Goodbye virgin, they "can't find any one in the uk to employ" lol

[alfa1_steve]

Hi all

 

In the last few days i have had a problem with the landline telephone which is needed to call my partner as i am out of the country a lot.

 

I called virgin and to my disbelief found myself talking to some one in south africa who was not one little bit helpful just said there is a problem with the exchange and an engineer has to replace a bit of equipment and should be back up and running within 7-10 days.

 

I then asked when virgin started outsourcing work as the only reason i chose virgin media and mobile was that i thought they only had uk call centers ( i like to buy products/services that keep uk people in uk work) he would not comment but told me virgin have contact centers in england(quite rightly so), south africa, india and manila.

 

so i called and canceled my virgin media services, they tried everything to get me to stay but could not move all the jobs back to the uk so in 30 days finished.

 

I then called virgin mobile to ask if they have call centers abroad to which they replied with the same list as above and i told them i want to cancel my contract which again they did want me to do but told them the reason ie call centers abroad and the team leader who i was speaking to said and i quote

 

"The only reason virgin mobile/media outsources work is because of it geographical location and they can't find anyone to employ" HA HA HA HA HA

 

What a joke i said so your telling me that in todays financial climate you can't find any one and she replied yes! I asked if this was virgins official line and she said she did not know? lol

 

So all in all virgin media have lost £80.00 per month and virgin mobile have lost on average £900.00 per month. I hope that makes a tiny dent in the cost savings you achieved by out sourcing............

[indebtstudent]

I have nothing against overseas call centres if the quality of service is the same and we are able to understand each other easily. Unfortunately almost without exception my experience has been the opposite of this.

 

I did speak to one guy a Virgin who clearly was abroad but handled my request adequately.

 

I agree though if companies want to make money here they the should be prepared to base thier operation here.

[Surfer01]

When I was with Virgin, I got put through to a call centre in South Africa and immediately switched to their language along with the local dialect and started asking questions I knew they could not answer. Poor woman was totally confused because an Englishman was able to speak her language with a dialect so she had no chance but I had a good laugh and cancelled within the next 30 days. Agreed that if you are spending money here it should be for people gainfully employed in the UK!

That is know as economy which is why I do not like using charity shops as all the money they earn goes elsewhere and not into the local economy as shop workers are volunteers, therefore the local economy is not stimulated and other shops start closing!

[indebtstudent]

Erm charity shops generally sell stuff that people have given to them. Very few high street shops sell used goods, so I don't see a dilemma there. Also they spend money on helping people which can't be a bad thing.

[Surfer01]

Erm charity shops generally sell stuff that people have given to them. Very few high street shops sell used goods, so I don't see a dilemma there. Also they spend money on helping people which can't be a bad thing.

I am surprised that you as a student are missing the point. A normal retail shop pays wages to its staff and those staff in turn spend money in other retail shops, cafes, bars, amusement parks in the vicinity and the money stays in the local economy as it revolves around in there as all the other pplaces in tghe area employ staff who in turn spedn money in the local economy. A charity shop has volunteers who are not paid and any income derived from selling goods from that shop is normally spent outside the local economy. You can always tell if a town is imploding and that is when most of the shops in the high street are charity shops!

[zazen.warrior]

When I had probs with an Asda order I was amazed to find myself speaking to S. Africa! They were of no help whatsoever. The emails go there too...

Edited June 27, 2009 by zazen.warrior

[indebtstudent]

I am not a student this is an old name I had on another site for many years.

 

I simply feel that the world is better charity shops existing. By your logic the country would be better off since people would have to pay solictors or other profesionals for advice and they would spen thus support the local economy.

 

There is on glaring hole in this, many people could not afford this advice so simply wouldn't get it. Similarly there are people who simply cannot afford high street prices.

 

Also your assertion that charity shops are somehow the cause of a 'town imploding' is a bizarre interpetation of cause and effect. There is no causal relationship between the two.

 

Charity shops are usually staffed by volunteets as you say, they tend to be older, not needing paid work, and thus would spend EXACTLY the same amount of money as before.

 

In fact they probably (based on my town) spend more in local markets and high street shops than other people who go to out of town supermarkets which seek to kill off smaller competitors.

 

"any income derived from selling goods from that shop is normally spent outside the local economy"

 

Same goes for supermarkets but to a much higher order. You would rather pay dividends to shareholders than support organisations who help the elderly, chronically sick etc etc?

 

Anyway this is pointless we'll agree to disagree, I simply don't follow your logic at all.

[MARTIN3030]

I buy loads of stuff from Charity shops -in my town they are everywhere.

We have a British Heart Foundation shop thats massive and sells portable TVS for a tenner DVD players for 8 quid.Dining tables and chairs from £30 and dishwashers from £30.

It not inferior stuff either.I got a Bosch Hob and oven for £40 pine bunk beds for £50 and 5 piece Technics HI FI class AA for £40.

We have another charity shop that gets new stuff from Burtons -I got a Diesel T shirt for 3 quid with the £22 price label still attatched.

 

I know some people who actually buy stuff in charity shops and sell it for more on the car boot sale !!

 

The days of the old Oxfams are gone-these days its not taboo to be seen in charity shops-they are big business.

 

My best purchase was a bright yellow silk tour jacket with Sun Records logo on the back.

I knew what it was immediately-it was Elvis Presleys first record company from Nashville -Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded with them.

I have no idea how it found its way there.

As I paid my £8 at the counter I was aware of some joking comments....but I think I got the last laugh.

I put it on ebay in the music collectables and got £85 for it.

Edited June 28, 2009 by MARTIN3030

[Surfer01]

We will buy from Red Cross and a few other charity shops but even if they have something we want, we will never buy from any Oxfam shop!

[djgordyp]

I think we are starting to get slightly off the main topic here. So to try and steer it back on topic, I thought I would relate my recent experience of a call centre.

The other evening I got a phone call, and thinking it was a debt collector (it usually is ), I waited a couple of seconds to see if the line went dead. Eventually I said hello and someone with a foreign accent answerd and procceeded to go through a sales pitch. When he tried to tell me who he was calling on behalf of, I had to stop him and tell him I couldn't understand what he was saying. He repeated himself and still I couldn't understand him. Eventually I just hung up. After thinking about it for a few seconds I realised he was trying to say I was a valued customer of EDF Energy. I only wish I had realisd this at the time, I could of had some fun.

 

So not only was this a bad call because of the speech side of it. I live in Northern Ireland so I don't know how he got the idea I was an EDF customer

[MARTIN3030]

"I think we are starting to get slightly off the main topic here."

 

It happens on every CAG forum !

[indebtstudent]

What WAS the topic? That companies who wish to make money ouf of people in the UK should not outsource work overseas? Sounds reasonable to me.