I couldn't agree more. I purchased HP's on-line service contract and cancelled it after spending 3 to 4 hours with a technician (from India and trying to be helpful)who was obviously qualified but couldn't interact or converse as we have come to expect. HP has lost me as a customer.

Couldn't agree more I have been wondering when this great cost saving idea was going to turn around and bite them

I just received a "replacement" HP notebook computer after spending a total of 4 weeks working with tech support from India, losing my data twice, sending the computer in to be "repaired" once and finding the same existing problem when the computer was returned after the repair. The computer I received as a "duplicate" of my failed computer had Vista Premium installed, instead of XP, and now my XP documents are having trouble converting...costing me more time and frustration. I also own HP stock. I think it is time to bail on HP if they can't recognize the elephant in the room. Bottom line...customers are all you have. Treat them right.

I look forward to the day you can buy an Indian or Chinese made computer & printer. Maybe when Dell & HP start losing sales by the millions & their stock value evaporates their perspective will change.

When i get an overseas customer service/tech i ask to speak to someone in the USA. I explain that it has nothing to do with them but there are many americans in the USA that need jobs and i would like the americans to have have the job of helping me here in the USA.. they all comply tranfereing me to someone in the USA

I feel bad dreading tech support from India. I like Indians alot, but it is a language issue. I signed up for Dell's Gold service on my Precision in order to get tech support from the US or Canada among other things.
Another pet peeve I have about Indian call centers is the habit of tech support person to use Anglo names (e.g. Dave, Bruce,etc.). Do they think that we are so ethnocentric that we can't handle a Jugdish or Peeter (I go these names from "Seinfeid" and assume they are real Indian names).

i can understand the language issue ..but i think comment number#5 is quite ridiculuos....
if americans need jobs so do Indians...and if we go by your logic of Americans giving jobs to americans only..then i think we shud not let any American company sell anything to anyone except the Americans...imagine what'll happen to them...
n Indians shud'nt give multi-billion dollar contracts to boeing that allows boeing to give jobs to thousands of americans (i think airbus wud be too glad to corner the whole of Indian avaition market pegged at atleast $36 billion by current estimates) overall India is likely to spend more on American made goods than American companies will pay as service fees to Indians...
why dont ppl like u understand that when u give jobs to indians they will spend the money on things and services provided by Americans (for example they'll fly more generating demand for american made planes)...it is never a zero sum game....u just need to keep thinking of new things to sell to the world....
or is it that Americans just want to rest on the hard work of their ancestors (who themselves came from other countries) and not do any more thinking/working? (if tht is so u shud read the hare n tortoise story...)
or is it that u ppl just dnt want ppl from other countries to have a decent life??

It is high time that we band together and get a national campaign going called "Americans against outsourced customer service" Together, 100 million strong, we can put and end to it! Please join me in putting it together. United we stand-Divided, we get punned in the kister!"

I completely agree with this article. I just wish Corporate America will read it and realize how they are ruining their businesses. They are trying to save money, and killing customer confidence at the same time. I just had a recent experience with HSBC Account Services that was horrible. I could not understand the representative I was talking to -they give a reason stating they are diverse company and employ all races and nationalities, but when I asked for an American representative I was told there aren't any. That's not being diverse now is it? After several phone calls of trying to understand a representative, I have chosen to pay off my card, and close the account. I prefer speak with someone I could understand. If this happens with all credit card companies I will just keep my accounts with my local banks. I am an American mother of 3 children, I talk fast, I work fast, and I like quick easy transactions with the companies I deal with.

It is all about quality of customer services. It has absolutely nothing to do with jobs in the US vs. elsewhere. In a global economy, everyone has to evolve their skill sets to compete. The US call center has been targeted for so long that anyone who loses that job today simply isn't paying attention. I am an IT worker, and the knowledgeable members of this occupation have long known that our careers are compromised if we do not evolve our capabilities and value propositions. That same statement goes for everyone that participates in the global marketplace.