800 Numbers...

I received this from a reader not too long ago...and put off reading it.  But it's interesting and something we CAN do something about.

Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following:

After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent),  please, very politely (this is not about trashing other cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America ."  The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ."  YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE USA .  That's the rule and the LAW.

It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to the USA .  Tonight when I got redirected to a USA rep, I asked again to make sure - and yes, she was from Fort Lauderdale .

Imagine what would happen if every US citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on. Imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of US jobs that would need to be created ASAP.  If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.
Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep. You may even get correct answers, good advice, and solutions to your problem - in real English.