Press one for English.....

jujube

jujube

SF VIP
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I think I'm in Florida, but I'm not sure any more.
I am so frustrated. I have been awaiting a call from a sleep study company for an at-home test ordered by my physician. I got the call today and "spoke" (I use that lightly) to someone with such a thick accent, I could not understand her. I asked over and over again for her to repeat what she said and finally asked to be transferred to someone else. After holding for a while, I was transferred....to someone who was even harder to understand.

I'm not deaf and I'm not unreasonable, but if I can't understand what someone is saying, it's not doing any good to talk with them. I'm getting used to having problems understanding the representatives who are probably calling from another country and almost always, we can work something out with my asking them to speak slowly and, if needed, to spell out what they are saying. I'm polite and they're polite and we can get 'r done with patience. Not this time, though.

So, I hung up and called the company on the telephone number I was provided on my paperwork. The "automated assistant" was very clear, but when I was transferred to a rep, it was the same old story. Once again, I asked to be transferred, was put on hold and nobody ever came back. Finally, I got an automated message that "all representatives were busy" and to leave my name and number and someone would call me back. I did so and explained on the message what my problem is.

Waiting for a call-back. Wanna bet on what my odds are in getting someone I can understand? Or even getting a call-back?

As I said, I'm not a cranky old lady who's looking for something to complain about (well, that's not altogether true, I am cranky about this) and I'm willing to work with someone, but this is pushing the envelope.

If nothing is resolved today, I'll call my doctor's office and see if they can help me with this. Luckily, this isn't anything urgent.

Rant over. Your regular programming will resume.... "Two sleepy people and a sleep-testing representative walk into a bar...."
 

I can surely share your frustration. I have on numerous occasions asked the customer service representative to repeat what they have just said and it always ends up the same – me with ?????. At first I am patient and understanding, but after a few attempts, I just want to scream. I have on rare occasions requested to be transferred to an English speaking agent. We shouldn’t have to play a guess what they are saying game. I suspect this is a cost saving tactic but at this rate, the customers will disappear.
 
Same thing happens here..I could've written that myself Jujube... it's very frustrating...

The ironic thing is I'm so used to this terrible phone service from someone from India... that when..like yesterday, I called the AA.. and a woman with perfectly normal English answered... and it was like speaking to someone with RP English.... beautifully clear, not me '' saying..''excuse me, I don't understand I think the line must be bad..can you repeat what you said''...over and over in 5 minute call...
 
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There were approximately 350,000 call centre workers in India as of February 2015.[5][self-published source?] Call centre workers in India are largely under the age of thirty, unmarried, and college-educated, regardless of gender.[6] Call centre work is typically done overnight to accommodate time zones in the US, UK, and Australia, and employees are required to be FLUENT IN ENGLISH[3]

Call centre industry in India - Wikipedia

Their fluent & my fluent just don't sound the same.
 
Mujibar goes to a job fair and applies for a job as a customer service agent.

"Ok, Mujibar" says the interviewer, "You'll have to pass an English proficiency test before being hired on."

"Very very good, sir," answers Mujibar, "You'll find my English very very proficient."

"Very well, then use the words green, pink and yellow in a sentence."

Mujibar thinks for a moment and then says, "The phone goes green, green, green, I pink it up and say 'Yellow, here is Mujibar!'"

I'm sure you've talked to Mujibar recently.
 
astralcat said:
I can surely share your frustration. I have on numerous occasions asked the customer service representative to repeat what they have just said and it always ends up the same – me with ?????. At first I am patient and understanding, but after a few attempts, I just want to scream. I have on rare occasions requested to be transferred to an English speaking agent. We shouldn’t have to play a guess what they are saying game. I suspect this is a cost saving tactic but at this rate, the customers will disappear.
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I used to think that too... but it's been going on now for the best part of 20 years
 
I have sleep problems, too, which makes my speech somewhat slurred depending on how rested I'm feeling, which makes it even more difficult to communicate with people over the phone -- especially if English isn't their primary language. It's really frustrating.

