View Full Version : I have a racist question...
Wasn't sure where to put this.
I know some of you will flame me, saying I'm a racist, but I think this is a very valid, reasonable question. I'm probably the only one who would have the nerve to ask it here.
I'm being very honest, and probably making myself open to insults, but here's my problem.
Lately, because of having to call so many Insurance companies because of screw-ups on their part, I have spent a lot of time on the phone with them.
Most of the people I have to talk to are black, and they have the black "language" (inflection, mis-pronouncing words, etc.). It's hard enough to sort out some of these insurance problems, but what can I do, if I'm having major difficulty just understanding what they're saying? This also happens with some Hispanic and Indian people I have to talk to.
I'm never rude to them. But it sure makes the issue worse..........to have to call to get information that I end up having real trouble even understanding. Some if these calls take at least 30 minutes.
Seems like the companies would insure that you could understand their representatives.
Dealing with insurance companies and their incompetence in getting appropriate/accurate billing is hard enough, without struggling with language to straighten it all out.
I suppose this is just the way it has to be??
If you can't understand the person you can try hanging up and calling back in hopes of getting someone better. I have.
I've said sweetly "I'm sorry, please repeat, I'm having a hard time understanding your accent/poor line connection/your headset" enough that they've suggested transferring me to someone else. I guess because all calls are up for monitoring and are timed and they don't want 3 dings (length of call, unhappy customer, transfer rate) against them when they are audited so they'll settle for 1 ding (transfer rate).
goldensmom
3-9-15, 11:04am
Not understanding what someone is saying is not racist and you have a valid question. There are 3 races of man but a multitude of accents. If I don't understand what someone is saying I just say 'I can't understand you, please slow down and repeat'. If I still cannot understand the accent or speed of speech I ask say 'I'm sorry I still cannot understand you, please transfer me to another representative'. That should work.
We all know that different communities have different dialects. There's nothing racist in acknowledging that. Being continually routed to a call center staffed by folks with a hard to understand dialect would be frustrating and inconvenient, but nothing to organize a march over. I'm with the others, if you're in that situation again just politely ask to speak to someone else until you land on someone you can understand. When that happens you can always ask for their extension and try to get them again next time.
When possible you might also consider frequenting brick and mortar businesses where you can either go in and ask questions in person or get a local phone number. I have business cards for people at my bank so that I can call them directly. Dealing with BOA is a lot less odious when I don't have to use their "one size fits 4 billion customers" 800 number. By calling the building, in addition to usually reaching someone I can understand, I'm also not subjected to as much verbal boilerplate. When I want to hear useless patronizing bull**** that doesn't actually apply to my situation, I'll call 1-800, thanks for the option.
And I don't think your position is racist, per se, unless you're saying that the people you're talking to are inferior people because you can't understand them. I often find myself both impressed and frustrated when someone who is clearly ESL is chatting along a mile a minute, very confident in their tone and even making jokes, and I can't understand a word.
Thanks everyone. I, personally, didn't consider the question racist, but know that a couple here would call me that for bringing up the question.
It's not possible to go to any brick and mortar places for this stuff. There are none around.
I just don't understand the "dialect".....which includes saying words wrong, when you and your descendents have lived here in the Midwest for decades. I understand all of the other dialects in this country, except this one.
(Maybe that makes me a racist??) I have trouble differentiating what does and doesn't make me racist.
Well actually....I might have trouble with Cajan.
I wouldn't want to hang up and hope for someone I could understand, 'cause I'm usually on hold for 10-15 minutes, just to talk to a human. :(
Can you tell I'm frustrated? Changing over to Medicare, A,B,C,D,E,F,G, etc........has been very frustration-producing. And both DH and I have changed over just a month apart, so everything has to be sort of done twice. Twice the frustration!
I appreciate your replies.
ApatheticNoMore
3-9-15, 12:29pm
When possible you might also consider frequenting brick and mortar businesses where you can either go in and ask questions in person or get a local phone number. I have business cards for people at my bank so that I can call them directly.
