HP opened the call centre in Bangalore sometime in the last couple of months, HP spokeswoman Monica Sarkar said on Wednesday.
The operation has not meant a loss of jobs for US workers, Sarkar said. She said HP had contracts with customer-support companies in India before the decision to bring tasks "in-house."
"The work was already being done outside the US," Sarkar said. She added that the move gives HP greater control over the quality of its support service. The support is for products such as cameras and PCs.
Sarkar said she did not know the number of employees at the centre.
Not all of HP's support work for US consumer electronics customers is done from abroad. HP supports English-speaking customers in the United States via about 4,000 employees from partner companies based in countries including the United States and Canada, Sarkar said.
HP is one of many technology companies that have moved a variety of high-skilled tasks to countries such as China and India, which offer technically skilled workers and lower wages. Information technology services company BearingPoint, for example, announced on Wednesday the opening of a facility in Chennai, India, for tasks including software development and application management. The facility is slated to grow to 2,000 employees during the next two years.
Supporters of the so-called offshoring trend argue it helps relatively poor countries develop and keeps US companies competitive. Technology leaders have warned that protectionist measures lead to lower economic growth and higher unemployment.
Critics say the process is driven by corporate greed, undermines the American middle class, and threatens the country's technological leadership.
A recent study commissioned by a union group found that 93 percent of IT workers are concerned about the impact of offshore outsourcing on their industry. More than two-thirds, or 69 percent, of the respondents said they supported legislation that would require customer support representatives to identify the city and country where they are located.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry has introduced legislation that would require employees of offshore call centres to identify their location.
The quality of tech support work done abroad has come under scrutiny. After receiving customer complaints, Dell stopped sending US technical support calls for two of its corporate computer lines to a Bangalore call centre.
Sarkar said she didn't think HP's recent move to open its own centre in India was related to complaints.
Talkback
I have just spent over 30 minutes trying to reach the correct HP supoprt department for a Pavillion desktop - and failed after having had my details taken and been misdirected four times. And this is for a one year old system with an existing case number and a three year HP extended warranty.
My customer experience was great with HP's call centers.
I need your Bangalore Call centre/ Service centre phone number.
can i have HP call center phone no. (LAND LINE NO.)
have a HP dig camera AND THE Flash is not working Please let me know authorised HP service centre in Bangalore to get it fixed
can i have the website address of hp call center in india
i need the customer center phone no of hp.
I need a telephone of Hp call cenrte in UK . to quickly mend my laptop
My HP Camera has some lens problem. Please give me the address of HP Camera Serive Center
I have made several phone calls to the support dept for HP cameras and l have been constantly either fobbed of or cut-off. This is a disgrace. My camera has failed after 7 months and l can find no way to get it replaced.
This number is 0870 010 4320 for anyone who is interested!
HP tech support is a damn nightmare!!!
Please throw your script in the garbage and use your brain. You're an IT grad so I know you have one, please use it instead of reading off a script like a monotonous robot.
Please get to the damn problem and stop asking me stupid questions like "is your computer plugged in?"
Where do these get these semi-English-literate people?
hi i wanted more info abt yr call centre in bangalore ,could you pls pass on the contact info and the address.
rgds
navin
hi team,
could you pls pass on the contact info of the call centre here in bangalore ,for me to get in touch with them.
thanks
rgds
diksha.
I took 1520 media centre edition with extra sata HD. I want load Linux in extra HD.
But Linux is not detecting sata HD. what is the solution.
I only have a story to tell about HP, not a rant or rave.
My motherboard in my computer went out, which I knew was the problem because I fix my own computer usually except when it was under warranty. The PC wouldn't even turn on. I called HP tech support only to get it fixed in warranty, and I wound up on the phone for 2+ hours. I had to re-check my electrical connection, re-check my surge suppressor, both of which I had already done before calling. I was even asked if I would check the voltage from the wall socket, which is dangerous if you don't know how to do it properly. It just so happens I knew what he was talking about since I am a tech myself. Anyhow, I couldn't do that because my tester was at the office that night. After numerous steps, getting up and re-doing steps I had already done before calling, and arguing that I was damn sure what the problem was, I was put on the phone with a "senior tech support" guy because my problem wasn't fixed yet. I guess they assume it's the consumer's fault and when they actually rub their brain cells together and think outside the script and realize there is a problem, a "senior tech support" guy starts doing what I asked for in the first place, for my PC to be fixed.
Anyhow, I gave my address to the "senior tech support" VERY CLEARLY about three times. Despite that, I received a call a few days later from our neighbor/friend down the street who said we had a package from HP delivered to her house. The package said house number 808 instead of 898. Thank goodness we had an honest neighbor or Lord knows where that package would be. Anyhow, I had to put the computer in the box and ship it which was no big deal after that because once it went to a facility IN THE US and was fixed by someone IN THE US who knew what they were doing, everything went fine. These tech support personnel were A. Rude, B. Made me do unnecessary no-brainer steps and waste valuable work time (i.e. money) REPEATING diagnostics I had already done, and C. Sent the shipping box to the wrong damn house after I gave them my address three times. It's no surprised I hammered tech support when I got an online survey email from HP.
Fast forward about ten months. After my computer crashed for the third time, causing me to lose work and therefore money, I finally bought a Dell and have been very pleased. I have yet to call tech support at Dell for anything. I'm sure they are much better than HP tech support.
I could care less if tech support is from another planet even, as long as the person on the other end of the line treats the customer with respect and knows what the hell they're doing which clearly was not the case here.
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