not understanding what's being said on phone...

Overseas call centres are a nightmare.
I recently had a Waitrose delivery problem on route to holiday.
A guy from Asia had to sort it out for me. Very well, I should say but what a palaver it all is.
I reckon they use C.C. as a ploy to stop too many, often nuisance, calls.

I used to get this a lot when I worked in a library - people phoning for whatever reason, mumbling and gabbling at the same time. The effect was exacerbated - sometimes a lot - by any strong foreign accent. Especially when they were reeling off their long membership number at a mega-gabble!

I just used to ask them to slow down and speak clearly.
There would often obviously be eye-rolls on the other end - they evidently thought I must be exceedingly stupid - but that didn’t bother me.

I just keep asking them to repeat everything very slowly. If it's something important I can go on doing this for ages.If it turns out to be nothing I hang up. It isn't just foreign accents either. There are quite a few British ones I have problems with. With the ones who rattle away ay 100 miles an hour I let them say several sentences before I ask them to repeat the whole lot. This usually encourages them to slow down.

It’s not your fault. It’s hard to understand some foreign accents. I would say I’m sorry but i can’t understand what you’re saying. Can you speak slowly and more clearly please. If need be, repeat back to them what they’ve said. If they make a thing of it, say it’s your accent it’s hard for me to understand you. I’ve had the same issue, They must realise what you mean…don’t be put off.

One call centre manager advised me to ask the operator to stop using their head set but to use the actual phone instead. This was a help.

All the call centre people we speak to have supervisors. If there is a problem ask to speak to their supervisor, thet should be able to help.

Lathyrus3

I tell them I have a hearing problem and ask them to seperate each word and speak clearly. Most of them try for a bit and then lapse.

I had to answer questions this week about my travel insurance.

It began well until we got to treatment for my heart condition. She asked if I had had a particular type of investigation. I asked her to repeat. She repeated but I still couldn’t work out which investigation she was querying.

Travel insurance. It’s important not to say yes or no if you’re not sure, isn’t it?

I sad I couldn’t understand what type of investigation she was asking about. She saidit again. Still no.

I’ll spell it she said.

TESTOR

I don’t know what a testor investigation is I said.

And then the penny dropped😳

@Lathyrus3.
I must admit though I have recently had an angiogram investigation I have never been offered a TESTOR one either.

That had me fooled too for a few minutes but everytime I think of it now I laugh till the tears run down my face. .
That one just tickles me. Thanks for the laugh.

I had the same problem with not understanding the language, my Sainsbury's food delivery did not arrive so to find out what happened I called the number of my local store and was shocked to be put through to a call centre which sounded Indian, the person didn't even know which store I was calling about and she was talking so fast I could not understand so I just said sorry I can't understand what you are saying and said thank you but goodbye. I then rang the store number again and the same thing happened. In the end I sent Sainsbury's an email about the problem and I never heard back from them. Needless to say I don't shop at Sainsbury's anymore.

I hate phone talking anyway, am much better at texting/typing, but if I really do have to phone talk, I think nothing of hanging up with no warning when I've asked them to slow down or speak clearly, if the caller is jabbering at speed or the accent is so strong I can't understand them!

This is a genuine story. I used to be with O2 for my mobile, and while my name isn't Phillippa, I had this awful Indian woman with the most hideous voice ringing me MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY, insisting my name is Phillippa, so she'd obviously got the wrong number/name. I couldn't understand a word she was saying, and her voice was loud and put my nerves on edge. She always rang me when I was at work and refused to hang up, just letting it ring and ring and ring for ages.

She kept saying ''Phillippaaaaaa Phillippaaaaaa, are you there Phillippaaaaaa

So in the end, I answered and threw it back at her WHILE SHE WAS TALKING!

I replied with ''Phillippaaaaaa, Phillippaaaaaa, are you there Phillippaaaaaa and I kept crossing it with her voice. Then I heard ''but, urm'' and she hung up!

I had no problem with O2, other than that braindead woman, so I changed to another comany that doesn't pester me!

I had the same problem with LV.- Wastrying to add my grandson as a named driver on my car. I could hardly understand what she was saying. I just heard the last part, saying that they don’t insure under-25s.
I rang back in an hour. A nice young man answered. Within 5 minutes, my grandson was added on to my insurance, (had to pay £160) - and the new Insurance Certificate, was in my GMailbox. That’s efficiency !

