Hello This is Ryan,.. How can I help you today....

Thanks giving is the next long vacation before i leave for India in December and so I thgt of visitng another cousin of mine. She stays in Atlanta.. So after fighting hard to get good deals, i finally booked tickets to go there after rates suddenly fell. I got the ticket. But it had some expiry date mentioned in the internary which i mistook to be 20th of Sept 2006 while it was for 2007. So puzzled what that expiry dae was, I called up the customer care of Delta service.

I dial, 1-800-...... and i get the automated voice asking me for all the details like confirmation number and others. After some 5 whole minutes of exchanging my info with an automated voice, she said, "If you want to speak to our revservation representative, please say-Representative "

I mumbled, "Thank God for small mercies" I was bored of listening to that lady's voice..
Anyway.. in no time, I am connected to a representative. So here is our conversation:

Representative (R): Hello, This is Ryan, Thank you for calling Delta customer service. How can i Help u today?
Me: Hi, This is Shradha Nayak. I just made a reservation yesterday and in the Iternary there is some expiration date of 20th Sept 2006 mentioned.. I am puzzled !

R: Well mam this means your ticket is valid for a year. It is Sept. 2007 and so for the whole next year your ticket is valid. If you want to change the date of flying, you can do so by issuing a new ticket against this one. The charges are blah. blah blah...
Me: Ohh Thank you. I mistook the date to be Sept 2006. Thank you for the infromation.

R: No Problem Mam. So are you an Indian?
Me: Yes I am!

R: Oh! Thats great me too!
Me: Oh is it!
R: Well i guessed from your name in the iternary.

R: So mam, u need'nt worry. Your ticket is confirmed and it is valid till next year. With a fees of just $50 you can make changes if you want!
Me: Oh ok. But thats ok. Thanks for the information.

R: You are welcome mam. So from where are u in India?
Me: From Pune.

R: This is yet another good news mam.
Me: ??? !!! ??? huh ??

R: I am in Pune too!
Me: Oh is it.. The call has reached a call center in India?? So is there a Delta customer service call center in Pune?

R: No mam, Delta has out sourced it to Wipro.
Me: Oh I see!

R: Btw, I am Rahul! and from your iternary your name seems to be Shradha.
Me: Hmmmm

R: You are in US as permanant?
Me: huh ??!!??

R: I mean, you are in US for long time?
Me: (in my mind: For whatever reason u need to know !!!!!!!! ) ugh! yes i have come on a project.

R: Thats great. So you flying to Atlanta.. Thats great. Have a happy journey! Enjoy your vacation!
Me: Ya thanks.. and Thanks for the information (this is the third time i said this sentence)

R: Take Care and have a Good Day!
Me: (In my mind: Hmm Thank God) Thanks, u too!

R: We at Delta will always like to help you!
Me: Hmm ok Bye!

R: Bye!
(disconnect the call)
Me: Phew!

Boy! I was so glad that, the conversation had ended, i got the information i needed and ya, that i could now get back to work!
Well it was good to know that the job is out sourced to India.. People get employed. But Its so sad to work at night shifts.. Poor guys.. And worst of all, They are trained to speak with that false American accent and worse to change their name.
I hear from so many Indians here that some Americans DONT like Indians. They dont want to interact with them and so these call centers are trained to speak with that accent to make the Americans feel at home !!!!???!!! How disgusting! They want cheap labour and they also wanna feel at home!
You cant eat the cake and have it as well !!!!