[prevman]

I just got off the phone with replay regarding my 5040. see this post http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=198741 First and fore most, the Dumb woman I was talking to didn't speak a lick of English. After 1 hour of trying to understand this woman I got an RMA... I am seriously considering not sending it in, and trying to re-image the drive to see if that fixes the problem. At one point I asked her for an American telephone number to call for help... at which point she said NO, but she did confirm that she was in India. She then put me on hold (or so she thought) and went on to tell a coworker what I just said about an american telephone number, (As they both laughed out loud at me)... I then yelled through the phone... and said hey, you dumb B*****, I can hear you... I Can't believe that I waisted my money on this piece of CRAP! And it is now just over a month old so I am stuck with it.


SONIC BLUE, I KNOW YOU MONITOR THIS THREAD.. WAKE UP AN SMELL THE COFFEE, FIRE THE INIDAN COMPANY PROVIDING YOUR SUPPORT.. I'DE RATHER BE ON HOLD FOR 3 HOURS TO TALK TO SOMEONE CLUE THEN DEAL WITH THE DUMB PEOPLE WHO ARE PROVIDING SUPPORT FROM INDIA!

 

[pda]

Why don't you file a complaint to SB about the women if you think you were mistreated by the woman.


Most companies outsource customer support to third providers, but the help desk team remain in US. SB took another step to trim cost by moving help desk to Indian. Make sure that doesn't degrade the service.

 

[BrettStah]

So you've never run into "dumb people" working customer support that work in the USA?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Quote:

Originally posted by prevman SONIC BLUE, I KNOW YOU MONITOR THIS THREAD.. WAKE UP AN SMELL THE COFFEE....

This is not the place to file your complaint with Sonic Blue.

 

[JimWCB]

Irronically, you wouldn't have been able to talk to anyone before the switchover since they only were avilable M-F during the day.


But I do agree that this switch could be a bad move in the end.


Cheap support staff is one thing, but if they can't communicate properly with SB's customers, they are losing SB business.


Hopefully this sort of thing will be the exception to the norm. I would assume that SB's contract requires the support company to ensure that their employees speak understandable english (otherwise, what's the point?). Ideally, you should have gotten the woman's name and then complained directly to SB (they have contact numbers directly on their website at http://www.sonicblue.com/company/contact.asp ).


I'd assume SB will be maiking blind calls to their own support to test the new company's ability to handle their support. I know I would if it was my company's future on the line.

 

[pda]

Quote:

Originally posted by BrettStah So you've never run into "dumb people" working customer support that work in the USA?

I had no bias in my post. I just stated the fact that most companies outsource customer support to third party providers operate call centers in US as oppose to offshore. The reason is time zone difference. 12 hours difference between US and India, day and night difference.

 

[alyosha]

C'mon, they speak decent english in India, just look up the history of the country... You could try to ask for help here, but after your post, you probably wont get help from indian and female forum members, nor current employees of SB.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I find the English spoken by people from India very easy to understand. It is one of my favorite accents. The many Indian hotel employees and managers I have come in contact with over the years speak very good English. I always thought they were so successful in the hospitality industry partly as a result of their accents. Sonic Blue moving customer support to India sure sounds strange but let's give it a chance. Sonic Blue probably has to change some things or fade into oblivion so I hope this is a big money saver.


If I had my choice of customer service voices to listen to, I would take a sweet soft southern feminine voice over all others. Texas and Alabama women sure know how to talk, what a sexy wonderful voice. My body sort of tingles just thinking about that accent.


Chris

 

[BrettStah]

Uh, that's a little too much information, Chris!

 

[richierich]

Chris. Do you really have no problem understanding Indian accents? I haven't called SB's support line in the past few months so this is not with regards to them, but when I was in graduate school I had a professor who emigrated from India over 20 years prior to my arrival at graduate school. I could only understand about 3/4 of what he said. I spent a good three hours just trying to figure out what he meant when he said for our homework assignment we were supposed to "double up" a theory (it turns out that's how he says develop).

 

[paulchang8178]

I had to call support this morning to move my lifetime subscription from a broken 4504 unit (bought as open box at CircuitCity) to a new 5040 unit.


I called at 9am EST right when the support center opened.




First call: right after the rep took my phone number, the call disconnects.


Second call: so I get past giving them my phone number this time. I then explained the problem. At the end of each sentence, the rep literally had to put me on hold to talk to a supervisor for guidance. Finally, the rep asked me for my serial number of the old machine... then the call disconnects...


