This has been happening to me a great deal of late.
I can't communicate with those I need to communicate with.
The first was the doctor during my hospital stay. I got 1/4 of what he told me and the rest of the time I nodded. I don't know the accent so I have no idea where he was from. But not Chinese, Mexican, Spanish or middle eastern. So I just gave up.
Then I called Mr. TV Mount. The guy shouted a lot in an Asian dialect but I had no idea of what he was saying. I asked him to slow down, he didn't listen either. I understood, no no no no, when I asked why I had to get a new mount if this one was for all TVs over 55".
He then asked me to hold. I was rude and hung up. I did not wish to go down that rabbit hole. Then I feel bad that I have to ask him to repeat things. I know it was not nice of me to hang up but I thought it was my easy out. I was chicken shit.
I called a 2nd company about mounting my TV and his English was worse than the 1st two together. I asked if there was someone else I could speak with there and he hung up on me. I think he may get that a great deal and it was rude of me. I don't like it when men want to only speak to a man here. He did tell me the base price and it was outrageous so I would not have used them anyway.
I believe all these people have the right to be here in the USA.
I believe they should be afforded all the things I myself can. They too should be afforded a chance to grab the American dream (if it even exists)
However, it is nearly impossible to give them my business when I just don't know what they are telling me. When I asked questions to the 2nd company he too yelled at me saying I didn't need any of that, however his price was over $700. I then told him that was a bit more than I wished to spend right now so I think I am going to wait. He hung up and not softly.
Now I understand why my father said they were never allowed to speak Italian in the home, only English. Although his parents did not do the same the kids had to. I think that made his English better and truth be told my father ended up with a Bronx accent. I think his Italian one was far better. Just sayin'....
So there I was back to Best Buys Geek Squad who I could have done for $300 less than they are now charging me. The man asked me a ton of questions in English and I understood him. He had me show him via a link on my phone how my TV was currently mounted. He saw everything. Asked where the sound bar was going etc. Okay that helped him see what they need. So an appointment is set for Saturday, Dec 18th. To save $100 I got a year of their service so maybe they can help me with the firestick? Who knows. If I got their annual service it was less $150 just for the tv and then another $150 for the soundbar and if I didn't then I'd really have to kill Rick for doing this.
I must admit I should have just gone to The Geek Squad first. They understood my questions, they answered my questions without shouting at me and their cost was less than the other 2. Whew. I sure didn't wish to make an appointment for the cheapest but after talking to the top 3 in my area this one worked out that I could understand him, he could understand me and it was a bit cheaper.
So maybe by this dreadful Xmas, we will have our new TV and soundbar and also be able to use the firestick on HBO Max. Hey, a gal can dream, right?
14 comments:
I have discovered that there are certain cultures where customer service is not a thing, and has nothing to do with whether the customer is male or female which is not to say the anti-female bias doesn't exist but I think that's across the board.
My grandfather did not allow his children to speak Italian in the home and my grandmother was basically forbidden to speak to her own children. My father learned formal Italian in high school, my mother on the other hand spoke a dialect that was incomprehensible to anyone outside her family. Despite the fact that my father grew up in the Bronx he didn't have a Bronx accent but his sisters did - as I kid I couldn't understand a lot of what they said and my father had to explain that "Olive Earl" was not a person or that going to the 'terlet' involved the bathroom or that 'tree' was a number...
Did you ever find out what the IU was? Interface unit?
Oh Grace how this made me laugh. My dad had 5 goyirls. He was a plumber who worked on terlets and he had a mudda and a fudda. Then in 1st grade they sent me to speech class. He said there was nuttin' wrong with the way she speaks. Over the years he got better and he was a good sport about the jokes
Mike, nope wrote back to the email that sent it inquiring but it went into a black hole
I don't blame you, I try to be patient but it doesn't do me any good if I can't understand someone.
I have a lot of trouble understanding accents. I think if I was seeing a doctor for something critical and he/she was the only specialists, I get one of those translation apps they use for traveling so we could understand one another.
I feel your pain. I have a dreadful time with accents and like you hate having them repeat them selves. Too bad phones don't have closed caption. I use it on TV even when it is a British movie. Of course face to face we are just doomed.
Talk about talking in Italian, my dad was funny when the phone rang he took it and would sa " Yellow wat do you want? " I laughed everytime. He just couldn't say hello. I wish I could here him say that " yellow " one more time. I miss that.
Have a great weekend Peg and I hope you are doing better.
Cruisin Paul
I am hoping my kids can be my tech support in the next couple of years because I am not going to be able to keep up. I hope the Geek Squad takes care of you and everything gets hooked up. It is frustrating dealing with those that don't make it any easier on themselves. Take care.
I don't usually have trouble understanding accents. There was one time that I remember ending up saying, "I'm sorry, I just cannot understand what you are saying so I'm going to hang up." That was a man who was speaking supposedly English, but with a Southern accent so foreign to my ear I literally could not get the gist at all.
I hope the Geek Squad gets you sorted out. I currently have an issue signing into our cellphone account and the AI robot I chatted with couldn't remedy it. Looks like I'm going to have to battle the accent wars.
Grrrrrrrr! Drives me insane when I cannot communicate with someone that I need to help me. I get it!
Oh, so sorry Peg, but this made me smile :-) In the course of my work, answering the phone to make appointments and other stuff, I have had to train my ear to many accents. It does not help when they talk fast. I had a new patient recently, and all I was able to get was the tooth problem (after many questions) her name and phone number. Everything else was immediately in the trash can in my head. It is very uncomfortable to ask someone "what?" or "could you please repeat that?" over and over, especially if it's a new patient ~ you don't want to discourage them from making an appointment, ya know. Once she was in the office it was much easier to understand her....perhaps she is uncomfortable on the phone and wants the conversation over asap? Who knows.
It's - oh good to know it's not just me. I have always had a difficult time with accents. Rick has made fun of me regarding this for 33 yrs. If it was a British movie I was always asking, what did they say? I needed subtitles long before I couldn't hear anything! :-)
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