Indian call centre worker takes revenge on customer

[dwarakesh]

Customers from English speaking countries like the UK and US should think twice before shouting at call centre executives back in India.

In a strange case, Abbey customer George Bates, aged 23, had to pay a big price for giving less-than- nthusiastic feedback in a post-call customer satisfaction survey. The next day, Bates found his account locked, debit card swallowed and his overdraft facility withdrawn. The call centre executive even changed his bank records to make him a 33-year-old Ugandan divorcé after getting bad customer satisfaction scores.

The reason for Bates's disappointment was that he was refused an extension to his overdraft, as he had only just increased his limit. But the call centre executive told him that extending an overdraft twice in one day was against the bank's policy.

Bates then lodged a complaint with the Abbey bank manager alleging that someone had changed his account details, costing him penalties of $100 (£60) because six direct debits went unpaid.

Abbey has now apologised to Bates, repaid the charges, and offered him $332 (£200) as compensation. However, Bates has refused the offer.

Bates said that he spoke to someone who has an Indian accent, whom he described as "arrogant and rude".

He said: "The phone operator has obviously seen that I've given him bad feedback and decided to change all my details in revenge. I rang up but I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying. He was really unhelpful, but he had the cheek to pester me to give him a good rating after the call."

Bates added, "When I heard my details had been changed, I was terrified that my account had been emptied and I'd never have my money back. His spiteful actions have caused me a massive inconvenience, and I've changed banks because I'm scared he could still access my account."

The Abbey didn't disclose the name of the Indian company to which the process has been outsourced.

The bank is investigating the matter.