Brits 'frustrated' by overseas call centres, study shows

Date: 07/06/2011

UK firms may want to consider buying 0845 telephone numbers and moving their call centres to Britain after hearing the results of new research.

Conducted by analyst Ovum, a study called Consumer Preferences in Customer Service: United Kingdom showed many people are frustrated by overseas call centres.

It was revealed that language barriers and not being able to understand foreign accents were users' main gripes.

Ian Jacobs, analyst and author of the report, said although offshore contact centres have been around for ten years, the same problems still exist.

"While there are economic advantages to offshoring customer care, the reality is that, in today's world of customer loyalty and retention, these savings can be negated if customers are driven away," he stated.

The expert also suggested opening onshore centres and hiring employees with regional accents appropriate to their location.

This comes after research conducted by ServiceTick found consumers are generally happier if their queries are dealt with using an operator at a call centre, rather than an online customer management system.