Customer service rant

[oc_in_fw]

It is a global marketplace. Imagine lots of folks get frustrated by Americans who refuse to speak French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, German, Chinese, etc.

In a situation such as you described, I would ask for another rep.

With every global company I have seen, different regions get different customer service number (or web links, if on the internet). People hired to work the US region should be able to speak the language. Same with the German region (speak German, that is).

 

[Rhody]

I try to keep an open mind and low bp but i lost it a few years ago talking to a Sirius satellite radio phonebank person (language barrier)
I swore id never return until recently i signed up wth a new car. Just hope i dont have to call them

 

[simon1]

I love those commercials.

I haven't seen that one in quite awhile.

If this is supposed to be a global economy...the next time I get someone in customer service who I can't understand I may go:

Que? No entiendo la palabras. Habla espanol, por favor. Donde el bano?

Or do my best imitation of Mandarin Chinese. You ever been cussed out in Chinese? You may not entiendo la palabras, but you get the drift.

My birth surname name is Irish/English, and my adopted surname is German. So I guess I'd better learn how to speak German with an Irish brogue.

 

[H4nk]

Linthead = textile worker.
We hire lots of Indian programmers and I have no trouble understanding them. They know English very well and so they speak it rapidly. I have to slow it down in my Southern brain. It is much worse over the phone, hence the issue.

 

[Haggises]

They’re inability to comply with the 2 day free shipping and when I contact them everything is in broken English. My last few customer service chats with amazon was with several agents.

Not to nitpick, but if you are going to complain about the broken English of others, you should really grammar check the #$#$ out of your post before hitting submit.

 

[emwolf]

I sometimes have problems with native English speakers as well. Quite often, it isn't the first language, it's the ability to communicate clearly over the phone. This is something not discussed much anymore. The "mid Atlantic" accent that was popular in the 30's and 40's was designed to be easily understood over a tinny speaker. We might want to get back to teaching that again.

Just a side note, my brother was working in Delhi a few years back setting up a call center for local hospital. He hired a bunch of local professional call center workers and was criticized by the customers for hiring people who sounded "too western."

 

[Haggises]

View attachment 934626

This times 1000

 

[preidy]

Don't get me going......

 

[oc_in_fw]

Not to nitpick, but if you are going to complain about the broken English of others, you should really grammar check the #$#$ out of your post before hitting submit.

 

[Canadian Mountain Man]

Amazon is the worst. I’ve ended my purchasing on amazon. They charge taxes now which make them equal to my local stores in terms of pricing. They’re inability to comply with the 2 day free shipping and when I contact them everything is in broken English. My last few customer service chats with amazon was with several agents. I was told if they don’t reply within 2 minutes of the previous response, it gets transferred to another rep.

I have something of a love/hate relationship with Amazon. Aside from the odd situation where their pricing hamsters screw up and there's a temporary incredible deal on something most things are similar to local stores. That said I do like the convenience particularly for big bulky stuff like poo tickets or paper towels and that they have a decent selection on some brands not stocked in these parts.

While most transactions don't require intervention on occasion I will contact customer service and I've long since given up using the phone. Accents aside they seem to have trained their staff with an extra level of insincere "concern". The script is always the same, "Yes I understand your situation Mr. Kal, please do not worry Mr. Kal, we'll be solving your problem immediately Mr. Kal". I expect to be offered Birdie Num Nums

 

[oc_in_fw]

poo tickets

??? I have had some duzies, but I haven't gotten a ticket for one yet

 

[Canadian Mountain Man]

??? I have had some duzies, but I haven't gotten a ticket for one yet

Different kind of tickets

 

[Doc4]

Perhaps the OP likes Chinese food?

I am flatulent in 5 languages. Everyone understands.

Well, at least everyone knows you are an old fart.

 

[Joe Namath]

The irony of Americans complaining about foreigners not speaking English correctly...Whatever next?

 

[emwolf]

Part of the difficulty, particularly in the call center environment, is being able to communicate effectively without the use of visual cues. Being able to paint a visual picture with just your words is not easy. We spend a lot of our education time teaching people how to win, not how to communicate.

 

[shavefan]

I used Amazon customer service "chat" today. No accent and issue resolved quickly.

 

[simon1]

Well, at least everyone knows you are an old fart.

I see you have watched one of the movies I was in. I had a speaking role in that one.

 

[DC_MPA]

Not to nitpick, but if you are going to complain about the broken English of others, you should really grammar check the #$#$ out of your post before hitting submit.

Thanks for nitpicking.

 

[cleanshaved]

I seem to understand them well enough but going by the results of the call, they struggle to understand me.

On another subject, we're getting a number of scam phone calls.
Going by the accent and lack of ability to listen, I'm starting to wondering if they are the same call centre.

 

[FarmerTan]

The irony of Americans complaining about foreigners not speaking English correctly...Whatever next?

Love it. Post of the month!