Customer Service

JaneJudge

I think people who can't understand accents (of any nature) are lazy and unwilling to listen properly

It is quite easy to communicate with people who can't even speak the same language as you (not over the telephone obviously) if you just have patience

JaneJudge, that is a very judgemental comment - maybe goes with the name? I can assure you that I am very patient when not understanding the accent or speed of the customer services person, and request that they speak slower as I am hard of hearing.

Ashcombe

I sympathise with those who are hard of hearing as I have hearing aids. At my last visit to the hospital an App was put on my mobile phone linked to my aids. It means I can receive calls directly into my ears, if I'm contacted on my mobile, whch I find works much better for me, especially when talking to strangers. This was provided free of charge by the NHS. Wonderful!

Same here. They have been amazing. @JaneJudge, I very much sympathise with your auditory processing disorder, but I always understood that sufferers of this condition had perfectly good hearing, but that it took a while for the brain to catch up and take in what has been said. My daughter was diagnosed with this as a child and was later found to be on the autistic spectrum. Interestingly, she was retested a few years ago and the auditory processing disorder had more or less disappeared. This was put down to her being a musician (she has a masters degree in music performance). However, l still think that it cannot be compared with hearing loss as we struggle to hear certain sounds at all at times. While we are very grateful for our high tech hearing aids, it is not the same as having good natural hearing.

Bluesmum I have had exactly the same experience and reacted just the same! 🙄

Ashcombe

I sympathise with those who are hard of hearing as I have hearing aids. At my last visit to the hospital an App was put on my mobile phone linked to my aids. It means I can receive calls directly into my ears, if I'm contacted on my mobile, whch I find works much better for me, especially when talking to strangers. This was provided free of charge by the NHS. Wonderful!

Yes I have this too, great help and it has changed my life.

Just for everyone’s information I have an auditory processing disorder and cannot hear at all in certain situations

I sympathise with those who are hard of hearing as I have hearing aids. At my last visit to the hospital an App was put on my mobile phone linked to my aids. It means I can receive calls directly into my ears, if I'm contacted on my mobile, whch I find works much better for me, especially when talking to strangers. This was provided free of charge by the NHS. Wonderful!

I find it’s not the accent it’s the speed at which they talk, I say sorry I’m a little hard of hearing would you mind speaking a little slower, thst usually works.

Oh, and face to face can cause its own problems if the person with the strong accent speaks quickly as l rely on lip reading and it becomes almost impossible to get the gist of what someone is saying. I am not afraid to say that I am deaf and please could they speak more slowly, but is not a question of laziness or not having patience.

DH puts the phone on the loudspeaker so I can hear and in need "translate" 😂 for him. My ears pick up most accents easily and understand what is being said, his ears don't. 😂

JaneJudge

I think people who can't understand accents (of any nature) are lazy and unwilling to listen properly

It is quite easy to communicate with people who can't even speak the same language as you (not over the telephone obviously) if you just have patience

You are correct to a point, but for those of us who are hard of hearing - a number of us here l would imagine - it can be difficult enough to hear on the loudest setting of the phone to start with. A strong regional or foreign accent with which we are not familiar can make things well nigh impossible.

This evening without anticipating I would have to, I found myself transferred to customer support. It wasn't any easy conversation because the advisor was so unwell she could hardly speak. She had a terrible streaming cold and after a while I felt compelled to ask if she was ok, to which she replied she had the 'flu because it was winter there and no, she wasn't well. I thought she might actually die during the conversation!
In the end my son took over the call and managed to conclude the issue.
I have more calls to make tomorrow- wish me luck!

JaneJudge

I think people who can't understand accents (of any nature) are lazy and unwilling to listen properly

It is quite easy to communicate with people who can't even speak the same language as you (not over the telephone obviously) if you just have patience

I would like you to try with hearing aids, that accentuates everything, including accents and volume. Personally I have reversed hearing loss so cannot managed men's deep voices. However my First Direct bank and Nat West too have kindly put a notice on my account with my agreement to say I struggle on the telephone, which flags up every time I telephone. They could not be more helpful now. To say people are lazy is an insult to all the people who really struggle including most foreigners like me who speak fluently English and am told Grammatically better than most English people and have lived in this country for 62 years. Why even bring the last paragraph in to it when we are clearly speaking about telephone conversations?

"I simply had to say, I am sorry, could you please speak more clearly and a little slower, as I cannot understand what you are saying, to which the young girl said, quite clearly, and with hardly a trace of her earlier strong Scottish accent, “if you cannot understand me, I suggest you hang up and ring again, then you will get another advisor”.,!!! "
Bluesmum There you have the perfect example of the customer being polite - and the advisor being, frankly, extremely rude..! 😯 She could obviously speak perfectly clearly - and with much less of an accent - but instead chose to insult a customer. Whoever trained her needed to do a better job...!! 😕

My dad was a Scotsman. When we used to travel from London to Scotland to visit GPs we knew how close to the border we were because my dad’s accent would become much thicker, by the time we got to Saltcoats even we had trouble understanding him!

I agree, “perfect” and “no problem” are my two pet hate automatic responses 😡 Meaningless!!!

keepingquiet

What I hate most is that when you answer a question they reply 'perfect' as if you just passed a test or something.

What's perfect about it? I want to ask.

Oh, and another one of my golden rules was never to say, ‘ No problem’!

Lego has some great customer service staff.

Well done Lego

Bluesmum, That's a very sweeping statement! I'm Scottish and you could say same for Geordies, Scousers or Brommies

Wyllow3

I'v found that asking politely early on "I'm older and can't hear too well, please can you speak slowly for me? Nearly all the time works fine and you get a kind response.

That's just what my step mother- in- law says.
She says people talk to fast and she can't always understand what they're saying.

We have some friends from Dundee. I can understand her perfectly but struggle with his accent. I asked him why they are so different, he replied “ she went to school”, I am not sure he was joking!

I'v found that asking politely early on "I'm older and can't hear too well, please can you speak slowly for me? Nearly all the time works fine and you get a kind response.

A Scots accent would leave me spellbound! It’s the most beautiful accent there is!

I totally agree Bluesmum and have experienced this on several occasions. 😡

Trying to get a washing machine repaired, I spoke to someone who went through so many questions, I was loosing the will to live when she hit me with the question "What age group are you?" when I foolishly told her . the change in her voice was amazing. She changed her voice completely and sounded like she was talking to a 5 year old. I did not use their services.

i sometimes have great difficulty understanding various accents while on the phone. i am not stupud or lazy i just cannot understand them. however things improve slightly when i ask them to speak slower or louder whichever is needed.