Stop pretending you don't speak English.

[edible_hat]

When I arrived at work this morning, I was confronted with the sight of the co-worker I was due to take over from arguing with a customer. It was along the lines of:

CW: You have to call [phone company], they say it works, if it doesn't they're responsible.
SC: You give back money. No work.
CW: [phone company] say it does work, you have to call them about it.
SC: No work. You give back money.
(repeat ad nauseum)

The SC wanted a refund on a $100 prepaid phone voucher, claiming it didn't work. He apparently didn't speak English very well. Apparently. I personally think he was pretending he couldn't speak English, all the better to con us into giving him $100.

Here's how his body language gave him away:
CW: (under breath) f***ing c***sucker.
SC: (gets CBF, then looks slightly panicy, then the idiot grin re-appears) No work. (etc. etc)
me: (thinks) ha! you had no problem understanding that!

In the end my co-worker gave him the refund to get rid of him, and signed a note saying he'll take full responsibility. I personally would have kept a "call the phone company" stance and possibly written a note for the customer to take to somebody who can translate for him (except I think he didn't really need the translation), in keeping with the "no refunds on phone credit" policy.

[One-Fang]

I'd have said "You call manager. Manager repay you." and given him the phone company's number.

[Anriana]

I wouldn't assume that. First thing I learned in Spanish was the naughty words.

[Bright_Star]

People who claim they they don't speak english are among some of the biggest liars I've ever seen. I used to see that a lot when I worked at Wally World. They play the "language card" ONLY when they felt it would result them in getting something like a discount, lower price or what have you. Spanish speaking customers were notorious for doing that. So I'd blow them out of the water by talking in spanish back to them (remember, I'm Puerto Rican) & they'd get royally pissed cause I was onto them. They yell at me & say..."Why didn't you tell me you could speak spanish!!!!????" & I'd tell them..."I shouldn't have to"
Don't ever assume someone doesn't speak or understand a particular language cause you'd be surprised.

[Kalga]

This reminds me of a thread quite a ways back, where someone got pissed at the poster BECAUSE she couldn't speak...spanish...

Other posts in the thread were how someone got yelled at for not speaking german. In Ohio, or Utah, I believe.

[Bright_Star]

This reminds me of a thread quite a ways back, where someone got pissed at the poster BECAUSE she couldn't speak...spanish...

Other posts in the thread were how someone got yelled at for not speaking german. In Ohio, or Utah, I believe.

I've gotten yelled at because I can speak spanish. Figure that one out...lol.

[Misanthropical]

This reminds me of a thread quite a ways back, where someone got pissed at the poster BECAUSE she couldn't speak...spanish...

Other posts in the thread were how someone got yelled at for not speaking german. In Ohio, or Utah, I believe.

At one of the other call centers I worked at I had a man call in and demand I speak Spanish. I told him I would speak Spanish if I ever moved to Mexico. He cursed me out and hung up.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

This reminds me of a story my dad told me once.

Someone called his office and tried to speak with him in a foreign language (French), my dad does not speak French but the person kept speaking French. My dad repeated to the guy that he could not speak French and would be unable to help him.

Then the SC, replies, in PERFECT ENGLISH: "well fine, I'll take my business somewhere else!"

WTF?? Why not just speak english from the beginning. My dad never figured that one out.

[jigshoes86]

I don't get that...why do that? I work two doors down from a Bodega, and the apartment complex behind the shopping center is very populated with people not from the USA so I get a lot of people who really can NOT speak English, and there is one guy, who for the longest time I thought couldn't speak English . So, being the patient ever helpful person I am, I'd follow him around the counter so he could point out what he wanted by the pics on the menu board, then figure out the rest. Then one day, he came in, and we were busy. He plays sweet and innocent, then I go about doing my other duties, while my co-worker, KB, is up front on the phone. And apparently, 10 minutes or so after he ordered, he leaned over the top part of the counter, and asked KB in PERFECT ENGLISH, clear, no hint of an accent, "Is it going to be ready soon?" and proceeded to get snotty. As soon as he left, KB told me what had happened. I'm still befuddled by that. Of course, because he choses to make the ordering process more difficult than it should be, if its not quite what he wants , then it's his own fault. I just don't get it.

