At Last! The Tables Were Turned!!
This is what happens when a person from India tries to take on a computerized, automated female voice answering system from a call center here in the United States. It ain't pretty. But it sure is funny. Long story, so
On May 27th, while awaiting transportation to the train station in Kingman, AZ, I was killing some time in the lobby of the Silver Queen motel. A young woman approached me and asked me some questions about Amtrak passenger train service to L.A. She was in her early twenties and I later learned that she's a student studying to be a commercial airline pilot. There's a flight training school in Kingman where the students are taught how to fly Cessnas. Later, at a flight training school in Florida, they learn how to fly Airbus 320s. This young woman was from India and has plans to fly for GoAir, a regional airline there after she receives her flying credentials.
So, anyway, being from India, this young lady had the same type of heavy accent as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the fictional character from The Simpsons who runs the Kwik-E-Mart convenience store.
Due to no fault of her own, or mine, at times I had some trouble understanding her. She conveyed to me that she was interested in taking the train to L.A. Since the Southwest Chief is a reserved train, I made the suggestion that she call Amtrak's 800 number for their reservation bureau. That meant that she would have to deal with "Julie", Amtrak's computerized, automated female voice answering system that is such a rewarding and enriching component of their reservation "experience."
Now, thanks to Globalization and job outsourcing, I'm sure most all of us, at one time or another, have encountered the severe frustration when we've contacted a call center in India and were forced to deal with a barely discernable, heavily-accented person on the other end of the line who didn't know all that much about the problem we were trying to describe but did a good job at pretending that s/he did. I know I'VE been a victim of that.
This young lady activated the "speaker phone" feature of her cell phone while she was "talking" to "Julie", so I was able to hear both sides of the conversation.
Oh, the glorious beauty of it all! For one brief shining moment, the tables were turned! A person from India was having to deal with the frustration of a call center here in the United States and a computerized, automated female voice answering system! YES! There IS a God!!
There were times when I could barely contain my laughter. This young lady had to repeatedly bark certain words into her cell phone to prompt "Julie" to further progress the call. Her accent and the background noise from the motel lobby certainly didn't help matters. Many times "Julie" couldn't understand her. "I'm sorry. I didn't get that. Did you say 'Los Angeles?'" "Okay. Got it. You want an ACCESSIBLE BEDROOM on TRAIN 91 between SAVANNAH and JACKSONVILLE. Is that correct?" And on and on it went, with me trying my best to contain my laughter. Finally, "I think you said you wanted to talk to an agent. Okay. I'll connect you. Your approximate wait time is TWENTY minutes." And then, after this young woman was connected to a real, live human being, she still had some trouble getting everything taken care of, thanks to her thick foreign accent.
Not to worry. The story has a happy ending. After what must have been a thirty-minute excercise in frustration in dealing with a call center, the young woman got on the train, coach class, and made it to her desired destination of L.A. on time. From there, she was returning to India for a brief time to visit friends and family.
But it was great, folks. I'm still laughing about it. You HAD to have been there. My written description of it here certainly cannot do it justice.
I guess the moral of the story is that, in its own special way, Globalization victimizes people all over the globe -- not just here in North America. And, when you're standing on the sidelines, it can sometimes be absolutely hilarious.
M_P
On May 27th, while awaiting transportation to the train station in Kingman, AZ, I was killing some time in the lobby of the Silver Queen motel. A young woman approached me and asked me some questions about Amtrak passenger train service to L.A. She was in her early twenties and I later learned that she's a student studying to be a commercial airline pilot. There's a flight training school in Kingman where the students are taught how to fly Cessnas. Later, at a flight training school in Florida, they learn how to fly Airbus 320s. This young woman was from India and has plans to fly for GoAir, a regional airline there after she receives her flying credentials.
So, anyway, being from India, this young lady had the same type of heavy accent as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the fictional character from The Simpsons who runs the Kwik-E-Mart convenience store.
Due to no fault of her own, or mine, at times I had some trouble understanding her. She conveyed to me that she was interested in taking the train to L.A. Since the Southwest Chief is a reserved train, I made the suggestion that she call Amtrak's 800 number for their reservation bureau. That meant that she would have to deal with "Julie", Amtrak's computerized, automated female voice answering system that is such a rewarding and enriching component of their reservation "experience."
Now, thanks to Globalization and job outsourcing, I'm sure most all of us, at one time or another, have encountered the severe frustration when we've contacted a call center in India and were forced to deal with a barely discernable, heavily-accented person on the other end of the line who didn't know all that much about the problem we were trying to describe but did a good job at pretending that s/he did. I know I'VE been a victim of that.
This young lady activated the "speaker phone" feature of her cell phone while she was "talking" to "Julie", so I was able to hear both sides of the conversation.
Oh, the glorious beauty of it all! For one brief shining moment, the tables were turned! A person from India was having to deal with the frustration of a call center here in the United States and a computerized, automated female voice answering system! YES! There IS a God!!
There were times when I could barely contain my laughter. This young lady had to repeatedly bark certain words into her cell phone to prompt "Julie" to further progress the call. Her accent and the background noise from the motel lobby certainly didn't help matters. Many times "Julie" couldn't understand her. "I'm sorry. I didn't get that. Did you say 'Los Angeles?'" "Okay. Got it. You want an ACCESSIBLE BEDROOM on TRAIN 91 between SAVANNAH and JACKSONVILLE. Is that correct?" And on and on it went, with me trying my best to contain my laughter. Finally, "I think you said you wanted to talk to an agent. Okay. I'll connect you. Your approximate wait time is TWENTY minutes." And then, after this young woman was connected to a real, live human being, she still had some trouble getting everything taken care of, thanks to her thick foreign accent.
Not to worry. The story has a happy ending. After what must have been a thirty-minute excercise in frustration in dealing with a call center, the young woman got on the train, coach class, and made it to her desired destination of L.A. on time. From there, she was returning to India for a brief time to visit friends and family.
But it was great, folks. I'm still laughing about it. You HAD to have been there. My written description of it here certainly cannot do it justice.
I guess the moral of the story is that, in its own special way, Globalization victimizes people all over the globe -- not just here in North America. And, when you're standing on the sidelines, it can sometimes be absolutely hilarious.
M_P