I'm curious

If you call your banks customer service, or tech support, is it considered an international call worthy of wiretapping? Could it put you on a suspect list? Somebody should ask Scottie at a pres conference.

Do "our" companies have phone banks in Pakistan?.. I'll bet there are bunches in the Phillipines. (both Muslim countries,IIRC)

And the customer service representative's English was so badly broken, I could barely understand any of it. I asked to talk to a supervisor, and was transfered to Columbus Ohio.

I used to work there (the one in Col, OH... not the one where the person was speaking broken english ;))

I work in Tech Support now, for a small company in Ohio... I worked for a large company previously (Apple), and got all sorts of complaints from callers saying that they were so glad they "finally got someone who speaks american!" ;)

I really prefer talking to someone who speaks fluent english when I call customer service or tech support. I am the type of person who only calls in the most desperate of circumstances... when I call, I am normally not in a very good mood anyway (especially if it's tech support, because as a geek I will have spent hours trying to solve the problem myself), and trying to decipher what someone is saying only adds to that frustration.

In my opinion, if you're an american company selling your product primarily in america, you should have some sort of obligation to your customers to provide them with usable support and service.

Hell, I'm still mad that my bank ATM asks me to choose english or spanish before I input my PIN.

:wtf: All accusations of bigotry aside, you contradict yourself.
What's good for BrutalEntropy is good for his Hispanic neighbors.

well... personally I don't look at it as bigotry. Look, I've worked in customer service/tech support jobs for a LOOOONG time. Actually, when I worked at Chase I worked in their collections department. We had a customer that was hearing impaired, and *incredibly* difficult to understand. In fact, there was a note in the computer (on his internal file) that said something along the lines of "good luck understanding what he's saying". I helped him out, spent an hour on the phone with him (in a call center where we were supposed to have ~10 minute call times), and basically saved him from foreclosure by taking the time to work out a payment plan. Granted, I was getting paid... however, even as a customer I've put up with a lot. I'm not the type of person to ask to speak with someone else just because I have a hard time understanding what a representative is saying, I'd much rather just ask them to repeat themselves.

It's not bigotry. I don't care what their accent is, what culture they're from... hell, I can't understand some southerners or even people who are from the same state as I. I am just saying that it *is* nice to call a company when you have a problem, and not have the added frustration of trying to understand what the other person is saying. I've even BEEN that other person. I have a tendency to speak quickly, and some people can't understand a word that I'm saying. While this is not quite the same, as I can at least slow down... I guess I'm just trying to say that I think it happens to everyone, to a degree.

"What's good for BrutalEntropy is good for his Hispanic neighbors."

Well, I certainly don't have a problem with spanish being offered when you call tech support/cs... hell, some of my favorite calls from working in customer service call centers were the language line calls (those were for less common languages... I remember I had a creole translation call once)... talking to translators is actually kind of fun. As far as the ATM, I guess I'm not so much mad that there's a spanish option there, it's really just that it bugs the geek in me. I mean, if you are swiping your card ANYWAY, the bank should KNOW what language you speak. When you swipe your card the first time, it should ask you to choose your language, then after that it defaults to your choice-- with an option to change it of course being offered in the menu. I dunno, it's just one of those extra buttons that really doesn't need to be there. Maybe I'm just anal :-P

"well... personally I don't look at it as bigotry. "

I was specifically addressing the contradiction in your statements. I agree that people in the professional capacity of offering telephone support* need to speak fluently and articulately in whatever language they happen to be working in. That is simply good business.

"As far as the ATM, I guess I'm not so much mad that there's a spanish option there, it's really just that it bugs the geek in me. I mean, if you are swiping your card ANYWAY, the bank should KNOW what language you speak."

Now, that is a practical solution that would actually help people. Think your bank has a suggestion box? Maybe you can send it to HR along with your resume. :)

Thanks
Crikkett

(*I have been in cust support too, many years)

They are probably only wiretapping people sending calls to areas they consider to be suspicious. Being the corporate nation that we are, it'd be a tremendous task to observe every call that goes beyond our shores.

Of course, crazy as this situation is, you never know.

The capability to vacuum up EVERY communication in the world.

I really don't think they're going to go through the trouble of listening to Joe Average's regular calls, unless they have some prior evidence of his being a suspect. There's really no political advantage in hearing about you ordering a new checkbook, or how the waiter at dinner last night was a snob.

Do I think the wiretaps are wrong? Absolutely, definitely. No question. It's not going to stop me from making phonecalls, though. If they really want to bore themselves with my calls, well, that's their own punishment to inflict upon themselves. :D

Monitoring every call made, let alone "overseas" calls, is well within the capability.

all calls are now being handled by people in India, so does that mean its legal for shrub to wiretap, after all the calls are going over seas.

sorry, sorry.

do you think they'd hesitate to tap a call routed to another country?!