the problem with outsourcing of call centre

I was happily going about the internet check-in when I saw this..

 

In shock, I called up SQ to check. Called the reservation hotline since it was an online reservation and there is no other customer service hotline listed.

 

A lady with a very strong Indian accent answered my call. I am not being a racist/'nation-ist" BUT I had to request her to repeat herself quite a number of times throughout the conversation. She was least helpful in handling my queries (and I was rather panicky since I'm due to fly within 48 hours.. and should a visa is required - when it is evidently not so - but the system stated otherwise, there may not be sufficient time to get one done!) I felt MORE distressed after calling the holine ( my woes as detailed below) but decided to call the Switzerland Embassy in Singapore to clarify my understanding (based on what was clearly stated in the Switzerland Tourism website which the SQ lady did not seemed to comprehend).

 

Thanks to the helpful lady from the Swiss Embassy, I was assured that my fears are unfound and she was right to point out that it was likely I was speaking to someone from an outsourced call centre, hence that preson is unlikely to be aware that SG citizen call travel to most european countries without travel visa if its for short leisure travel!)

 

Rather upset with the unpleasant traumatic experience - I sent a feedback to SQ.:

 

On 7 April 2011, at about 10:40, I called up your reservation hotline to enquire on the requirement on visa to travel to Zurich, as shown on the confirmation page after the internet check-in.

Your staff, Ms Maya, was unable to ascertain the requirement of the visa when it was evident from the information provided upon booking that no visa would be required for Singapore citizen with valid Singapore passport entering Switzerland as I would be in Switzerland for less than 90 days.

Despite putting me on hold for more than 15 minutes, while she checked with her colleagues on the issue, she was unable to answer my query after checking with her colleagues, if the glitch was due to the fact that I was holding an open-jaw ticket (returning to Singapore from London , instead via Zurich.) This was despite the fact that I would be in Switzerland/London for less than 2 weeks (and visa is not required to Singapore citizen with valid Singapore passport to travel to London as well). She insisted that I should call up the Switzerland embassy to confirm that they will be willing to uplift the requirement of a VISA. If so, Singapore Airlines is likely to uplift that requirement as well.  

She added that Singapore Airlines is not responsible for the visa application. This is reasonable, since the company is providing the flight services, and not that of a travel agency.  However, as the Singaporeair.com's  system indicated that a visa is required for travel, when this is not the case, it is not unreasonable to call up the company to verify.  

Fortunately, it is within the Switzerland Embassy's Office's opening hours when I called up to confirm on the visa requirement. If not, it would certainly cause much worry and distress when I am due to travel the very next day.

I have always esteemed Singapore Airlines to be a company of providing excellence service. Yet, the level of service I had encountered with your customer service officer this morning proved otherwise.  This confusion may be due to a technical glitch since the booking I had made was not a direct return journey. But it has certainly caused unnecessary panic at the moment in time when I realised that I did not have a valid visa to travel to Zurich when I am due to travel in less than 48 hours.  Perhaps the company may wish to look into this technical glitch as this would cause unnecessary distress and hassle to apply for a visa within short notice when it turned out that the application is not required. It would also be helpful if the customer service officers are equipped with basic travel information such as visa requirement. It would also be helpful if Ms Maya could have gone the extra mile of providing the contact number of the embassy since she was unable to assist with my query, but she did not.

I wonder if there will be any response regarding my greviances though I'd received an automated reply that "One of our staff will respond to you shortly if it is a matter that requires a response. "