lets say in the beggining, CSRs actually thought for themselves, liked their jobs, took pride in trying to solve things and basically satisfied customers as best they could, given the circumstances and a few rules.

I think over time, people scammed them whenever they could, some complained too much, and more rules got made. Then people got mad if the CSr said "black guy" instead of "African American" and stuff like that. Maybe some people complained that certain issues were handled differently depending on who you knew or something. So more policies and "say this in this way but dont say that in that way" types of things got initiated into the wording. Now it became more about HOW you present than what you present. Now they are trying to sell us on the theory that you get the same, consistent service, by a matter of policy everywhere you call in, but that's just not the case! the india call centers, in my opinion, give BETTER and more professional service if you need to deal with something that comes from the book, but when it comes to one off situations and extenuating circumstances, they are powerless. I think over time, the idea of trying to actually help people gave way to making them either help themselves or be given the impression that they should not call in. It is so hard to get thru sometimes I give up! So that's working. Plus, they still lose money. Why help anyone then?

I could go on, but like the above poster says, "what IS customer service anyway?"