Operator From India/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A character calls a customer service line and gets, well, an Operator From India.

  • Played Straight: Alice needs help with a computer problem. When she finally gets through to tech support, someone with a distinct Indian accent answers.
  • Exaggerated: The operator in question speaks only his/her native language or dialect and does not understand Alice's English.
  • Inverted: Amrit needs help with a computer problem and is redirected to a tech support call center in America.
  • Justified: XYZ Tech has outsourced its tech support call center jobs to India
    • XYZ Tech is actually based in India.
  • Subverted: Alice gets a call center in California.
  • Double Subverted: But the call is answered by someone with a distinct Indian accent.
  • Deconstructed: Outsourcing may be helpful in the short term, but in the long run hurts economies because jobs that could go to people in XYZ Tech's home country are being sent to people in other countries. And if XYZ Tech is more concerned about its bottom line than about its employees, that could cause problems too.
  • Reconstructed: XYZ Tech opens up call centers in its home country. Only if XYZ Tech has offices in other countries (as a worldwide company) will it have call centers elsewhere. And wherever its call centers are, its employees are competent, courteous, wonderful people, and XYZ treats them as such.
  • Parodied: The call center in question is in outer space, and its employees all have a distinct Indian accent of some sort.
  • Lampshaded: (distinct accent) "Hello, you have reached tech support, this is Bob, how may I help you?"
  • Averted: Alice calls tech support and is redirected to a call center in Eagle Land
  • Enforced: "How 'bout some commentary on outsourcing?"
  • Invoked: XYZ Tech decides to outsource its call center jobs to India.
  • Defied: XYZ Tech refuses to outsource, and keeps all its call centers in America.
  • Discussed:
  • Conversed: "Why are all these techies located in India?"
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama:

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