I wear hearing aids and find if I have my phone on speaker the call is much clearer. Also a lot of hearing aids now can connect to your phone.

Knittypamela

I had a foreign doctor who spoke terrible English. I thought he said "when was your last baby" so I said " 40 years ago". In fact he had asked me when my last period was. Could be quite dangerous giving the wrong answer to a doctor.

The Indian doctor who admitted my mum could or would not understand that it was just a UTI that was making her a bit crazy. It took a week, finally talking to the head of the trust.

I had this happen just yesterday, I gave up and asked them to email me, they actually seemed relieved 😆

Quite agree with you Boheminan I always put the phone on speaker to hear better but have had recent conversations where the voice is foreign and the person is speaking very quickly in probably an Indian type accent. I always say that it's a very bad line so would they speak more slowly please and they do for a sentence or so and then revert to their previous pattern. I have found this recntly at the GP surgery and also with the bank both institutes where I'm wanting specific and accurate info.

I blâme réception, I say that it is a bad line, there is interférence and it is cracking up.

I have hearing problems and they are exacebated by foreign accents - in NHS and in call centres - although I've had English callers I have not been able to understand because they gabble. Ongoing problems with TalkTalk began in January and have necessitated innumerable and lengthy calls to TT and I found the foreign handlers very difficult to understand so DDs or one of my sils have spoken on my behalf after I give my permission for this. I now have a Power of Attorney form to complete and send to TT so that sil can speak on my behalf when he's not actually with me in person.

boheminan I still sometimes struggle, but it's been easier since I was given NHS bluetooth hearing aids. I always use my mobile and the voice now goes straight into my ears. I say at the outset that I am hearing impaired and would they please speak clearly and slowly. If they speed up I simply repeat my request. As I said, bluetooth has helped. I do try to do as much as I can online/email. I've given up on the landline.

I agree with all of these comments. I pass the phone to my husband but if he wasn’t here I don’t know what I would do. Why must we have foreign call centres? They sound like scam phone calls.

Glaswegian is the worst, love the accent, but can't understand a word.

I'm glad it's not just me, I've had this problem for ages and not just down the phone.

Thanks all for your advice.

Shouting at me doesn't help as it's not the volume that's the problem but the clarity. I wear hearing aids.

I don't think there's an answer to this problem but it's a relief to know others have the same difficulties and it's not just me not coping.

This has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with communication.

If you ask clearly and politely for the speaker to slow down they should do so. Sometimes you have to be clear that you can't follow what they are saying. It is important to do this as they may learn from it. The other thing to consider is that there may be multiple calls stacking up and so they are under pressure to deal with calls quickly.
I find using their name and asking how they are often helps smooth the conversation too. Remember they are human beings and not robots.
Another alternative would be to ask if you can receive a text message or an e-mail instead, or maybe even ask them to ring back when you feel more able to deal with what may be an unexpected call.

boheminan

...but I tried that! (and they just shout)

Well, then, complain to their employers.

Admittedly doing so may not solve the problem, but you cannot solve it by only getting into a state and putting the phoe down, can you?

I realise you have been badly upset by this, but try to deal more calmly with the situation if it occurs again.

Thanks, Boheminan ( sorry about the spelling - not sure if its a mistake by you or your deliberate very clever play on words!)

It was so good to know that there are others out there with the same problem, especially the fear of being called racist; t=it seems as though VERY many people with English as their second language find jobs at the end of a phone. I've always found it difficult to understand anyone with a strong accent, so it's even worse when on the phone. I can in all honesty tell them that I'm (now in my 80s with hearing aids) deaf.
As some of you have said, not all people adjust their speech.
I have a landline ( not for much longer) and a smartphone and find that using the speaker on the latter sometime helps.
I sometimes descend to pretending that I'm a dotty old woman who needs a very slow simple communication .) Maybe that's true!)
Another issue is that I presume the majority of people are using smartphones, and probably working from home, so may well be doing other things whilst using the phone , which therefore may often be a long way from their face.

As somone said - the answer maybe to use email- but if I have to ask for the address over the phone it becomes another problem!!

ClicketyClick

Ps - loved your croc talc experience 🤣

Me too!
I laughed out loud!