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Proving any job can be outsourced, McD's looking into call centers for drive-thrus
- Thread starter xsarien
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Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
And America's strides to obesity continue. 
Huh you can't tell me that it's less expensive to set up a world wide network that allows some guy in Calcutta to take an order from some guy in LA then IM the order to the store which is 10 feet from the person ordering, than it is for someone to drive up to the window and order from some guy who is standing 5 feet from him. That makes no fucking sense to me. Fctoring in that you pay the guy in India 50 cents and hour versus 5 buck to some kid, you still have to build the network, phone charges, and a 24 hour oncall IT team to monitor the system. You can't tell me all that is less expensive than paying a guy 5 bucks to stand in a window and take orders.
Ecrofirt said:
One of these new McD's is here in fresno. I dont use the drive in or anything but there was no one with a big goofy set on they're head. They're even offering ATM at the speaker box now. Really interesting stuff.
I can only hope that this is a quicker and easier way to make sure that i'm getting what i want. Most of the time the people are running around talking at the same time so they forget what you order. So maybe with this system they can get it right everytime not just ever 8th time.
Jinx: i like your idea.... Welcome to Taco Bell (person looks at menu and starts to freak out)
I see it as a way to create more jobs, not less. You have a call center that is able to give 100% attention to the customer, and the guys inside are able to give more attention to simply filling orders and helping the in-store customers.
The problem is that the guy taking the order 5 feet away is also thinking about the orders being placed at the counter, and is probably physically involved with filling orders while listening to yours. That means the guy 5 feet away is far more likely to get the order wrong, and incorrect orders are about the worst offense to make on a drive-thru (I bet most people simply decide not to use that drive-thru again, rather than go inside and complain).
While the costs might be a bit higher, the higher costs are spread out since the call center is handling thousands of drive-thrus, so the costs aren't the same as if you just hired someone to sit there and take orders.
Nathan
The problem is that the guy taking the order 5 feet away is also thinking about the orders being placed at the counter, and is probably physically involved with filling orders while listening to yours. That means the guy 5 feet away is far more likely to get the order wrong, and incorrect orders are about the worst offense to make on a drive-thru (I bet most people simply decide not to use that drive-thru again, rather than go inside and complain).
While the costs might be a bit higher, the higher costs are spread out since the call center is handling thousands of drive-thrus, so the costs aren't the same as if you just hired someone to sit there and take orders.
Nathan
ManaByte
Member
gblues said:
Sorry, but I don't buy that bullshit. It's one thing to outsource to another place in the US creating jobs here, but 99.9999999999999% of the time these "outsource" jobs are sent to massive call centers in India where they spend a lot of time and money "americanizing" the employees. People handling calls from the Southern US states are taught to speak with a southern accent. They also are given American names to make people think they aren't speaking to someone in India.
ManaByte said:
I'd love to deal with one of THOSE outsourced call centers. All the ones I've ever dealt with were fucking unintelligble. I'd ask him to repeat himself like 5 times because his accent was so thick and finally have to ask to be transferred to someone else.
sonycowboy
Member
gblues said:
I don't know what McDonalds you've been to, but the ones I go to have on guy dedicated to the drive thru and one or two other people tunning the register. They take 1 or two orders then go back and pick up the already assembled burgers, scoop the frys up, place them in a bag, and hand it over to the customer with a cup. Unless it's really slow at the drive thru i have never seen a drive thru person taking orders inside.
Guys - they don't have to outsource to India. If it's within America that's outsourcing too. There are already companies that specialize in telemarketing, for example, which any company can hire. That's outsourcing too.
If it was going overseas, I'd have to give this idea a big F U. But if it's creating more American jobs, then there's no way in hell I can argue with this. It's progress.
If it was going overseas, I'd have to give this idea a big F U. But if it's creating more American jobs, then there's no way in hell I can argue with this. It's progress.
Tommie Hu$tle
Member
gblues said:
Cost is lower becasue of VOIP they are raking in a killing.
Ninja Scooter
Member
"If you're in L.A. ... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to...''
yes because in LA, you never hear people with accents.
Dumbass.
yes because in LA, you never hear people with accents.
Dumbass.
