Perth call centre staff the worst: Telstra
Update 11.30am: It is a source of severe frustration for Telstra customers: the call centre worker with poor English.
But, according to the telecommunications behemoth, half the time you are probably getting angry at someone who could live next door to you.
According to Telstra chief executive David Thodey, Perth Telstra workers are the black sheep of the bunch, with 50 per cent of the complaints stemming from Telstra workers based in Perth.
As reported by Fairfax media yesterday, Mr Thodey told an Australian Institute of Company Director's lunch in Sydney yesterday that he often got complaints from irate customers about overseas call centres and their failure to understand English.
He said internal investigations showed that WA workers were just as bad as call centres in the Philippines and India.
"Interestingly when we get criticism about so-called foreign contact centres, 50 per cent of the time the people are in Perth because we're a multi-cultural society and often the criticism is around language or communications skills," Fairfax reported Mr Thodey as saying. "And I say I don't care where these contact centres are, we must have a high standard.
"Good communications, good English and [they must] know the company."
Telstra has previously indicated that many complaints came from its local call centres, however it is the first time Telstra has identified the main culprit city of complaints.
The comments drew criticism from local unions and rival Macquarie Telecom, with its group executive calling the commens a "narrow view".
"(David) Thodey has shown that he doesn't understand that people are the heart of an organisation.
"Telstra should be supporting local jobs, having positions for young people looking to enter the IT industry and having people who truly understand our local business culture, locations and customer needs."
I suspect that this narrow view underpins Telstra’s poor customer satisfaction and low “Net Promoter Scores” as against companies like Macquarie Telecom."
It is estimated Telstra employs more than 10,000 overseas workers - predominately in the Philippines - for its call centres.
Mr Thodey had said in August he did not think call centre jobs would exist in Australia in five years because of the internet and smartphone applications.
While local unions suggest the reason is solely because of Telstra's desire to drive down its operating costs by pushing Australian jobs overseas.