Yea why I get car insurance through AAA, you can do into their office and speak to someone easy, they even have weekend hours. Probably not the cheapest (although Geico wasn't less last I checked, so don't believe those ads). But health insurance companies, they probably all kind of suck.
The usual complaint about accents is tech support and often customer service as well in India.
I always have to laugh during the part of the hold process where they tell you you can always go online at www.whatever,com (http://www.whatever,com)! Oh trust me, TRUST ME, if I could do this online, I would. Is there a human being on the planet any more who wouldn't go online to take care of their business rather than wait for customer service, if they and the website actually had that option? I really don't know who they're talking to, and that, along with "your call is important to us" and "I understand your concern" are the un-holy trinity of despair as far as actually getting an issue resolved.
Between my hearing loss and the different accents of people I often have a terrible time understanding what is being said, especially on the phone. Sometimes I just say "I'm sorry I can't hear you" and hang up, then I try again hoping to get someone that I can both understand and hear well. Sometimes a bad connection makes it almost impossible for me to hear, much less understand...
Gardenarian
3-9-15, 3:08pm
Hi CathyA,
I think people get offended if one implies that "standard English" is the only valid way to speak, or that it is in some way superior to other accents or dialects. What you think of as "correct pronunciation" is really quite arbitrary. Some people pronounce ROUTE as ROOT and others as ROWT. Both are acceptable. Because you have grown up (I'm guessing here) in an area and family that speaks standard English, and because it is what is spoken by politicians and newscasters, that sounds correct to you.
In England they call the standard "Received Pronunciation".
Most of us have at least some regional variations. I lived in the Boston area for a long time and still say wicked - as in "wicked good" - which my dd finds hilarious.
I find that a a lot of times I get people in India or the Philippines when I phone a call center, and I'm usually impressed by the quality of their English. I'm quite embarrassed that I only speak one language myself.
I understand that many of the "foreign" people can speak a second language.......and pretty darned well.
It's the Americans that have lived in society for decades, but still can't seem to talk to me in a language I understand that I am most frustrated with (especially in a job position that really depends on good communication).
Songbird......if those special devices that you plug into your phone and it translates the caller's words into typed words on a screen isn't too expensive, it would be great to have in these instances. But I wonder if they work with accents?
CathyA, I need to look into getting one of those for my phone as my hearing loss is progressive according to the ENT doctor I saw. I do wonder too if they would work with all accents...
I can't understand those from across the pond.
Mom had one of the translator phones. The printing across the screen had drag time. She used the speaker phone on loud and found it to be better then the amplifier on the hearing aid compatible phone.
It's the Americans that have lived in society for decades, but still can't seem to talk to me in a language I understand that I am most frustrated with (especially in a job position that really depends on good communication).
Those people probably go back home and tell 3 or 4 generations of family and friends around the dinner table about the white folks that, no matter how long they live here, just can't seem to learn the language.
I had a long interesting conversation at a local grocery store while standing in the customer service line. I could only understand about 60% of what the gentleman was telling me and pieced it together from words and gestures. He had a deep rural Southern accent and had a very low bass voice tone. We both had lived in Indianapolis for well over 30 years. Lovely man but I would never be able to understand him over the phone. I would only be able to talk to him face to face and if he spoke slowly.
I just don't understand the "dialect".....which includes saying words wrong, when you and your descendents have lived here in the Midwest for decades. I understand all of the other dialects in this country, except this one.
(Maybe that makes me a racist??) I have trouble differentiating what does and doesn't make me racist.
Nope, not a racist. Previously I noted that there a 3 races of man and often people get race mixed up with nationality, religion, etc and misuse the word ‘racist‘. When I get together with my southern nieces and nephews and they get talking I cannot understand half of what they are saying. I think they talk funny and they think I talk funny.
To say your question is "racist" is framing it wrong. Race has nothing to do with this (Indians, for example, are Caucasians, as are most Hispanics). There is such a thing as Standard English (in the U.S.) and Received Pronunciation in the U.K. If you're an American calling an American company, it's reasonable for you to expect that the people you talk to will speak Standard English.
