Hello? Pinoy ba 'to?
Since the Philippines is pretty popular when it comes to outsourcing (either through the Overseas Filipino Workers or through business process outsourcing/contact centers), I wonder how Filipinos abroad feel whenever they talk to Pinoy agents working here.
My very first customer in the call center where I am currently working is a Filipino. I was then deployed in a special project. There were questions that we need to ask the customer before we could assist them (including the name, phone number, if the call was a transfer call or direct call, etc). He said “I was transferred by your kababayan.”
That made me smile a little bit. In March, I also had a Filipino customer, this time, calling from the Philippines. I was able to trace the phone number (thanks to Google) to an advertising company based in Salcedo Village in Makati. Ms. Rivera is a staff of an American who owns the computer, and is complaining because the repair center in the Philippines did not fix their computer but did more damage to it. Since it’s a complaint, I have to refer her to our complaints department, but since it’s already 9 am, the department is already closed. So she has to call us at night.
This morning, Mr. Ferrer wants to order a reformat disk. What happened was that his friend tinkered with his computer which is capable of viewing and recording television show. He said that what he only does in his computer is to watch The Filipino Channel. He wasn’t able to order the disk because of invalid credit card. He offered me a cheque but we do not accept that so I asked for another card. He said that he could not provide one because he hasn’t paid the balance yet.
What made our conversation even more interesting is that he kept trying to find out if I am a Filipino. Had he asked me directly if I am a Filipino then I would answer him. But I have to follow the script.
Zoloft said
am February 20 2008 @ 8:29 am
Haha, in my case, the American customers I deal with every single weekday don’t like talking to people with atrocious accents, & I always have to apologize for my colleagues who get mistaken as agents from (no offense) Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, & more often than not they feel safe talking to me, thinking I’m one of them, WTF. Everytime I tell them I’m in Manila, they’d ask me, “so when are you coming back?!”
ZoWat said
am February 25 2008 @ 4:38 am
Yabang naman ng Zoloft na yan!
Zoloftaenamo said
am May 5 2008 @ 11:52 am
oo nga! ma-feeling! pare, kanin pa rin tinitira mo tol, wag kng mgmalaki. malamang pango ka.
taeNyongTatlo said
am June 7 2008 @ 5:30 am
to Zoloft:
i feel sorry for you, jackass… you’re one of those poeple whom do we call ‘FIL-AM’ as in filing (feeling) amerikano! bwahahaha!
to Zowat:
i think you came from one of the ‘so so’ call center. it’s so unfortunate that your company exists.
to Zoloftaenamo:
you better shut up faggot! you don’t belong to this industry because you hardly speak english or even comprehend it. bwahahaha
Randy John said
am July 10 2008 @ 3:13 pm
hehe ako nga eh! they’re asking me if im from states…kasi i sounded like americans daw…hmp! not agree naman ako…mga kano marunong din mang echos! hahaha…. baka nga totoo…hirit ka?
edzhie said
am January 7 2010 @ 1:05 pm
i really can’t blame someone if they can’t reveal their identity if they’re working in a call center , it’s just for the company’s policy .. but as for us agents here in telus , if a client is a filipino .. we can negotiate with them not to the extent that we speak tagalog but if insist , then why not .. no need to argue about it .. have a good one guys
edzhie said
am January 7 2010 @ 1:06 pm
i really can’t blame someone if they can’t reveal their identity if they’re working in a call center , it’s just for the company’s policy .. but as for us agents here in telus , if a client is a filipino .. we can negotiate with them not to the extent that we speak tagalog but if they insist , then why not .. no need to argue about it .. have a good one guys
JESIBOI said
am January 28 2012 @ 8:50 pm
the accent is not really a problem, as long as you can resolve their issue and they can understand you..
based on my experiences, cguro after 1 yr ko, makukuha ko din ung accent hehe.
btw, nice blog. i’m a fan!