Customer Service and internalized racism

[terriko]

I had a not so great experience with a customer service rep on one of those live-chat things today, so I sent in a complaint after suffering through statements like "when u log in with yr used id and password what does it comes?"

I got a response back, which was nice, but it included a variant on "she's a great rep but English isn't her first language"

And while they don't really try to claim it's an excuse, it got me thinking... is our collective distaste for outsourced customer service and non-native speakers part of some internalized racism?

It's got a some of the hallmarks, but I don't really think it's the core issue. The core issue is communication and failure thereof. If I'd gotten that sentence above from a native speaker (and believe me, I've seen worse chatting with folk in games) I'd still have made my complaint that she didn't seem very professional with her tendency to abbreviate words that were already three or four letters long. It still would have been a problem that despite me telling her explicitly 3 times that I was not a student, she was still telling me to click on a "student" tab that doesn't appear in my interface and thus couldn't help me with that part of the question.

So then the question is, why tell me that she's a non-native speaker? Are you just trying to make me feel guilty about complaining about her? She still did a poor job today; it doesn't really matter to me if she's normally better at it or if it's harder for her than it would be for me. I just wanted to report that so that she could be helped with her listening and writing skills, as well as her knowledge about the differing interfaces to the system.

I'm used to making allowances for poor language skills (native and non-native speakers alike) within the university system, but when communication is the job she's being paid to do, I think it's fair for me to complain when her language skills are not at the level I expect.

In conclusion, it's always good to examine internal racism, but making a complaint about poor customer service seems fair regardless.

Comments

indeed

[(Anonymous)]

The ability to write standard English and comprehend the persons issue seem like prime job requirements. This is not just a usage of "ain't". There is also an expectation of professional demeanor. And the appropriate formality when in a business situation. And the idea that its 'outsourced' is not suppose to imply its sub-standard and that is acceptable because of it. It may be lower cost to the business but I don't care, I want people who can meet the common profile of customer service for the US. And its not informal English, bad syntax, grammar and no comprehension of my issue. Does the company think this reflect well on my opinion of them? You should not be concerned with their race and only judge on performance. You did not bring race into your opinion that I can see (but I may have the same prejudice).