Another things that gets me is when the only way to get services is through a company's phone app. I hate having to do things on my phone. My eyesight sucks, even when I'm wearing my glasses, so it's difficult to read the information. My hands shake, which makes it difficult to type on a phone and hit the little buttons. I think a lot of seniors have similar problems, yet businesses -- even those geared towards seniors -- are moving more and more to phone-only services!
 
This is a tad off topic but at least is referencing a sleep study test… with an English as first language nurse/technician. I offer this up as proof that being able to understand ‘em doesn’t necessarily make it a positive experience lol tho you no doubt already know that…

Just last month I had an 8:30pm appt for a sleep study at a private doctor facility. My paperwork clearly said to arrive any time between 8:30-9:00pm. I arrived right at 8:50pm and rang the bell for someone to let me in. After a couple minutes the nurse/tech appeared, opened the door and her first venom dripping words were that i was late. She was most seriously p*ssed and spectacularly vile.

Of course the temptation was great to offer up a FU and march off in indignation🤣 but i really didn’t wanna have to start over from scratch.

I feel your pain, jujube…
 
Aunt Bea said:
I share your frustration, I wonder if AI will offer a solution. 🤔
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AI tends to be problematic because it deals with a set list of questions and answers. If you need a human the you're stuck with people you can't understand.

I will ask nicely to be transferred to someone who speaks English and is American if it's too bad.

I have never gotten the help I need from an AI assistant.
 
a thick accent, I could not understand her
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That's a real deal breaker, had a situation not long ago with a medical appointment scheduler. I dearly needed the appointment, pure hell trying to communicate. It doesn't have to be this way, voice translation on-the fly software is mature, and would be such a help, my cell phone can do that.
Consumer Cellular has native US English speaking customer support reps.
 
I consider myself to be a very patient person most of the time but the phone calls that we are talking about are the type of thing that truly test my very patient attributes. When I was still working we started to get a lot of customers from some of the bigger urban areas of southern Ontario which meant that many of the calls we got were from many different nationalities. The other guys in the shop knew that I am considerably more patient than they are so they would always transfer these calls to me. I would do my best to understand as many of the accents as I could and I'm sure there were probably a good number of them that were as frustrated with me as I was of them.
I guess all I'm getting at is that sometimes patience isn't a virtue, at least not a truly rewarding one sometimes. And that's the end of my rant for the evening. Have a good night everyone.
 
jujube said:
Mujibar goes to a job fair and applies for a job as a customer service agent.

"Ok, Mujibar" says the interviewer, "You'll have to pass an English proficiency test before being hired on."

"Very very good, sir," answers Mujibar, "You'll find my English very very proficient."

"Very well, then use the words green, pink and yellow in a sentence."

Mujibar thinks for a moment and then says, "The phone goes green, green, green, I pink it up and say 'Yellow, here is Mujibar!'"

I'm sure you've talked to Mujibar recently.
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In India they drive on the left of the road, in Bangalore, they drive on what is left of the road.
 
Most of the customer service reps I speak to these days seem to be Filipino and they are fairly proficient in English. I do get the occasional rep that I can't understand and it drives me crazy. The other thing that drives me crazy is when I can hear the other reps talking around them. Anyone else ever heard that?

When I was working, our IT assistance was moved from the US to a call center in Romania to save money. Not only could I not understand them most of the time, they tended to be rude and just weren't helpful. I'd usually end up fixing the issue myself.
 
KSav said:
I, too, share your frustration. This is one of the reasons I actually like the online chat services some companies provide—not the bots, but an actual live chat online with someone.
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Live chat is my first choice too. I also like that you have a written record of the conversation to refer back to.
I print a copy and file it. Sometimes you have to remind them that they havent fixed what they said they would.
And that you have proof so you expect a refund from the first date.

If I get a live one that I cant understand I just hang up mid sentence. Call back in and say I was disconnected.
Sometimes you have to do this a few times till you get someone . :D

One option that sometimes works is press the option for Spanish instead of English.
A lot of the Spanish reps speak English. They get paid so they dont care. Besides most of us old folks are very polite. :D
 
This made me remember something from my working days in field assistance. As part of my job I often talked with reps in other states. We all used to joke that we talked normal and everybody else had a funny accent. The East Coast reps would tell me I had a Southern drawl. Im from the Midwest. You want to hear drawl. Here let add one of the Southern reps. :D
 

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