On Monday, SingPost had to tweet an apology to Singapore-based writer Neil Humphreys after he went through a comically disturbing phone call trying to find out one simple piece of information: whether Rivervale Mall had a post office.

We checked in with them, and confirmed that yes, indeed, the poor soul who struggled to deal with Humphreys' simple request is an Indian call centre staffer.

A recap of the call:

via GIPHY

Or the full version, if you'd like to revisit it:

SingPost: Dude on the phone wasn't familiar with the system

In a statement shared with Mothership, a SingPost spokesperson said the company outsources "some" of its call centre operations to India.

[related_story]

Folks over there working the phones for SingPost have access to a "knowledge-based management system" that's supposed to give them the answers their callers are looking for.

To make sure all's good, SingPost said it does "quality assurance checks" every week, and audits over in India every quarter.

In this case, though, the staffer in question didn't know the system well, so SingPost says it will work with them to review protocols to improve things.

Here's a spokesperson's statement in full:

"SingPost currently outsources some of its call centre operations to India. We use a knowledge-based management system to store all relevant information to questions SingPost customers may have, and monitor interactions between our customers and our customer care representatives, including weekly quality assurance checks and quarterly audits on-site. The information is updated regularly.

We’ve spoken to our service provider about Mr Humphreys’ experience, and unfortunately the customer care representative was unfamiliar with the system. While Mr Humphreys was able to see the human side of the situation, we have flagged this to the call centre, and will continue to work with them to review protocols to ensure our customers get better assistance from our hotline."

Related article:

SingPost apologises to author Neil Humphreys for experiencing helpless helpline

Here are some totally unrelated but equally interesting stories:

There are tons of GrabRewards points you haven’t been using

These stories of the people from the Tampines Round Market will warm your heart

Top photo via SingPost CustCare Facebook page