really should have taken - what, 10 minutes tops? And I'm still not sure if she managed to post the credits after all that - I'll have to call again in a couple of days to check up on their work

Ridiculous.

Look, outsource the call center all you want - but for god sakes, make sure that the people on the other end speak the dominate language of the customers. I understand that there will always be the occasional snag in Customer Service, but simple basic communication should NOT be one of them. Speak the native language or get the hell out.

nodoubt

that's why i try to send an email whenever possible

Jason

They're not interested in customer service, they're only interested in customer management, i.e., getting rid of you.

Spooky

That's why Columbia House overcharges with their DVD Club...got to pay those highly skilled employees!

Gunshy

*long pause*

I'm sorry, could you repeat your post sir?






-Gunshy

Dabaomb

overcharges? That's how they cut costs. I wouldn't call $7 DVDs overcharging.

Alan Smithee

Customer service for Philips Electronics is incredibly awful- I heard that the place their 800 number reaches is actually in India! Not to be against India (I like their movies) but you really do need to speak the same language when talking about technical problems.

Revoltor

Maybe you just have a hard time speaking clearly.

Movie_Man

In contrast to the above, I once got a guy with a British accent, and every time he told me to "press ENTER", I thought he said "percent". So I was typing this string of commands with a % on the end and kept getting errors. Of course he couldn't figure out why.

Spooky

I'm referring to their mail order clubs. Retail price on the DVDs plus about $6 shipping.