The Poor Folk at Three Mobile Call Centres

The people who work in call centres in India (etc) get a hard time, and although I feel its right that the company employing them (eg. Three Mobile) get a few harsh words, the staff don’t really deserve it. At the end of the day, they’re just earning a living and I can’t imagine the choice of jobs over there is too rich.

Its not just the abuse and bad attitude that they get from the customers that makes me feel sorry for them, its the job as a whole. Even the easiest of calls must be a dull, fruitless affair.

I just called Three to cancel my contract with them. I stopped using them a few months back as I wanted a Blackberry, and its only now I’ve bothered to cancel. Given that I’m with a new provider and have a phone I love, the chances that the lady was going to convince me to stay was zero. Yet the poor girl had to read off what must have been a 2 minute speech about the offer she can give me. Not only did she tell me about the number of texts, minutes I can get, but also a full in depth feature list of the phone on offer – some of the terms I’ve never heard of (although they sure sounded impressive.. the sort of seemingly meaningless details Hi-Fis use to have on the front of them to make them appeal over other players).

It was during these 2 minutes that I felt sorry for her. I knew full well that I was going to say no at the end and it was all going to be for nothing. At the time I couldn’t decide whether I would be doing the right thing by either rudely interrupting her and just saying “Really, no!” or wait it out and waste both our time by saying an apologetic “So sorry, but no thanks.” at the end. I chose the apologetic route. No doubt she went through the same tedious process during the next call. I bet that caller didn’t give it as much unrequired thought as I did.

Putting her plight aside, us consumers don’t get a great deal either. To me the mobile phone industry is not too distant from the political situation in this country (and here it is, the first and maybe last mention of politics on this blog). There isn’t really a great choice out there, you just settle for the lesser of two evils (sorry Libs).

From a political point of view, many people are now keen to see the back of Labour, but I don’t believe the Tories will be any different. We’ll still get the same lies, spin, initiatives and ultimately failure.

From a mobile phone point of view, you quite often hear complaints that Three have over charged, or their tech support is appaling (etc). Both me, Becky and mother have had issues with them. Becky’s wanted to change for ages. But the thing is, you get it with all mobile providers. Switching isn’t going to do much good. You’re still going to get the same crappy service, they’re still going to con you with the bills (etc.). In fact I think that’s what happened with Becky when she switched from Three to [I can't remember who].

Still, you know life is good when you spend 30 minutes of your life moaning about something as unimportant as this.

Upcoming Gigs: My Morning Jacket, Okkervil River

I’m pleased to say I’ve arranged for two more gigs this year. Both will be very different events for me:

My Morning Jacket

In June I’ll be going to see My Morning Jacket (MMJ) in Bristol. If I had to pick a band that surprised me most in terms of how they performed live compared to in the studio, MMJ would be my choice by some distance. I previously saw them at Glastonbury when they were touring ‘It Still Moves’. On record they sounded like quite a controlled band, driven by guitar but not dominated by it. Live, they are headbangers and on first impression (I’ve not yet had a second) are a very (relatively speaking) heavy band – at least compared to what I was expecting (I should stress though, Fucked Up they aint).

I never considered It Still Moves to be that heavy, and their release since then (Z) less so. So although I’m expecting some headbanging, I’m expecting a slightly more timid performance this time round.

In terms of their music, MMJ have really grown on me over the past couple years. Initially I was hooked in by some neat country guitar solos, but the more I listen the more I discover – pleasingly this is most evident on their live album Okonokos. They are also one of those bands that sounds like they’ve really progressed over the years.

As it stands I’ll be going to MMJ on my own. I’m quite keen to go to a gig by myself. If I can do it then it will open the door to so many other gigs. At the moment I have to find someone else who is interested in the band and that’s not always possible. I’ve missed some good bands because of this.

Okkervil River

I would have gone to see Okkervil River regardless, but the fact its on the night before my wedding (in July) is a big bonus. It should make it extra special. And as I rarely drink much at gigs it should help me to avoid a hangover for the big day.

I got into Okkervil River earlier this year (maybe towards the end of last year). Like so many of my purchases I made it because Planet Sound (on Teletext) raved about it (Stage Names). On first listen I wasn’t at all keen. It sounded cheesy, with a hint of The Killers (not always a bad thing, but in this instance I felt it was). However, it soon became my favourite album of the moment. I’m pretty sure that on my old blog it got plenty of mentions at the time. I really should get more of their back-catalog though. I currently only have their latest album.

From what I gather the venue (Bristol Trinity Centre) is a converted church: I like the sounds of that.