Netflix Makes It Easy To Reach a Human

msblack writes "In a move that goes against the prevailing trends of outsourcing and non-interactive customer support, Netflix has forsaken e-mail as a means of resolving customer problems. According to the NYTimes article, Netflix set up a call center in Portland OR, shunning other popular US call center cities (because Portland natives were perceived to sound friendlier) or off-shoring. 'It's very interesting and counter to everything anybody else is doing,' said Tom Adams, a market researcher in Carmel, California. 'Everyone else is making it almost impossible to find a human.'"

Comments

Phew...

[vigmeister]

Atleast with a call center in portland, the deception doesn't start when the rep says "My name is George"

Cheers!

Re:Phew...

[vigmeister]

Last time I called Sprint (I usually email, but I needed somethign ASAP) I got this female on the line who said her name was Michelle. She was very obviously Indian trying to put on an american accent by not rolling her 'r's and with less "clicking" of her 't's and 'd's. I went ahead and gave her my information. The moment she saw my name was clearly Indian, she dropped all pretences of an accent.

The other time I had fun was when I got this rep (don't remember what it was for) who put me on hold, but forgot to mute and I heard him talking to his buddies in Hindi. I went ahead and asked him if he was talking in Hindi and he panicked and said in his strongest Indian accent, "No sir, that must have been some disturbance on the line. We are located in Washington". I still find it funny that he felt the need to tell me where their call center was :))

Cheers!

Huh?

[Billosaur]

According to the NYTimes article, Netflix set up the call center in Portland OR, shunning other popular US call center cities (because Portland natives were perceived to sound friendlier)

What the f**k?!?! Are they tryin' to say people in New Jersey aren't f**kin' friendly enough?!?!? Freakin' lunatics... them and their weepy northwestern friends. Jersey doesn't need you or your stinkin' movies...

Re:Huh?

[vigmeister]

Although I don't really care much when people use curse words, when I was in NY, I heard this guy yelling to his kid at a Toys R Us, "I am not buying you another fucking toy"

No one so much as batted an eyelid :S

Cheers!

Re:Huh?

[elrous0]

John Waters used to do a stand-up routine where he would talk about the funny stuff he overheard in Baltimore. One of my favorite ones was one he overheard in a grocery store one day. He was standing behind a family in line and the little son turns to the Dad and says "Dad, why is mommy crying?" to which the father replies "Because you're a little asshole!"

On a slightly offtopic note...

[packetmon]

I recently had to call NYPD to find out something about a ticket. So I dialed the local precint... To my amusement (not kidding):

Thank you for calling yadda yadda...
For homicide press 1
For a detective press 2
For donut squad press 3

Alright, so I made up donut squad... But it was funny yet a little scary to think that automation is going a little too far sometimes. I tried to call my mother recently and got the same thing:

Thank you for calling your mother...
If you need money press 1
If you need your laundry done, press 2
If its mother's day, press 3

Re:On a slightly offtopic note...

[UbuntuDupe]

If you need me to stop renting out your old bedroom because you lost your job again, press 4 ;-)

Oregonians are very friendly!

[peacefinder]

Just so long as you're not a Californian trying to move here!