That said, a small effort on your part can often solve, or at least moderate, the problem. I frequently have to call my company's help center, which is located in India. When I have trouble understanding the person at the other end, I tell them I'm having difficulty hearing them. That always causes them to speak more loudly and clearly.
The one I have a terrible time with is Scottish. They're rollicking along and it sounds grand and I'm burring in tandem with great joy and then it's like a runaway car that's suddenly tearing down a hill into the pond. Nokkin' ochin' in dey ...What?
Kib, that's hilarious!
With working in international shipping all these years (22 years), I run into many non-native English speakers. However, English is the accepted language of international business. If I cannot understand someone, I will ask them to repeat themselves. Only occasionally does someone have a problem with this. If I'm really having issues, I request we move the conversation to email.
mschrisgo2
3-9-15, 11:51pm
Well, I can sympathize with the OP. Quite a few years ago now, Kaiser Permanente began hiring many doctors from the Philippines and India. I quickly learned that if I were sick enough to be going to urgent care, I needed to ask for "a doctor whose primary language is English."
When I'm not feeling well, I just do not have the patience to navigate the language barrier, nor the cultural barriers that often come with it. I found even if I understood their diction perfectly, we were speaking different languages!
My own situation is further complicated by my last name, which many people assume to be Hispanic, and they will attempt to connect me with a Spanish speaker. It is actually Portuguese, from Hawaii. And it's my married name, so the ethnicity of it does not really apply to me at all.
Ah, it is a complicated world we live in!
I had a patient tonight who spoke Portuguese and Latin. Lucky I remembered my Latin!
I had a patient tonight who spoke Portuguese and Latin. Lucky I remembered my Latin!
I like that story. Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem.
Just to clarify again.........I was sort of being tongue-in-cheek when I posted that I had a racist comment. I was mainly speaking of black Americans, and have been labeled a racist in the past because of any comment I made about them.
Yes, I also get frustrated with anyone who can't communicate with me in a clear way, but most of the problems I continually have is with the black American "accent". Maybe it IS all because of the people they're surrounded with growing up, but I have trouble understanding why the dialect continues when there's also many people around them growing up who don't speak this way.
Okay........now I'm probably considered a racist.
What's also frustrating is that the companies that employ people whose sole job is communicating with the public, you'd think they'd care more about clear communication. But I guess they don't. Or maybe these are low-paying jobs and they attract people who might not have the greatest communication skills?
ApatheticNoMore
3-10-15, 12:31pm
Or maybe these are low-paying jobs and they attract people who might not have the greatest communication skills?
of course they are low paying, high turnover, often stressful, low respect (I'm sure there are worse jobs but nontheless). It's like asking: why don't they hire PhDs for minimum wage? PhDs in English poetry who understand the nuances of the English language ... well they might actually be near unemployable, so maybe :laff: It's also why they outsource, to cut costs.
Though the only problems I've had understanding people on a phone call are as expected Indian call centers, and not always then (but I'm always grumpy about jobs being outsourced when it's obvious the call center is, it only really makes sense for 24 hour availability, but I carry on with my question). So I'm just happy to get an American on the line (you can say that's nationalist, but actually I'm the least nationalist person around, it's just the whole outsourcing all the jobs to wherever pays the least .... is not working out very well). Ally bank is the best customer service, you get southern hospitality with some super polite southern ladies.
IshbelRobertson
3-10-15, 12:56pm
The one I have a terrible time with is Scottish. They're rollicking along and it sounds grand and I'm burring in tandem with great joy and then it's like a runaway car that's suddenly tearing down a hill into the pond. Nokkin' ochin' in dey ...What?
Jings, ah'm awmaist feart tae keep talkin', whit wi' me bein' a Scot, anat....
goldensmom
3-10-15, 4:18pm
Jings, ah'm awmaist feart tae keep talkin', whit wi' me bein' a Scot, anat....
Hah! I never though to type with an accent! ;)
Funny.........I had to call FedEx today 'cause my stocktank is lost. But he had a VERY Indian accent. His name was Jason. Have you ever wondered if they are giving "American" names to make you think they are in the U.S.? I've come across other "representatives" on the phone who have thick foreign accents, but a very American name. Just wondering........
