speak english please!

[Emu2005]

I have just had a call from BT trying to resolve a complaint I have with them. The man who rang me had a very thick indian accent and I could barely understand him. I kept asking him to repeat himself but he stayed silent. Nor could he understand me - I kept saying things slowly, loudly and clearly but he did not understand me.

The problem I have here is that this man should clearly not have a telephone job where he is required to speak to people in english - especially when it's in response to a complaint! I don't know if the call centre is based in India or here, either way it's just ridiculous. I'm not being discriminatory but I wouldn't get a job in a french call centre when I have only passable french - surely to deal with people over the phone you need to be fluent in the language - so why is this man working in a call centre for british customers?

I'm sure some of you will call me a 'racist' but this complaint has been going on for 3 months and then to get a phone call by someone who cannot even understand me is just ridiculous.

What do you all think about this?

[sandrajo]

Just talking to him in a Scottish accent, I've hung up on them on a number of occasions....it's so frustrating. Our phone line had been cut off through roots of a tree outside, we didn't know what had happened and had to phone BT and get an engineer out, honestly it took me about half an hour just to get my name and address correct with this guy.

[beryllium]

They must have stopped them watching Eastenders lol

Should've asked what time it was in Mumbai....

[paulos66]

Always puts me off when the first thing they do is lie about their name

[cazzz1975]

I have had the same problems with bt, they are a nightmare, and they will not listen to you at all, on one call I said "Im sorry but Im at a zoo" to which he replied "can you please go into control panel on your computer"

I am with virgin media now

[banjobabe]

Hey Emu,

I know exactly what you mean. It's the same in our local KFC they dont understand what you are saying and I can't understand what they are saying.

How KFC expect to make any money I do not know lol

I've given up now and am waiting for the drive thru although I can imagine this maybe worse!

The problem these days is that you can't say anything at all about minorities or you get accused of being racist. I'm not racist but stupid people really pi$$ me off!

Changing the subject slightly....................

I had a very long conversation with a coloured chap one day at work. Explained the situation to him several times but as it was not what he wanted to hear he ended with:

And I quote "is it coz I'm black"

I so wanted to say - no its coz you're stupid but unfortunately I am not allowed!

[cameo]

I know exactly what you mean.
I had aproblem with my router recently and so I phoned the help line for technical support.
It turned out I was talking to someone in India. Now I have to say that the man was very helpful and between us we did solve the problem, but it took at least twice as long as it should have due to the fact that I had to ask him to keep repeating himself as I couldn't understand his 'very' broad accent.
Like you I am not at all racist but do feel that they should be able to be understood by people from the country whose language they are speaking!

[whiffey]

Why do people tiptoe on eggshells at the slightest hint of a dark skin ? If the person at the other end of the phone was completely untelligible because of being Scottish you wouldn't dream of being called racist. You might get thrown into the Clyde but you'd never be called racist.

It's fitness for the job. I once had a call like this and ended up saying 'Sorry I can't understand a word you say, could you please put me on to somebody who can speak English ?' (I got a Glaswegian, serve me right I suppose)

[gina32]

i am sick to the back teeth of bt and its indian call centre, ive had nothing but trouble with them for months and have had to speak to someone with who its very hard to understand, ive had to ask them to repeat themselves time and again, told them i dont understand what they are saying, ask to be passed to someone who i can understand only to be asked if my problem is solved yet, i too have said that im sorry but i cant speak with you know because im out away from my pc/phone only to be asked if i can switch the pc on, whats that all about? and all this from someone who call themselves, peter, john sarah, margaret or similiar! do they really think we are stupid, ive hada seceral emails asking me to fill in a survey about the customer service and how i think it could be better, and i said every time get someone who speaks english fluently first.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Many people on here would probably accuse me of being a do-gooder, yoghurt knitter and other such things, and I've been known to condemn the odd racist comment on AB.

Expecting someone whose job it is to communicate with people to actually be able to communicate with people is not in any possible sense racist, merely essential, and applies to any thick accent (Geordie, Glaswegian, Brooklyn, Jamaican or Indian to name but a few), utterly regardless of the race of the person concerned.

[phil04029]

its not just bt...talktalk are just s bad...i ahve actually spoken to people at bt that can just about understand me... but talktalk well thats a differtent story...most defo based in india or somewhere that way and you can be on a call half an hour spending most ov that repeating yourself or re explaining...its ridiculas

[EngTeach]

You are a victim of 'outsourcing'. many companies have their service lines located in India. It is cheaper for them to operate from there and pay them much less than if they were in the actual country of origin. It is so very frustrating. I have heard that the people are trained in English dialects, so that if they are speaking with someone from the American South, they say things like 'Y'all and 'honey' a lot. I saw this on a news show and it was quite funny. I can just imagine the Indian people learning to speak Scottish/English or irish/English.

[Emu2005]

Oh well I'm not alone then! And I'm happy no-one has called me a racist for saying these things - I know I'm not but I do get scared about the PC brigade labelling me one!

Shall keep all my dealings with BT as letter and e-mail from now on. Am taking it to OFCOM next hopefully they'll pull their finger out soon enough!