Stop Outsourcing of American Call Centers

[Guest Ron]

Schumer Bill Requires Person at the Other End of the Line to Disclose to the Caller What Country They Are From and Imposes Per-Call Fee on Companies that Transfer Domestic Calls to Foreign Countries

Fee Would Provide Incentive for Companies to Keep Call Center Jobs in NY and US, Boosting Local Employment

 

Schumer: This Bill Will Help Maintain Jobs in the US and Provide Companies With Incentive to Bring Jobs Back

 

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today he was introducing a bill that would help stem the flow of American jobs being outsourced abroad by forcing them to disclose to their customers that the call is being transferred abroad and by imposing a per-call excise tax on companies that transfer domestic customer service calls to foreign call centers and. The measure is designed to retain American jobs at call centers across New York and the country and to incentivize the return of jobs that have already been shipped abroad.

 

“If we want to put a stop to the outsourcing of American jobs, than we need to provide incentives for American companies to keep American jobs here,” said Schumer. “This bill will not only serve to maintain call center jobs currently in the United States, but also provide a reason for companies that have already outsourced jobs to bring them back.”

 

chumer’s legislation would require that companies that transfer calls to foreign call centers disclose to the caller that their call is being transferred to a particular country. For instance, if a caller dials an 800 number and is then transferred to a call center in India, the call center would be required under the Schumer legislation to inform the caller of the country where the call was rerouted to. The disclosure requirement also forces companies to annually certify to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that they are complying with this requirement. Companies that fail to certify they are fully disclosing call transfers would be subject to civil penalties that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would prescribe.

 

 

 

Additionally, Schumer’s bill would impose a $0.25 excise tax on any customer service call that originates domestically and is then transferred to an agent in a foreign location. The fee would be assessed on the company that transferred the call and no US company would be assessed a fee for a domestic call center. US companies would be required to disclose quarterly, and in their annual reports, how many customer service calls they received, and how many are sent overseas.

 

 

 

Call centers are information clearing houses utilized for companies large and small to service their customers, provide product support, and answer any range of questions from billing to technical support. Incoming calls are generally routed to these centers where a number of operators are made available to speak to callers.

 

Schumer said that this bill will also guarantee that Americans know what county their personal information is being kept in – be it a bank account number, credit history or medical history – and that this is important because foreign countries do not have to adhere to our consumer protection laws. The fees obtained through the excise tax would be utilized to address personal security issues.

 

The most popular countries for outsourcing of American call centers are India, Indonesia, Ireland, Canada, the Philippines, and South Africa – all countries with an ample supply of English-speaking workers that are willing to work for low wages. Call center workers in these countries are paid at substantial lower hourly rates that their US counterparts and willing to work longer hours for less pay which makes them enticing to US companies looking to cut costs.

 

"This bill will go a long way toward keeping American jobs right here at home,” continued Schumer. “If we want to stop the exporting of American jobs than we need to make it less beneficial for companies to layoff American workers and send jobs overseas and we can do that by providing disclosure as to where calls are being routed and less financially more beneficial to send them abroad.”

[Guest Lisa Martinez]

I am 100% in favor of this bill. What can US citizens do to help promote it?

I am tired of having all my customer service calls, and tech support call outsourced to foreign countries! I have started my own "campaign", if you will, within my family and circle of friends to not do business with companies who outsource these services. First question I now ask prior to signing on with any company is whether or not they outsource their Customer Service Lines/Department, their Tech Support (where applicable), or their Billing Department. If they do. . . I will not do business with them. Some companies that do outsource these services also provide the option of having your call reverted back to a representative in the United States when requested, but not many; i.e. Direct TV

[Guest Mark Koch]

I also agree wholeheartedly. In addition to poor customer service issues, it seems unfair to me that our goverment uses taxpayer dollars to bail out banks and large corporations and allows these same corporations to outsource jobs and lay off American workers.

 

Then as taxpayers we pay the bill through increased taxes to fund the extended unemployment benefits. So wouldn't it be much better to bring these jobs back, give laid off workers their jobs and self respect back, fill up empty offices and use common sense instead of goverment spending to get out of this mess?

Mark

[Guest Diana]

I think for the Senators bill to have any effect you are going to have to revise it to 1.75 a call or higher.

 

.25 a call is nothing to compared to what they are saving.

 

The fact that the country is completely falling apart is not mattering to to these guys that are out sourcing at this time because the major players are still getting paid a pay check every week. A bonus at the end of the year. I say RAISE THE TAXES ON OUT SOURCERS, DOUBLE TAX THEM IF NEED BE AND BRING THESE JOBS BACK HOME!

 

I am totally against out sourcing to other countries.

So much, that when I need assistnace on services I pay for I refuse to speak with agents from other countries, and will keep calling till I get an US based agent and then every time write an email to the company stating the fact.