Third call: this time, I called back very very pissed. First thing I did was ask for the supervisor on the floor. The rep who answerd the phone transferred me and the supervisor apologized for all the dropped calls because of the high load on the switched circuit to India. I told her that the LEAST they can do is call the customer back if the phone disconnects. She murmurred something that I didn't quite understand and transferred me back to the rep. The rep then took my old serial number and told me that the machine had been "activated" on Oct 28th and since it's past the 30 day period, I can't move the subscription. BULL. I bought the unit as open box from CC on Nov 18 and paid for lifetime subscription on Nov 20th. I explained to her that the Oct 28th date was probably when the first person who bought the unit connected to the network. SHe didn't understand the concept of open box units and return/exchanges. She wanted that I fax them proof that I paid for subscription (shouldn't that be in the system already?). Before I exchanged the open box unit with the 5040 last week, I called tech support (while it was still in the US) and they told me all I needed to do was to give them the new and old serial numbers and the subscription move would be done in a snap.


I got really upset at this point and I asked to speak to the supervisor. I was transferred to another supervisor and he gave me the same bull so I hung up on them... I am soo fed up with this incompetency.


My last hope now before I return the 5040 unit and dispute the $250 lifetime subscription charge is through SonicBlue directly. I called their 408 number and talked to a nice operator who understood what I was going through immediately and transferred me to the person in charge of tech support at ReplayTV. He wasn't in (it's only 8:30am there right now) but I left a voicemail..



Sigh..

 

[GadgetGuy]

I can't get through to the phone numbers listed on the contacts page of SBs web site. The Presales # says its been disconnected and the Post sales # constantly gives a busy signal.


Update: 1 1/2 hours later and still can't get past the busy signal.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I still can't get through. Even the Activation phone number gives a fast busy signal like something is wrong.

 

[Markz2k]

Wow, SBLU seems to get worse every time I try one of their products! I'm on the phone with "support" in India right now. I had to repeat my phone # 4 times before the rep could get it right. Then I explained what I wanted. (My activation fee refunded within the 30 day return period) Turns out the original rep screwed up when I called to activate the 5040 the first time. I told her to do lifetime, she did monthly anyway. So, now the rep thinks I want to change the monthly to lifetime, but I've told him SEVERAL times I want the money refunded. I told him I retuned the 5040 to the store I bought it at, and he tries to tell me I need to go to the store to get the activation fee returned! I asked for the supervisor, and just now got off the phone with her. I'm so pissed I'll never own a sonicblue product for the rest of my life!!!! She claims to have canceled the activation, but won't refund the monthly fees I've paid. (Through 12/31) Problem is, when I activated the 5040 on 11/15, I specifically asked for a lifetime activation, partly because I knew I may have to return the unit, and that getting a monthly activation refunded is difficult. The fist rep made the mistake of doing monthly, (back when the rep was in the US) but this new supervisor from india just doesn't care about that and refuses to refund the fees I've paid. I already emailed Lyndon to help me with this, but I'll dispute the charges with AMEX if I have to.


At this point, I HOPE that SBLU goes under, they deserve it.

 

[RandyL712]

Quote:

Originally posted by Markz2k At this point, I HOPE that SBLU goes under, they deserve it.

What a ridiculous statement. You want all of us screwed? You want people to lose their jobs?

 

[BaysideBas]

Markz2k's definition of comedy/tragedy:


Someone slips on a banana peel, gets severely injured, lapses into a coma and dies: COMEDY


Markz2k gets a hangnail: TRAGEDY


Blame it on the ME generation.....

 

[GadgetGuy]

The ReplayTV division of Sonic Blue has gone under IMO

 

[dhodory]

Even when out-sourced tech support centers or call centers work really well, they're still just average. Add to that the fact that there may be an additional barrier (language) now that SB has sent their call-center to India, and it spells trouble. I know WHY they did it though . . . very cheap.


We recently switched vendors for an out-sourced service (technical writing/publications) from a U.S. vendor and "saved" 80% . . . of course, the Indian vendor has yet to provide the first manual . . . so our savings may be a bit premature. Things that "look good" on paper (financially) aren't always (READ: usually aren't) what they're cracked up to be. I can't imagine that SB didn't know this -- but made the choice to move to India anyway. THAT IS WORRISOME, as it may suggest that their financial condition is getting to a critical point. Here's to hoping (for SB's sake) that things improve quickly.

 

[RandyL712]

Wow, you really think so??

 

[Markz2k]

Quote:

What a ridiculous statement. You want all of us screwed? You want people to lose their jobs?

No, I don't want the customers screwed (any more than we already are). So, I over-reacted a bit. I was pissed at the incompetence of SB's support. (I'm certainly not the only one - I didn't start this thread.) As for the job loss, there are some people who work at or are contracted by SB that frankly do deserve to lose their jobs. Like some of the support reps, for example. It appears to be possible to outsource support to india, and still have competent, professional reps. Why can't SB do it? (I know, costs money.)


I just got off the phone with AMEX. The rep was polite, competent, and had an indian accent. There was no problem contesting the charge from SB; they refunded it on the spot, and charged it back to SB.