Call center may bring 1,000 jobs to Detroit

[irish_mafia]

"The Better Business Bureau gives General Warranty Services its lowest grade of “F� due to consumer complaints about unwanted sales calls and other issues."

"It is also negotiating with the Michigan Economic Growth Authority for tax incentives."

http://freep.com/article/20090511/NE...obs+to+Detroit

[Gistok]

They are scum... I don't know how many times they've called saying that "this is your last notification".... if only it were true..

[LodgeDodger]

Aren't some of these companies under investigation for such activities?

[Linda from Detroit]

There are very few call centers that are worth working at unless one is totally desperate. I've worked as an overseas operator for A T and T and it was very, very stressful...and they are far better than these call center places. Generally the turnover is very high, conditions poor and management is awful. I hope this place doesn't end up being like that, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[jams]

Will fluency in Hindi or Mandarin be required?

[MIRepublic]

Because, they'll be answering vast majority of calls from India and China, right? I hate it when people try and force a joke to work where it doesn't fit.

They sound like trouble, and it would definitely challenge anyone's belief that any jobs are good jobs, huh?

[Johnlodge]

I worked at a call center type place for a little while. They did follow up surveys for companies from Ford to health insurance, whatever. Yeah, it's not the best job but it's a paycheck, and if you are unemployed like over 10% of the city of Detroit I wouldn't scoff at it.

[kryptonite]

yes, some of the companies are under investigation and maybe that's why they are moving from NH. Missouri is suing one of their local auto warranty call centers and investigating them.

and yes such call centers stink. but aren't many call centers just a service provider and maybe they handle calls for a variety of customers?

still, a paycheck is a paycheck and if you were leasing office space in this economy you probably wouldn't care who was signing the lease. and if you had a small business in the Campus Martius area and a new employer with a substantial number of jobs moved nearby you would probably be thrilled.

[Linda from Detroit]

I agree that when one is looking at starving the call centers are better than nothing, but I wouldn't count on them for much. There is one not far from me that does fund raising for different police departmens and if the worker doesn't lean on the older people enough they are screamed at, made fun of and eventually tossed out the door right in front of everyone. Hopefully this place isn't as bad. The only 2 I know of that are decent are Infocision and SRBI...both have offices in my tri state area and Infocision does have good benefits.

[redvetred]

All of these call centers are or will be under investigation ASAP and most will be shut down for fraud and harassment. I wouldn't waste a dime in tax credits to support any of these. The FTC and BBB have all of these targeted.

[grumpyoldlady]

Whatever the call center is for, hopefully you will be able to understand the person you speak to. I am sick and tired of talking to people who can hardly speak English, don't understand what you are saying, or have such an accent that you can't figure out what they are saying.