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Qantas Considers Bringing Call Centres Back to Australia is an article written by the AFF editorial team:
You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.
You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.
Under Alan Joyce’s reign it was I still hold (on the line) Australia homeI still call centre Australia home!
They're there, just only a couple of people per counter and not with many flashy signs. Although it's usually airside not landside.And while they’re at it can they please bring back customer service desks at airports so that when a flight goes IRROP I don’t have to be put on hold for several hours?
I'm all for great customer service, but US based airlines are far from the beacon of amazing customer service in my opinion.Unpopular opinion: I think they should outsource the call centres to countries that get customer service (e.g. USA). And while they’re at it can they please bring back customer service desks at airports so that when a flight goes IRROP I don’t have to be put on hold for several hours? It would also be nice if they could hire Americans to work in those customer service roles here in Australia (again they get customer service)
-RooFlyer88
Yes and no!Doesn't matter the location, they need the staff to be properly trained first.
Unpopular opinion: I think they should outsource the call centres to countries that get customer service (e.g. USA).
Is this sarcasm? I feel like the some of the poorest customer service I've experienced has been trying to deal with call centers for USA based airlines. Heck even my last experience at Flagship check-in JFK was less then stellar.It would also be nice if they could hire Americans to work in those customer service roles here in Australia (again they get customer service)
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Oh, i find US agents absolutely fantastic. They know their stuff backwards and work with you to get problems solved. This is across AA, UA, and AC. I don’t fly delta so no data points there.Is this sarcasm? I feel like the some of the poorest customer service I've experienced has been trying to deal with call centers for USA based airlines. Heck even my last experience at Flagship check-in JFK was less then stellar.
Yes and no!
Try having a conversation with an o/s call agent who truly and honestly believes qantas doesn’t fly after 8am between Sydney and Melbourne, on any day of the year.
No matter how wet behind the ears, you simply wouldn’t be faced with that sort of ridiculousness from staff based in Au.
I had an interesting experience in Heathrow after a BA cancellation. No ticketing staff at the airport, you need to ring the call centre. I got through to someone who rebooked me onto a flight an hour later. Great service I thought, until I heard him say "from Gatwick". After a bit more questioning, he admitted he was in India and had never been to London, and didn't realise Gatwick was so far away from Heathrow that it would be impossible to get there in time.
So you do need some people with local knowledge, or that can be educated with that knowledge.
This is so true.I find for the most part (unless you can't understand accents) the overseas staff aren't necessarily bad or clueless (yes they exist). It's just their sxope of power to fix issues are very narrow. Alternatively they should set up a proper escalation channel.
Your basic CS agents can deal with the booking enquiry that your technologically challenged person calls about. But a genuine problem that isn't easily solvable and need a bunch of overrides gets sent up the escalation.
If you work in any sort of help desk call center, the majority of the calls are people that don't know how to fix their simple issues (it's why you always get asked when you call IT help desk - "did you restart your system?"). And for those types of enquiries a low level employee is fine. I actually don't think every CS agent needs to be equipped to deal with every weird situation.After all, if customers can take care of the most trivial things by themselves online, then what's the point equipping your call centre staff to that minimum level when a person calling in likely has a more difficult and/or complex issue?
Definitely a factor. Having the staff be employed directly by Qantas would make a huge difference, in terms of quality on what could be achieved.Re: call centrr
I am wondering if the issue goes further than offshore vs onshore, poor training vs good training. I feel like the key issue is outsourcing, where some management aspects becomes out of Qantas control, once the contract is signed. Outsourced company top and unique focus is to squeeze as much cash as possible, within the boundaries of the agreed SLAs.
If Qantas bring back those job home, one would hope it won't be outsourced neither. Then Qantas fully control staff, training, management, accountability etc...
There will still the need for one or two offshore call center to handle 24/7 call (which also protect the price promise scam)
Finger crossed this is sorted out when I drop SG in 1.5 years.