poor english speakers

[bobtheduck-]

i had a problem this evening with my sky plus box and upon ringing sky i was put through to a man of asian origin whose grasp of the english language is very poor, he did not have the faintest idea of what i was saying and he interjected with perhaps one word that could be understood per 20 that he spoke, i decided enough was enough and hung up before i lost my rag which is quite a sight when it happens, i called again and this time got through to a scottish lady who was very helpful and well spoken the problem was sorted in minutes.
my question is why are people whose grasp of english is clearly limited working in a call centre? i am not racist in any shape or form but surely speaking the native language of the country that they reside in to a decent standard is a prerequisite?

[-Z-]

I think most people will know what you mean...if they aint Indian, they are Scottish (which is even harder to understand)

[grumpii]

They get paid chicken feed.

[johnlambert]

Here in Leicester the majority of the people are Asian who speak Gujerati/Hindi etc,

[redhead23]

i agree, a lot of call centres now seem to have people that cannot speak the language very well , it does make me wonder how they get the job in the first place

and it does make the company look bad , it is silly

[shineybomb]

and it is even more annoying when they cold call and tell you their name is Christopher or Elizabeth or something typically british sounding when they can hardly pronouce the name in the first place.

If the first thing they say is a lie I always hang up before they say anything else

[pussnboots]

I have trouble with accents, Scottish yes especially Gladgow, Liverpool is another. I am a northener ie Lancashire, but I once worked in London and the people I worked with went into fits of laughter when I asked "Is it time for a brew", but going back to the original question, yes I do find it hard to understand accents from call centres based in India etc.

[Marvelman]

I agree 100%, last week i rang a phone company about a mobile contract, an Asian man answered, after five minutes i still could not understand what he was saying, he then asked me the same thing five times, i then understood what he had been saying. he was asking me if there was anyone else here who could talk on my behalf, ones rag was well and truly lost.