A voice from Argentina

[Joanne98]

I got this from the court tv forum.........
http://boards.courttv.com/showthread.php?s=75ceed0538fa9c31dd24e0538e318753&threadid=291890

I’ve been working for 4 months for a company handling rebates for many US corporations. What is it with these rebates? In the UK where I'm from, they just knock money off in shops. But no, far too easy and honest to be done in the US.

One of the commonest questions people ask (a question mostly motivated by the tiny minds of many of the callers) is where are you located. Officially we have to reply “Our head office is in Minnesota” If we are then asked “Where are YOU located” we have to reply “We are not allowed to disclose that information for security reasons” If they continue I usually say “I can tell you we are in America” At this time USAan arrogance normally means they think we are in the US. But in reality we are in Argentina. And of course most USAans think America exists only within their fortress borders.

Although I do think this rebate thing is a complete joke, and I do feel sorry for some of the callers who are being denied their rebates for such petty reasons. My prime concern here is the way this company is treating it’s workers.

In the true US global capitalist tradition of outsourcing to deny responsibility, the company in Buenos Aires goes under the name of @#x_^. A massive architectural crime on the pan american highway just outside the capital, guarded by a high wall and high security both in and outside of the building with CCTV cameras watching your every move.

The company continually breaks the Argentine labour laws, refusing to pay holiday time for the 1 day off in 20 days worked they allow us. Every month they pay us for less hours than we worked, last month I was 29 hours short! Other people were missing even more hours. But despite constantly pushing for the money I rightfully deserve I still haven't received any of the money. (Some of you waiting for you rebates probably know the feeling).

The company gives us such a low basic wage that we have to ensure we get the bonus they offer for attendance and the quality of the monitored calls. To stop us from getting this bonus the company pulls off more tricks than they do to prevent paying rebates. In December when I started. we were told we had to use the one day holiday we were due before the end of the year, so I did, along most other people. Then on payday we were told “you’re not getting the bonus because you never fulfilled the hours due to your day off! The legally intitled day off we never even got payed for. One girl went to the office to complain and was told “Upset? Come to cry to me? Now I’ll really make you upset. here’s what you would have received......”

I started with a group of about 30 people. Only a few of those still remain. Most people can’t stick it for more than a couple of months. The place is a joke.

How many of you have asked to talk to a supervisor while asking for your rebates? Actually that ‘supervisor’ is just another agent. They have no more ability to make a payment than us. They are payed the same wages and are no higher in the company. They just go under the name of ‘supervisor’ to pretend the customer is getting a good service. That’s not to belittle them of course. Like everyone else they’re just doing their job the best they can for a company that gives them no credit.

Ever called a company for your rebate, then called another for a different rebate and spoke to the same person? We have to pretend we are working for a specific company and yet we are all working for one umbrella company handling all the rebates. We could easily give you info for the others, yet we make you call another number to speak to the same person.

And it’s not just the rebate company, It’s the companies they process the rebates for. Any of you trying to get rebates from a famous brand of cordless phone? Good luck! We can’t issue ANY payments. People have been waiting months for their rebates despite giving us all the necessary info. People have received non-compliance cards we don’t even know about! I would wager that this company is going out of business. If any of you feel like filing lawsuits this company is the one to go for. But you’d better be quick, I don’t think they’ll be around for long.

Anyway, those people you are shouting at down the phone in Argentina are not the cause of the problem. Your corporations are the problem. And those people you are talking to are being more exploited by those corporations than you are. So a few carefully aimed pies at the fat overpaid heads of those corporations would make more sense than shouting a load of obscenities at some low paid workers in Argentina.

Anyway, any of you lot having rebate trouble? Do any of you actually think these rebates are a good idea?

http://boards.courttv.com/showthread.php?s=75ceed0538fa9c31dd24e0538e318753&threadid=291890

[Joanne98]

1. ............

:kick:

[Nimrod2005]

2. Cool post, thanks.

[Joanne98]

3. Thank You!

:hi: