The danger of having customer service oversees

[Jetje]

Telus moved all their customer services to Philippines, Romania, Guatemala etc. In a foreign and legit newspaper I read about fraud via What's App. (Those were kids ask for money and parents just send it etc.) In that same article it said that data is being sold, between 0.25 and 2.00 euro a lead, by people working in these overseas customer service centres. Reading that, it somewhat confirmed my worry I have all along. I do receive a lot of bogus emails, also from Telus, where they ask you to click a link etc. My question is: What is the public's opinion about having these Customer Service Reps abroad? Isn't that asking for trouble? They can look into everything, your account number etc.

[Meowmix]

Hello @ Jetje

Not to burst you're bubble however most reps I have spoken too? Are from Canada. Actually the last Rep including manager were from Ontario. How u know this? They brought up things in the conversation only if u live in Ontario u would know...

So can you show me a source where it shows that Telus moved all their customer service outside of Canada?. They do have some outside but not all.

Also most if not all companies do this. As for the emails? I get emails from Scotia Bank / McDonald's / Under Armour and other companies which are sometimes fake. You just have to know that this happens with all companies. Not just Telus.

I was with Rogers and their customer service is mostly in Canada. Yet got fake emails from them too.

[Jetje]

If you search on google there are articles about that. Just a few after a quick google search:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/call-centres-are-philippines-new-long-distance-lo...
https://forum.telus.com/t5/Business-Solutions/Telus-hiring-out-of-country-agents-to-inform-their-Can...
https://www.thestar.com/business/2007/07/06/concern_over_telus_manila_call_centre.html

-Plus I have asked, and I was explained they are in Philipines, Guatamala and Romania.
-Plus I always ask if I am on the phone/chat (which is very regularly, because our internet is often between 1 to 5 mpbs). And they always answer, and never said one to be in Canada.
-Plus I have tried several times to get in touch with a local person to get things done (bad internet), and that never worked out. Always someone from abroad that got back to me.

Hope that helps!

[Nighthawk]

So you're referring to an 8 year old article, a 7 year old forum post and a 13 year old article? That is some really old information.

Depending on where you live, Telus doesn't have call centres in every Canadian city so being able to speak to someone local, outside of having a repair tech visit your house, is extremely unlikely. I happen to live in a city that does have a Telus call centre and I have spoken with reps from that centre. There is another Telus call centre 3 hours away from where I live also in the next major city. I've spoken with them also.

I've never heard of Telus using a call centre in Romania that serves Canadians. Telus International, the call centre operator, does have operations in quite a few countries around the world, including Romania. They are run separately from Telus. Telus does use a portion of TI's Philippines call centre as well as the Las Vegas call centre to serve Canadians. I've talked to people in both. Guatemala is primarily to serve spanish speaking customers of American companies rather than Canadians. I've never talked to anyone from that centre before.

Is there anything in particular that you have against talking to someone in one of the Telus International call centres?

[Jetje]

They are older articles but Telus didn't move yesterday, so of course these are older articles. This came out of a 3 minute google, just to answer your question where I got it from. Let alone if I would spend 30 mins googling.

With talking to someone local I meant talking to someone in Canada. (it is all relative, isn't it) But getting to talk someone in Canada didn't get me anywhere.

Guatemala: I have spoken/chatted several times with people in Guatemala, and I don't speak Spanish.

These 3 countries were mentioned when I asked. This information comes from a Telus rep.

And to answer your question: Is there anything in particular that you have against talking to someone in one of the Telus International call centres?

If you read my first post again, you understand my question and/or concern. It was merely to ask opinions. But it seems I got bait from someone on Telus' payrol. And I am sorry to hear that.

[Nighthawk]

You're still making baseless assumptions. I don't work for Telus. I have never claimed that I do either.

Your original assumption that all overseas call centres sell user data is also rather extreme and incorrect. You never bothered to post the source of the information you based your original assumption / accusation on. Is it as old or older than the three very old and out of date links you posted yesterday? Post your original source.

I'm going to guess you've never worked in a call centre or in a business that closely tracks employee metrics. Companies can track everything an employee does when accessing information or even just using the system. Some platforms are sensitive enough that systems can track each individual mouse click. Any employee accessing more accounts than the number of calls or inquiries they get will stick out like a sore thumb. Phone calls are typically tracked and recorded. Their internet access is also going to be monitored and that would include email. Companies want to limit their risk so there is no way that they won't have safeguards in place in any call centre environment, whether overseas or not.

Compromised websites are by far the biggest source of data scammers and spammers use. Far less risk than trying to get info from a call centre and often far faster and far cheaper as well. There are massive lists of personal data from compromised websites out there for free and for sale to anyone that wants them. The compromised personal info includes email addresses, passwords, names, home addresses, phone numbers, credit card details, and so on depending on which website was compromised. One of the largest single data breaches last year had hundreds of millions of records and over 763 million email addresses leaked. (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)

Check if your email is compromised: https://haveibeenpwned.com/. Just some of the more recent compromised websites and services - it's a long list: https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites or https://monitor.firefox.com/breaches.

[Meowmix]

Hello @Jetje

You sound like a Ken. I'm sorry but this is laughable at best. You're articles are YEARS ago. (2007) and it's 2020. Most of them returned back to Canada.

I can upload 2 calls u made today which both are from Canada. ( One in BC and Ontario).

You seem to have a issue of assuming someone is going to steal you're stuff but never worked in business where the head office / HR watches the staff. I work in a business where our head office watches are computers / calls. If we try to even remotely let's say go To NHL website? we get a message immediately asking us why we are on that site and or to close it.

You have only given 2 links which are years old and nothing new. You are upset because someone outside of Canada picked up ur call. Sounds to me like a Karen situation.🙄🤦‍:male_sign:

[Jazzy99]

It is now 2021 and the last three attempts I have made to contact Telus this week were connected to Phillipines, Guatemala and "South America".  Why is a Canadian company outsourcing it's call centre??!!?? Why not employ Canadians??!!??

[Pistopher]

I like how they pile on the OP as if he said something  wrong. What's wrong is there is no email support, it's this forum it would seem or twitter.. TWITTER! Like I want to have a support discussion on twitter, where the piling on is immense.

TELUS you charged me twice in April and still have not fixed it. I spent 25 minutes on the phone with someone I could not understand and who certainly did not do anything for me.