Do you think I should have gotten in trouble at work because of this.....?

Question

I work in customer service and a guy called in today with a REALLY heave indian accent, and wanted to change his address. ok well I ask him for his new one and he starts talking at 1,000 words a second and I didnt understand a word of it. So I was like Sir can you say it again slower? He just says it louder not slower....and I was like sir its not that I cant hear you its because you are talking to fast....then he just says it EVEN LOUDER.... so I go SIR it is not how loud your talking, you have an accent so you have to go slow.

I ended up getting in trouble from my manager because I I said he had an accent. Do you think I should have?? What do you think?

Answer 1

I'm sorry, but I have to say that I agree with your manager, depending on how big of trouble you got in. I don't think your behavior warrants anything more than a little discussion on how it's inappropriate to point out that someone speaks differently than you do. So if something worse than that happened, I think your manager was out of line, especially if this was the first time you've ever slipped up.

I was about to try and tell you something better you could have said, but I don't think this guy would have gotten the picture regardless. But the big faux-pas was saying the word "accent." It implies he's different and in customer service, you don't ever want to make someone feel inferior.

I'd be interested to hear what your manager thinks you should have said.

Answer 2

Personally, I don't think so, but it might have been better to phrase it differently.

"Sir, would you mind speaking slowly please? I'm having a hard time understanding what you've said."

Not having a problem with HIM, just in understanding what he said (not him) -blame is on you (regardless of true fault) for not understanding what was said - the 'person' part isn't involved.

"Sir, would you mind speaking slowly please? I just want to make sure I don't make any mistakes."

Again, blame is on you for not catching everything and framed as being in his best interest to follow your request.

Saying he has an accent could easily be offensive even though you were being factually correct and honest. Its BS, unfair and unreasonable. But like it or not, that's the environment.

Truth can sometimes get you into trouble. This is one of those cases where a white lie is best for business and thus your job.

I don't think it should be that way, but customers sometimes call looking for ways to justify being offended because they think it might get them some kind of advantage. Or, they simply may actually have been offended.

Live and learn man - don't sweat it too much. Its a situation where the customer is always right.

Personally, I believe that a customer is always right in the sense that when they say they are looking for a 38" TV - they are right - they really are looking for a 38" TV. However, that phrase ends up meaning things like "When I said I wanted next day air, you should have known I didn't want to pay for it." The response from management is that the customer is always right and the customer gets free shipping to make up for your 'mistake'

How's that for good business - letting a customer use that principle to walk all over the company.

Oh well, if that's what the boss wants, no problem by me. The customer doesn't sign my check.

....OR, you could hang up on him and claim the call was disconnected. Technical support staff do this all the time when you berate them. As if they care - again the customer doesn't sign the paycheck, yet is the gate keeper of what the customer wants. Its like a restaurant - servers don't spit in food, but believe me, if they know you are going to give them a crap tip, they won't even try to earn it any more and you will get crap service so the server can give attention to nicer, potentially more promising tables.

Answer 3

ahhhh, what a Politically correct world we live in!
I am not in agreement that you should be in trouble for your comments as much as you should be Advised on why your company would prefer you not mention that a person has an accent.
If your supervisor would have done this, he or she would have informed you that some people are offended by your identification of them being different from you. They may feel that you are the one that has the accent. Them being offended may mean a loss of a customer. More importantly, your business is concerned about a bad reputation within that community of people. This is the same reason you should say Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas when you are working with the public. Some people do not celebrate Christmas and might be offended by your comments.
Again, I understand why your company would prefer you not mention a person's accent, but I'm sure your supervisor could have handled it in a more professional manner.
Good Luck.

Answer 4

Since I am a supervisor I can see your managers logic. When you told the customer that he had an accent the customer could have taken what you said the wrong way. I do know how you feel, its hard sometimes when someone calls in and you have a hard time understanding them. The customer probably did not understand what you were asking. You may have just said, can you spell it for me. Try to use simple words with customers that do not seem to understand you. It takes time to understand English when you are from another country. But most will understand basic words. When you have a customer that is from another country, most are patient and understand that you may not understand them.

Answer 5

well, here's the thing... in customer service it is up to us to try to understand the guest/caller/etc not for them to make themselves better understood...

I work in customer service, have worked as a supervisor and in Call Quality and we must never, ever, mention the accents people have ...without actually hearing the call, I can't comment on whether I would've called you on it or not...it may have been an issue with your tone...I would've just tried to do the best I could've and took control of the call by asking closed ended questions to the caller...

Just be careful, even though people do have accents, and we know they do, heck, we all have some kind of an accent...it is in poor taste at the very least to mention it...at the most, a caller could think we are discriminating against them...

Good luck in future and don't let it get you down...

Call volumes in all centres I know right now are throught the roof and everyone is on edge...just take the calls as they come and try not to let it get you down...

Answer 6

It's a typical workplace policy to be politically correct, but I think it's a ridiculous policy. Employers are too sensitive. The best thing you can do is avoid the whole thing by not discussing or even briefly mentioning any cultural differences. I've worked in customer service for years. I was lucky enough to have a job where we didn't have to be PC because the "customers" were parolee's. With exception to profanity and personal insult, we could say anything we wanted, including "shut up now or you're going back to Joliet for failure to comply."

Answer 7

It wasn't that you mentioned the word "accent." You had the nerve and temerity to suggest that he speaks too fast. THAT was the politically incorrect thing! How dare you imply that foreigners speak too fast? Also, it could have been that this person was actually a woman with a husky voice, and you called her "sir"! For shame. It would have been much more tactful to simply say, "very well. We're working on it right now," and hang up.

Answer 8

Not a good idea to say that he has an accent. Maybe next time ask him or her to hold a minute. Then ask for the name and how to spell it and then spell it back to make sure that it is right. Then ask for street, town, state, etc. Talk to the manager about it in a casual way and tell him that you think you might have found a better way to handle it next time. Everyone has to learn. I know that it must have been very frustrating.

Answer 9

Your exceptional. I have regarded into it closely. I am 15 anticipating my first baby and the daddy simply grew to become 18. If you're 14-15 the man or woman you're slumbering with need to be beneath five years older than you. So he will also be 18, however now not 19. The twist is that if your father and mother desire to they may be able to cost him for both an exploiting courting ( in which they think he's making you sleep with him for a situation to stick, cash, medicinal drugs and so on) or he's abusive toward you.

Answer 10

No, I don't think you should have gotten in trouble. I have worked as a customer service rep and answered phones. People are very difficult to understand regardless of accent or not. What your manager should have done was taught you want to do in this situation. Could he have helped you in anyway?