Yes, it is a common practice.
But not unique to customer service. I deal with a lot of people around the world on business deals. Plenty of cases were someone takes an Anglicized name to make it easier for the rest of us. In fact I have to call "Bob" in China later tonight.
Ay, tak awee, se far se gud. It's that I Mostly follow that's the problem. Gets the confidence up and then alack! we're in the weeds. :)
gimmethesimplelife
3-11-15, 3:18am
One time with a credit card that I no longer have (paid off, account closed, card through shredder after a little bit of celebration and some photos) I called customer service four times in a row and could not understand the Indian call center reps. The fifth time I called I reached a US rep and I expressed frustration at having to go through that and I asked to close my account then and there and just work on getting the balance paid off. The rep ended out giving me a 5.9% rate that lasted several years until I did pay the balance off in full when I inherited some money from a friend of my family that passed on in 2012. Long story short, one time having these calls routed to cheaper labor actually worked for me! One time. Otherwise I find it supremely annoying to have to strain to understand an overseas CSR. I think of the US job lost and the corporation involved making more money due to lower labor costs overseas and caring nothing for my frustration.
That all said, something else lately that bothers me about this issue - I do mystery shopping as one of my income streams as I've said before. Some of these mystery shopping companies are offshoring their scheduling and editing functions so that you can find yourself getting hard to understand and very pushy reps trying to hustle you into accepting a mystery shop - doubly annoying for me when I think of the US job lost. And when you do take a mystery shop from some mystery shopping companies, there can be English language issues with the editors of the shop as they are usually editing in British English, very stiff, formal English - a little different from American English. I'm learning to avoid companies that do this but unfortunately the list of companies that do this keeps growing. Ugggggh! Why does something that seems so simple have to be so complex? Rob
ToomuchStuff
3-11-15, 4:09am
When your dealing with someone you can't understand, since things like contract law, etc. need to have a meeting of the minds, you shouldn't have any issue with asking for someone you can understand.
It really sucks, when your dealing with accents, on top of both medical and legaleze and don't understand things, let alone the difference one minor word can have.
My dad once asked me to see if I could understand something, that was recorded in England. They speak the language, but the accent he couldn't understand was I think a Newcastle accent. Newcastle and Welsh are still English, but not what he thinks of.
goldensmom
3-11-15, 8:41am
Funny.........I had to call FedEx today 'cause my stocktank is lost. But he had a VERY Indian accent. His name was Jason. Have you ever wondered if they are giving "American" names to make you think they are in the U.S.? I've come across other "representatives" on the phone who have thick foreign accents, but a very American name. Just wondering........
Reminds me of the 'The Big Bang Theory' episode where Raj was talking about his cousin Sanjay in India better known as Dave in AT&T cusotmer service.
LOL!
I wonder if they get to pick their names or if they are assigned?
IshbelRobertson
3-11-15, 2:14pm
Ay, tak awee, se far se gud. It's that I Mostly follow that's the problem. Gets the confidence up and then alack! we're in the weeds. :)
Crivvens, hen, ah see yer problem, yer spierin' in German, no' Lallans. Nae wunner ye cannae unerstaun' us.
Okay, this is a good topic; wish I'd seen it sooner, but I've had essentially the same issue with my Sirius account. Now, Sirius is not hard to get along with--they aare glad to have my business. But, their reps evidently are located in a land far, far away and many have poor communication skills when conversing with people from the middle o' the usa. I have asked them to kindly S-l-o-w down and hold their phone further away so I can understand them. I've had to tell them I would call back, later. This was in the hope that I could get a rep more fluent in English. See? Now, I've also spoken to reps for other accounts in both India and the Phillipines, and apparently they screen their people better for the job, because even though they have a strong accent, they usually have good diction and a command of the language. The phone company has offices in Tx, and the competency varies a bit. It would be much to their advantage to speak "good" English, and I think most have caught onto that. As far as the issue being one of racism, I figure it is the ones who are intentional holdouts against assimilation are the ones who are more racist, not so much those who object to hard-to-understand accents.
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