buylowsellhigh

So I noticed that the wait times have reduced dramatically lately, as well as english accent of MPC... instead of cantonese accent, its now filipino accent. But thats where the problems began... I notice that the training as well as common sense has fallen off the cliff.

I have a BKK-HKG-TPE redemption flight on wait list and wanted to change to one thats immediately available for booking.

First agent... immediately after stating I want to make a change, he puts me on hold without asking for any information. After not coming back for 10 minutes, I decided to hang up and redial.

Second agent... pulled up and verified all information quickly and without putting me on hold. So... after she put me on a confirmed BKK-HKG segment, she offered connecting flight that departs before the first flight lands. When I said she can't do that, I was then offered a flight that took off 15 minutes after the first flight landed. After that, I completely gave up and switched to using flight numbers.

The agent was immediately able to confirm that the flights were available, and put me on hold for 20-25 minutes before coming back and verify that the changes were made.

Total phone call duration: 27 minutes for second call + 10 minutes for first call.

Jeeves

I was booking a CX award using Alaska Airlines miles on a Sunday night and the AS agent said that the CX reservation people in L.A. were closed for the night. I called back the next morning, which I believe was the Monday of Memorial Day.

The first few times I called all I got was a busy signal. I eventually got through and the agent had an accent but I couldn't tell you what kind. She got me my seat assignments and all went well. I suppose getting someone seats is about the easiest task out there - so I can't comment on the quality of the agent.

I wouldn't be surprised if they multiple call centers.

ernestnywang

I believe OP referred to MPO / AM call centre, which opens 24 / 7 and is different from general reservation. The North American reservation call centre is located in YVR, and many agents are Chinese immigrants so they can speak Mandarin and / or Cantonese as well. In addition, I believe CX has a reservation team in BOM that takes some of the calls, too.

Guy Betsy

Asia Miles and the MPC is handled in HK and staffed by different nationalities. Did anyone get the guy who's Scottish... and then realised afterwards that he's Chinese, born in HK, grew up in Scotland, and now moved back to HK but speaks English with a very heavy Scottish accent!

North American reservations is located in YVR. Don't know about the rest.

sxc

Steve Rackstraw confirmed on Saturday in the South China Morning Post that English calls have been outsourced to the Philippines.

hau cheng

The guy I spoke to yesterday (the offhand one) sounded Indian though I could hear Cantonese in the background.

sxc

There is probably load balancing of the calls and im sure there's a transition period before they 100% rely on the new centre.

buylowsellhigh

Called MPC again to fine tune some of the wait listed flights... Called the HKG number directly, and decided to try the Chinese line.. Phone was picked up after about 8 minutes by agent with mainland china accent (Zhejiang accent). Agent promptly made the changes in less than a minute.

I'm guessing a lot of call centre jobs that were previously in HKG got outsourced elsewhere...

ChrisLi

When major telecom / bank already outsource their call center back to China / India I am not surprised CX (ICLP - the company that actually operates Asiamiles / PCCW for that matter) doing the same

travelbug38

Calls could be hopping to different parts of the world depending on the load/time of day factors.

hau cheng

I hope that service can maintain previous standards.

Marco Polo

try this, when the agent answers say 'KOMUSTA'
if you get a 'Komusta' back it is the Philippines, if not try 'NEMASTE'
and if you get a positive it's India

buylowsellhigh

Maintaining service standards will be an ongoing challenge I think. Many in the US, when they call customer service centers, get even more pissed when they hear someone with an Indian accent pick up the phone... mainly because its the fact you can't understand them, or the fact that they are so inflexible to requests or even questions that really infuriates the customer.

Generally speaking, I think a part of it is to make sure the CS agent has somewhat of a western culture influence and I think India and and do a certain degree Philippines and mainland china will not have... Otherwise your westernized brand is literally going to be represented by the voice of a certain country and it may or may not be good depending on your clientele. Especially when HKG population is sensitized by mainland china issues, the last thing they want to hear is a mainland accent picking up the phone call for a Hong Kong company... politics

When I call Starwood Preferred Guest to make booking reservation and what not... I've mainly been routed to Canada, US, Great Britain and Singapore depending on time I call... they all seem to be fine.... even the higher level US credit cards brought call centers stateside.

hau cheng

I don't care if they are zoroastrians, however CX has a standard that has made us fly with them over a long period. I would hate to see it diminished.

djca

I just redeemed some Asiamiles for AA travel on the phone (US toll free) and immediately Googled this topic. After a few busy signals, I got connected and the first surprise was that somebody answered immediately. Second surprise was the accent. Coming from the Philippines myself, it sounded familiar. Anyway, the entire call took about 17 minutes, including a couple of times on hold. Not too bad. Previously, waiting to get someone to answer took far longer than the call itself. The emailed PDF itinerary did indicate Manila as the place of issuance.