Sky replacing UK Costumer Service staff

[Timelord2018]

It's being done purely to save 💰 

[does+any+of+it+ma]

I've always appreciated Sky Customer  Care, I'm afraid that's no longer the case. Today I called customer services for what I thought was a fairly straight forward issue; 2 hours later & after multiple conversations with different operators in the Bulgarian contact centre (s) I've been left totally exasperated, frustrated and exhausted. I don't think it's fair to staff who have a limited understanding of English to be expected to provide these services, as it must be frustrating for them as well, and even though they were trying to help the communication barriers were insurmountable. It was so difficult I'm going to try to find an alternative supplier after being with Sky for 20+ years.

[MarkGoldsmith]

Most of the big companies have offshored their customer services as it much cheaper to run and doesn't generally require overly skilled and thus being inexpensive staff.

Yes the customer services has gone downhill over the years but if being offshored is the main reason in looking to switch provider, you will likely find the same frustrations whichever supplier you switch to.

[does+any+of+it+ma]

yes that is true but the speeds and price of competitors are better, and the premium I was prepared to pay for good customer service is no longer relevant, so in effect nothing to loose even if competitors customer service is just as bad 

[MarkGoldsmith]

---

@does+any+of+it+ma wrote:

yes that is true but the speeds and price of competitors are better, and the premium I was prepared to pay for good customer service is no longer relevant, so in effect nothing to loose even if competitors customer service is just as bad 

---

New customer deals with competitors will always be cheaper, thats the way the industry currently is and is the most profitable model. In all likelihood once your minimum term contract with a competitor expires you can benefit from a cheap new customer deal switching back to Sky, and then keep alternating every 18-24 months depending on contract length.

[TimmyBGood]

---

@does+any+of+it+ma wrote:

 the speeds and price of competitors are better

---

Pricing and speed bands / delivered speed of all ISPs using the Openreach network are by definition pretty similar because they have the same wholesale availability and costs.  Altnet ISPs can choose to operate differently, and the current prices offered by the small full-fibre companies are almost certainly loss-making to them as they try to build subscriber numbers to a sustainable level before running out of start-up capital.

[Mr+Ripley]

  I had reason to call CS the other day, first time in ages, as I had been overcharged for a Sky Store film rental. The chap I spoke to was clearly Indian. Now for the disclaimer: I am not racist & this is not a racist post. Now, whilst I did manage to get my refund, I have to say that I was unable to understand about 75% of what was said to me. This was due to both the accent & the speed at which he talked. Maybe he had trouble with my accent, I don't know, obviously, it's a two-way street. 

  Luckily, this was a small issue. However, in June, my 18-month contract for Sky Cinema ends & I have to renegotiate it. I'm dreading making that phone call. If I can't understand what is being said to me how will I know what is being sold to me? I looked online the other day to see what I can do there & I see it's still worse than useless unless you're a new customer. I would really like it to be like the old days when you spoke to someone from Scotland.

[oj01]

---

@Mr+Ripley wrote:

  I had reason to call CS the other day, first time in ages, as I had been overcharged for a Sky Store film rental. The chap I spoke to was clearly Indian. Now for the disclaimer: I am not racist & this is not a racist post. Now, whilst I did manage to get my refund, I have to say that I was unable to understand about 75% of what was said to me. This was due to both the accent & the speed at which he talked. Maybe he had trouble with my accent, I don't know, obviously, it's a two-way street. 

  Luckily, this was a small issue. However, in June, my 18-month contract for Sky Cinema ends & I have to renegotiate it. I'm dreading making that phone call. If I can't understand what is being said to me how will I know what is being sold to me? I looked online the other day to see what I can do there & I see it's still worse than useless unless you're a new customer. I would really like it to be like the old days when you spoke to someone from Scotland.

---

@Mr+Ripley I find the Live Chat much better for negotiating a new deal. Gives you time to read it and think before agreeing to anything. You can also take a photo of what you're agreeing to. 

[Mr+Ripley]

  @oj01  Thank you very much, I was wondering if there was another option I could use. I've never used Sky's LC before, is it one of those things that pops up when you're on their page? Are you able to negotiate a deal using it as I'd really like to keep the deal that I currently have?

[oj01]

@Mr+Ripley If you go to this link (bookmark it for later)

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/cancel-sky-tv-t1

Scroll down to the bottom and click No, I Need More Help

Chat option should appear. 

I negotiated my new deal using it just before Christmas. 

[ZyloKai]

---

@Jason+Golding wrote:

Ok that's fine but other customers may be interested too. One of the reasons I chose Sky was for uk based customer services. Thank you 

---

I'm a little confused.

Sky operates in United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Assumingly Sky has customer services in all of these countries. 

While Sky itself may be a UK-based company, its customer service has not been solely from the UK for a long time. When I call the Irish Sky phone number, I'm put through to a person in the UK or Ireland. And this goes for the UK phone number too. 

But how does anyone know if they're being put through to someone in e.g. Germany who speaks English? Maybe when the UK/Ireland service lines are very busy, it goes through to another country that Sky operates in. And with Sky being owned by Comcast (NBC), maybe a British person in the USA could be taking a call. All hypothetical, of course, as I doubt Sky nor other companies are going to delve into how they operate. 

In my own personal opinion, this is a little xenophobic. All I care about is if Sky provide a good service that I'm willing to stay with them for. And as of now, I am. 

[Daniel0210]

@ZyloKai 

Calls to Customer Services go through to the next available agent wherever they are based. 

[does+any+of+it+ma]

Hope that continues for you, don't think it's xenophobic to highlight poor customer care? 

[TimmyBGood]

---

@ZyloKai wrote:

Sky operates in United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Assumingly Sky has customer services in all of these countries. 

---

The global dominance of English as a second language does make it easier (and cheaper) to relocate customer service for the UK elsewhere, though, rather than, for example finding speakers of Italian or German.

[Mr+Ripley]

  @ZyloKai  If you notice in my post, I said I spoke to someone who is Indian. I never said I spoke to someone in India. If anything, it was the speed at which he spoke that I had an issue with.