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CWA Backs Consumers' Right to Know on Call Center Communications
Trenton, N.J. -- The Communications Workers of America is urging the New Jersey Assembly's State Government Committee to take action to better protect consumers by requiring customer call center employees to identify themselves, their location, and their actual employer.
The measure, Assembly bill No. A-3529, gives consumers the right to know key information about the call center employer. It provides some protections to customers who want to know who they are talking to before giving financial, credit or identification information. If approved by the committee, the bill would continue to the full Assembly.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen has said the Consumer's Right-to-Know bill aims to protect both jobs and the privacy of Americans' financial, medical and other personal data.
Don Rice, CWA's legislative and political coordinator in New Jersey, told the committee that the operation of customer call centers is a major concern, in New Jersey and across the nation. Rice was joined by CWA local officers Linda Kramer, Local 1023, and Charlie Murphy, Local 1058.
In today's marketplace, nearly three-quarters of all customer interaction occurs in call centers, providing telephone and Internet-based sales and service assistance. However, consumers are increasingly vulnerable not only to exploitation, but to the frustration of not gaining the service, information or assistance they really need, he said.
Major employers continue to contract out customer service work, to centers in the United States and abroad, and at times, even to convicted felons in prison, Rice said.
"Consumers may be giving credit card information to a convicted felon taking airline reservations from a prison-based call center," he said. Consumers have a right to know where the service center is located, he added, noting that foreign based employees are instructed never to reveal their locations and to adopt American catchwords and phrases.
Rice stressed that customers need accurate information about the location and identity of the customer service provider to get better service. For any transaction, documenting a refund or change in service, for example, or to follow-up a service request, or to speak with a supervisor about unresolved problems, customers must know where the decisions are made, he said.
The Assembly bill is the first step in ensuring that consumers have the tools they need to get the service they are paying for, Rice said.
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The measure, Assembly bill No. A-3529, gives consumers the right to know key information about the call center employer. It provides some protections to customers who want to know who they are talking to before giving financial, credit or identification information. If approved by the committee, the bill would continue to the full Assembly.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen has said the Consumer's Right-to-Know bill aims to protect both jobs and the privacy of Americans' financial, medical and other personal data.
Don Rice, CWA's legislative and political coordinator in New Jersey, told the committee that the operation of customer call centers is a major concern, in New Jersey and across the nation. Rice was joined by CWA local officers Linda Kramer, Local 1023, and Charlie Murphy, Local 1058.
In today's marketplace, nearly three-quarters of all customer interaction occurs in call centers, providing telephone and Internet-based sales and service assistance. However, consumers are increasingly vulnerable not only to exploitation, but to the frustration of not gaining the service, information or assistance they really need, he said.
Major employers continue to contract out customer service work, to centers in the United States and abroad, and at times, even to convicted felons in prison, Rice said.
"Consumers may be giving credit card information to a convicted felon taking airline reservations from a prison-based call center," he said. Consumers have a right to know where the service center is located, he added, noting that foreign based employees are instructed never to reveal their locations and to adopt American catchwords and phrases.
Rice stressed that customers need accurate information about the location and identity of the customer service provider to get better service. For any transaction, documenting a refund or change in service, for example, or to follow-up a service request, or to speak with a supervisor about unresolved problems, customers must know where the decisions are made, he said.
The Assembly bill is the first step in ensuring that consumers have the tools they need to get the service they are paying for, Rice said.
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