lew Posted February 11, 2015 Report Posted February 11, 2015 Pretty sad when you phone a Canadian branch of a huge company and your told to Press 1 for English, but when someone answers you can't understand a single word he's saying. Life used to be so simple. Thanks for your attention, carry on with what you were doing.
Gerritt Posted February 11, 2015 Report Posted February 11, 2015 LOL Lew so true!!! If I encounter that I will push 2 for French.... As I know I talking to a canadian that has better English then those overseas. G
lew Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Posted February 11, 2015 Yup, that'll be my next call Gerritt
Headhunter Posted February 11, 2015 Report Posted February 11, 2015 This is a true story as I was standing right next to my former boss, when it happened. We were having internet connection problems at the office. Bell was our provider. As many know, calling Bell for tech support gets you deep into "Emily" and eventually a call centre in India. Her call was dropped at least three times, by the good folks at Bell, meaning, she was on the phone for more than an hour, trying to get things solved. The final time, the call centre rep asked if he could put her on hold, while he connects with someone else in tech support. Well, having had the call dropped three times already, she wasn't going to have any of that! She told him no, don't put me on hold, you'll lose my call and I'll have to start all over again. His response... "don't worry, we'll be with you till we kill the goat". It did get solved, but I can't recall much after as I was rolling on the floor laughing so hard! HH
lew Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Posted February 11, 2015 His response... "don't worry, we'll be with you till we kill the goat". At least your friend was able to understand the reply Joe, I have no clue what was being said to me.
Gerritt Posted February 11, 2015 Report Posted February 11, 2015 Mmmmmmmm curried goat... I miss city living only for the food. G
Canuck2fan Posted February 11, 2015 Report Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) At cooking school I spent considerable time while not in class learning what an instructor at George Brown called Spadina English.... For those not lucky enough to have lived in Kensington Market in the big smoke. It is a lyrical mix, of Yiddish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese, Jamaican, Italian, Hindu and about a dozen other dialects all mixed together. Spoken very loudly, at a rapid fire stattico pace, because, time is money and yelling something quickly was somehow felt to magically enable comprehension. Having that background I can usually eventually suss out what the other person on the tech desk is saying. However, lately when I can't,, if I dare to ask to speak to some who I can understand. I get yelled at and then hung up on. If I call back I am told I am being intolerant and racist for asking for service in english I can understand LOL. So you are right Lew progress isn't all it is cracked up to be. Edited February 11, 2015 by Canuck2fan
Big Cliff Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 I tried the "press 2 for French" once but then I couldn't understand the instructions that followed LOL. I have in the past insisted that they connect me with a person fluent enough in Canadian English that I could understand and that has worked.
Rich Clemens Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 Pretty sad when you phone a Canadian branch of a huge company and your told to Press 1 for English, but when someone answers you can't understand a single word he's saying. Life used to be so simple. Thanks for your attention, carry on with what you were doing. Maybe you should type it out. UNO Happens here all the time. Too bad you have to call India - just to speak to someone down the road. LOL
OhioFisherman Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 English seems to rapidly be becoming un - American, funny that our forefathers had no trouble learning it and not demand that Americans accomodate them?
FloatnFly Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 I find the people on the other end of those middle eastern call centres very hard to understand, and can be very rude
Moosebunk Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 LOL Lew so true!!! If I encounter that I will push 2 for French.... As I know I talking to a canadian that has better English then those overseas. G Pure brilliance! Never thought of that. lol.
Mister G Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 Just to get a idea of whom and where this call is being answered from, I sometimes after several attempts of really trying to understand their English I will ask "what's park outside your window right now, a camel or a elephant". That is always answered with a silent moment by my friendly phone rep.
lew Posted February 12, 2015 Author Report Posted February 12, 2015 Just to get a idea of whom and where this call is being answered from, I sometimes after several attempts of really trying to understand their English I will ask "what's park outside your window right now, a camel or a elephant". That is always answered with a silent moment by my friendly phone rep. That's just plain ignorant as far as I'm concerned.
cram Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 A lot of the smaller companies have local customer service. Cogeco is more expensive than Bell in my area, but when you call them you get a real live Canadian..and usually your situation resolved in a couple of minutes, instead of a couple of hours.
Blue Lk Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 It seems I have "issues" with Bell Expressvu a couple times a year. The last time I called in I was told the wait time was 20-30 minutes or I could arrange for them to call me back,which I did. While waiting for the call I went online & dealt with a rep through a chat box,my problem was resolved in 5 minutes. If this service is available with the company you are dealing with it definitely a better way to go,imo
manitoubass2 Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 Just to get a idea of whom and where this call is being answered from, I sometimes after several attempts of really trying to understand their English I will ask "what's park outside your window right now, a camel or a elephant". That is always answered with a silent moment by my friendly phone rep. Wow.... I know its a nuassance but thats going a lil far dontcha think?
crappieperchhunter Posted February 12, 2015 Report Posted February 12, 2015 We deal with call centres...XEROX...for our digital print machinery. We call the 1-800 # and someone outside Canada takes our info and forwards the call to our service technicians. I have not had many bad experiences with language problems. I do however find it extremely frustrating when the person you are talking to tries to fix the problem over the phone. They start going through a "checklist" of stuff to try. Sometimes you have to cut them off and say "Look I already tried all these things....just send a technician like I asked for in the first place.
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