Your Name is NOT Vincent (Overseas Call Center)

So I called up a student lender for information. The representative, who claimed his name was “Vincent” had as thick an Indian accent as I’ve ever heard. I had such a hard time understanding him that I finally ask to speak to a supervisor. He transferred me to the “floor supervisor” who was able to help me. When pressed, she admitted that she was in Texas and that “Vincent” was overseas.

Now, I know it’s remotely possible that “Vincent” is really named Vincent, but come on. Much more likely that his name is “Bharat” or “Sanjoy” and someone told him to pick an American-sounding name to use for his work. And calling someone a “floor supervisor” when she is half a world away is deceptive too.

I suppose that there may be some value in out-sourcing this sort of work. But there is something vaguely offensive in concealing it.

In college, there were plenty of Indian/Pakistani/From-Over-There guys. They often had names like Tshiminogilosighehan that were impossible to pronounce so they would just pick an name like Tim (same first letter) to make it easier on everybody.

This is probably what was happening in your case. No big deal.

I swear to og your second paragraph wasn’t there.

Off to find caffine.

I spent a good while on a phone with an American support line a while ago. The previous contact for my company was a girl called Siobhan(Shivaun). Prick on the other end of the line couldn’t pronounce it and wouldn’t let it go till he did(which he never did BTW I just lied to him).

If my name had of been Ruaidhri or something similar I would have lied to make it simpler.

I work with a lot of Indian people and they often have nicknames which are shorter and easily pronouncable, but which nonetheless reflect their full names. If your name’s Sreenivasa, there’s a difference between calling yourself “Sreeni” and calling yourself “Steve”. The former just makes it easier for people to pronounce your name; the latter sounds like a marketing tactic to be used when you’re dealing with customers who might not like the idea that they’re speaking to someone in a foreign country for support. It certainly sounds like “Vincent” falls into the latter camp.

I’ve read a bit about these overseas call centres, and many of them do encourage their staff to adopt a western name and identity for the purposes of their jobs and to conceal their whereabouts.

However, in some places (Hong Kong and parts of China), some people do indeed adopt western names in addition to their local name.

As to the OP - well, his accent was a problem, I agree - but his name?

“Offensive” - WTF? Why should you give a shit?

When I was in India, in Goa, many many people were called Albert and Phillip and Maria and names like that. I know Goa was a Portuguese colony and has Catholic influences, but other parts of India and Asia have significant christian populations.

If your complaint is really that you couldn’t understand his English, and that people in the service industry should be understood by the target market sector, well, I might be able to see you could have a point.
But finding someones *name * offensive? Tragic.

That’s only an option if the person is called Twat McBollox.

No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It’s not that hard: Samir Na-gheen-an-a-jar. Nagheenanajar.

What bothers me is that the business in question is (I suspect) trying to conceal what it’s doing.

or Cunty O’Buttfuck.

60 Minutes did a piece about credit card service centers outsourcing to India and it was said that all operators use American “nom de phones.” The reporter–can’t remember who it was–went around the room and asked everyone their real name and then their fake name. It was both funny and creepy in an American imperialism sort of way.

I don’t think he’s offended by her name so much that she’s probably been coerced into adopting a western name to use when dealing with western customers. I find that offensive.

60 Minutes did a story on Indian call centers a couple weeks ago, and this is a common practice: they have them adopt western names specifically to make westerners more at ease.

I dunno: maybe he doesn’t like that people are being forced to surrender (albiet temporarily) an important part of their identity merely for the sake of placating the unconscious nationalistic tendencies of some westerners? On the 0-100 scale of offensive, with Thomas Kinkade being around 70, this is probably a 10 or 11. Not that big a deal, but still substantial enough for a rant. :smiley:

If ‘Vincent’ spoke perfect English with, say, a midwest accent, fulfilled the order perfectly, and the customer went away satisfied, where’s the problem? Or is it an anti-outsourcing thing people might be annoyed about?

You can’t blame US imperialism for this one, though - lots of countries are up to the same thing in India.

According to the OP, Vincent’s got quite a long way to go before he’s speaking perfect English with a midwest accent. lucwarm states that he had such trouble understanding him that he had to ask to speak to his supervisor. And yes, I think anti-outsourcing sentiment is also a big factor.

Well, if outsourcing is the real problem, I reckon we should know whether or not lucwarm borrowed whatever it was he was looking to borrow from the student lender.

If he didn’t, because he would prefer to pay the higher repayment terms on offer from domestic corporations who must cover native wage expectations, then I salute him for his principles and say well done.

They can’t win. If they don’t have an “American” name, some people will “know” they are dealing with a foreigner in another country and will get mad. If they make up an “American” name, those people will get mad at being “lied to.”

Well, the people who find either practice offensive can choose to do business only with companies who have all operations based in the U.S. and never outsource anything anywhere and never employ anyone with a “foreign” accent or a “foreign” name. Good luck in your search for a business like that.

By the way, I have an “American” name and perhaps one in 100 people pronounce it correctly. It doesn’t matter if I spell it for them, repeat it several times, or write it down, they cannot pronounce it nor seem to copy it when it’s right in front of them. And it’s not some unusual spelling, nor does it consist of words that are not normally names and thus possibly confuse people. They just don’t seem to get it for some reason. Good thing I don’t work at a call center.

I have seen more than one thread on this very board where people confess that somebody’s name can affect the way they will treat them.

My huband’s name is foreign-sounding and people usually have to hear it two or three times, and even then they mispronounce it. He sometimes goes by his initials, not because he is trying to ‘fool’ anyone but because the blank expressions of confusion he is faced with when he introduces himself sometimes get too much to bear.

Can you blame someone for picking an ‘American’ sounding name to avoid having their own name mangled by speakers who either can’t be bothered to pronounce it properly, or to avoid being judged by shallow people who think your ‘funny’-sounding name means there’s something ‘funny’ about you?

:: applauds :: Couldn’t let that pass without a compliment. Didn’t want you to think nobody caught it.

Why does it say paper jam when there is no paper jam? I swear to God one of these days I’m just going to kick this piece of shit out the window.

My mom once worked for a lawyer who was originally from Hong Kong who used the name Francis. It was a lot easier than him having to listen to people mangle his Chinese name all the time, I guess.

My only personal concern with outsourcing phone help to India is that I have heard a lot of Indians whose English is very good, but whose accents make it near-indecipherable. Otherwise, hey, they want the work, India’s not a bad choice because English is so prevalent there.

PC Load Letter? What the fuck does THAT mean?