Weren't these the "good jobs" we were supposed to keep?
"Debt collectors dialing up pressure on US customers; In Pakistan, call centers are a growth industry" by Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times | September 20, 2009
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - As Americans struggle under a mountain of debt, they might be surprised to learn that their collection nightmares may originate in a nation better known for its Taliban insurgency, instability, and extremism. With more economic uncertainty, job losses, and mortgage defaults expected, long-distance arm-twisting has become something of a growth industry in Pakistan.
ANOTHER REASON to KILL and INVADE because the USURIOUS JEW BANKER is screwing you on the credit card! You gonna FALL FOR THIS AGAIN, 'murka?
It’s 8 o’clock on a Sunday night in the Pakistani capital, but collection cowboy Sharoon Hermoon is living on US time. Headset in place, feet on his desk, he aims his speed dialer at a debtor in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Hello, ma’am, how ya doin’ today?’’ he says in a convincing American accent. “My name is James Harold and you owe us $11,000.’’
There’s a deer-in-the-headlights moment at the other end, then a deep breath, then a torrent of excuses....
Yeah, you know us 'murkns!!!!
After several minutes of runaround, Hermoon hands the phone to Kashif Siddiqui, his supervisor at the Touchstone call center. With years of experience, Siddiqui has heard it all. He’s not abusive, but within seconds, he sharply step up the pressure....
And though the mostly 20-something crew at the call center expresses empathy for those on the other end of the line, some of them also wonder how the Americans could let themselves slip so far under water.
“Americans are rather addicted to their credit cards,’’ Siddiqui says.
The answer, America? Snip, snip, snip, confetti.
After the woman from Fort Worth slams down the phone, the Touchstone crew goes to work. Predictably, she doesn’t answer their return calls. So in subsequent days they use tracking software and loan document details to generate letters and leave phone messages with neighbors, co-workers, and relatives that they’re trying to reach her. Finally, a few weeks later, worn down, the woman accepts a repayment plan....
Most of Touchstone’s 350 “seats’’ - industry-speak for operators - handle customer service queries or make sales pitches for cable TV contracts. Siddiqui’s dozen or so workers on the deadbeat beat, however, are another breed. Where others read a monotonous sales script, they match their wits against evasive debtors.
I am TIRED of the INSULTS, American, aren't you?
Yup, YOUR JOBS and HOMES have been taken away, yet you are an EVASIVE DEBTOR!
When the phone jockeys first call, the debtors’ response tends to be shock and denial. If they’re too cooperative, rattle off prepared answers, and offer to pay everything, they may be pros. Information is power in the battle against amnesia....
Unless you are trying to penetrate a thick-headed s*** skull of a brainwashed 'murkn.
“We have dates, the amount they spent, how much they’re earning,’’ says Raja Amir Mehboob, manager of operations and business development with InfoSpan Pakistan, another Islamabad call center. “We can say, ‘You did this, this and this and here are the bills with your signature.’ ’’
So NOW YOU KNOW where ALL THAT SPYING LEADS, 'murka!!
THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT you way over in PAKISTAN!!!
--more--"
