Either that or HSBC have opened a call centre in a new country where everyone speaks monotone English as though they were in a drug-induced trance.

I don’t like discussing my private financial affairs with anonymous, low-paid people in Third World countries who I can’t understand easily, so I now politely refuse to talk to them at all. Usually the Telephone or Internet Banking helpline numbers go through to HSBC people in the UK, so I ring these regardless of what my enquiry is.

Your comments back up the fact that it’s not call centre staff, but rather the management and whole “call centre” concept, that must be overhauled. When people like you want to be helpful but don’t have the resources to do it (either time, access to information or a way to keep in touch with the customer at a later time), it’s down to management to review the process.

Callers become frustrated because they have to wait, are faced with helpless staff and are unable to resolve their issues in one phone call. Meanwhile staff are frustrated by their powerlessness. All in all, it’s a bad scene!

As part of my work with clients, I like to look into how we can change relationships between staff and customers, as there’s often so much potential. Of course, it’s not always possible immediately, but if both internal and external people raise the issue, it’s been known to get things into motion for positive change. So be sure to let your managers know when you’re feeling that way and change things from the inside.