I've had to deal with those guys too. Everytime I'm given a reponse sheet or email to know how well they did their job I always tell them to GIVE THEM LESSONS FOR AMERICAN ACCENTS because they're really hard to understand sometimes.GDJustin said:
Oh, and when they ask how they may refer to me as I tell them "Master Alex." I understand how big an ass that makes me seem, but it's just too damn hilarious to pass up. So far, everytime I've done this they always refer to me as "Master Alex"
Nintendo Ate My Children
Member
I'm surprised the article didn't mention the real reason for this: different wage rates in different states. McDonald's can get away with paying some kid in Bumfuck, Idaho $5.15 an hour, or have to pay some kid in LA $7.50 an hour for the same job, since the job market is tougher, even for menial jobs. I don't think you'll be seeing too many McD's in Idaho with outsourced cashiers.
North Dakota's average salary is like $10,000 a year below the national average. I guarantee that people working the McDonald's call centre wouldn't even make the North Dakota average. McDonald's does have a help desk service sourced out of a company (SEI) downtown in Fargo. My friend works there. Says it's awful work, but he gets paid $10 an hour to explain to morons how to reset a router and stuff. So I can imagine that work coming here.
There's lots of companies who set up their call centres here. Hey, they pay like $9 an hour... and that's a huge jump up from most menial jobs in the area (I got paid $6.50 as the assistant manager of an arcade), so they can find a pretty deep labor pool. But these fucking jobs aren't solving any problems and kids get their degrees and get the fuck out of here. That's what I'm doing. This place sucks.
There's lots of companies who set up their call centres here. Hey, they pay like $9 an hour... and that's a huge jump up from most menial jobs in the area (I got paid $6.50 as the assistant manager of an arcade), so they can find a pretty deep labor pool. But these fucking jobs aren't solving any problems and kids get their degrees and get the fuck out of here. That's what I'm doing. This place sucks.
Obviously you've never seen the movie Fargo. ROLLEYES ROLLEYES. Ugh. Not counting the sticks, but most of the people who live in the bigger cities around here have one of the most neutral accents around. The old Norweigans have really strange drawls, and most of the people who live out in the boondocks do, too, but those of us from "the city" all talk pretty normal.Stele said:
Besides the superficial stuff, this country is the most homogenous 'fair-sized' country on the planet (except Japan and Korea). Nowhere on this earth can you find people speaking basically the same English (as an example) 3,000 miles apart in the same country.Hitokage said:Have you actually BEEN in this country, by any chance?
Phoenix
Member
ManaByte said:
That's actually not true. There are a growing number of studies showing that the managerial overhead, customer defection and retention issues, and issues in managing workloads overseas is making outsourcing critical tasks MORE expensive.
If they REALLY wanted to save a buck, just cut out people from the order taking process altogether and let people press buttons on a touch screen and get exactly what they wanted. I mean shit they can barely get the static out of the drive through mikes and they are going to move the comms to another state? Wake me when this actually makes business sense.
Stele said:
Are you serious? I suppose the fact that all major to minor religions are practiced in this nation is not heterogeneous. What about differing cultures and all the things they bring with them such as food, music, art, clothes...? What I ask of you is to name any country where a large majority of the population DOESN'T speak the same language.
Nintendo Ate My Children said:
This is one of the only tangible benefits to the company that I can see, too. I was going to post about this very thing (the different minimum wage levels in various states and how this can be used to circumvent them) a few hours ago, actually.
Fresh Prince
Banned
One day there's going to be a backlash against Indians
videogamer
Banned
But aren't the jobs made in North Dakota the ones that used to be in another part of America? The guy who used to take the order at the local McDs no longer has that job, but the guy in North Dakota now has the job. I'm not quite sure how you got the "more American jobs" part.sonarrat said:
videogamer
Banned
?sonarrat said:
MetalAlien
Banned
This has everything to do with the fact Mcdonalds is not-so slowly becoming almost entirely run by not-so-well-at-speaking/understanding-english employees. Perhaps the number of customer complaints about drive through orders being wrong is starting to add up.
videogamer
Banned
However, if the drive-thru occupation were eliminated and the rest of the postitions were kept, then there would be less of a need for workers in total at the location. Thus, the management would adjust and hire fewer people to prevent overstaffing.sonarrat said:
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