[Sliceanddice]

part of me wants to print up and lamantes (ironically in english and in spanish) a car that says this
"Due to the 2006 voting period the offical language of Arizona is English so i am under no obligation to accudate you, nor is anyone else you encounter. If you find this insulting please feel free to leave my presence or the state."
but that might be mean
oh and for anyone who wants to know yes that is true, 74% of arizona voted yes

[evilhomer]

I had to instances of this that spring to mind. The first one was a guy looking for a refund. I let him know that I'm not authorized and he'll have to speak to the manager tomorrow. I know he was faking because it wasn't until this point that he played the "language" card. He began repeating "you give money now" and that was the only thing he would say. I dealt with him politely until he started shouting and banging his fist on my desk. I crossed my arms told him that he's got his answer. He did it a few more times and I let him know that I've given him his answer and that he'll be physically removed if he continues his abusive behavior. His face briefly showed that he understood this before he reverted back to the act. It wasn't until I shrugged my shoulders and stood up that he finally stopped and walked out.

I couldn't help but laugh at the second one because of what he said. (FYI, I'm born and raised Canadian, English is my first and pretty much only language, I speak it perfectly). This guy spoke with a heavy, very heavy Pakistani accent. I could not understand him at all, but I managed to catch enough words to figure out the gist of what he wanted. I didn't give him the answer he wanted so he kept on asking me to repeat myself, hoping that I'd just get frustrated and give in. He finally realized that I wasn't giving in so he let me know that he can't understand what I'm saying because of my accent. I asked him to repeat this three times because I couldn't understand him the first time, and didn't believe what I was hearing the second. I gave up on him at this point and transfered him over to my partner who speaks excellent english, but with a heavy European accent. Once she stopped laughing at what he said about my accent, she picked up the phone and really turned on her accent. The conversation seemed to be "I beg your pardon" responded with "I beg your pardon", before he realized that this was even worse and asked for me again. Sorry I was too busy laughing, you'll have to try again some other day.

[Evil Queen]

part of me wants to print up and lamantes (ironically in english and in spanish) a car that says this
"Due to the 2006 voting period the offical language of Arizona is English so i am under no obligation to accudate you, nor is anyone else you encounter. If you find this insulting please feel free to leave my presence or the state."
but that might be mean
oh and for anyone who wants to know yes that is true, 74% of arizona voted yes

I think I'll be moving to Arizona then. I don't speak spanish but I do speak some french. I'm working on learning more.

[Sliceanddice]

YEAH!!! I WANT EVIL QUEENAGE
oh and we have our own time zone too so no more spring forward fall back

[Fiyero]

The call centre I work at offers translation for every call if needed. We book medical appointments so it is important to get it right is the reason behind it.

I kinda understand it - I really do but they chose to move to a country that speaks English, nobody forced them*. I have only done one translation call and it was no fun at all. As soon as I got the reference number I could see that they had phoned before and they needed to phone the hospital directly to book their appointment. I told the translator who told the caller who put someone else on the phone and then they all argued between them (as they weren't arguing in English I lost track of who was shouting at who, I just wanted to end the call).

I don't know how much the translation costs but I gather it isn't cheap and the call wasn't even necessary. That said I don't like repeating things several times in different ways to make the caller understand - but that happens with the English ones too!


* - if we exclude political refugees etc...

[Zombi]

I'm an ESL teacher - I deal with people who can't speak English every day. I've successfully freaked out my students on many occasions with my amazing ability to understand any language (not really - it's based on context and body language). Apparently I understand Russian, Mandarin, Polish and French.
The best one was when I had a group of Polish women in one of my classes who were a pain in the bum - they would sit at the back of the class and talk in Polish the whole time (seriously, why pay to learn English if you're going to speak Polish? You can do that at home for free!) I had some term diaries at the front of the room, and as one of them was leaving, she picked one up, held it up to the others and said something in Polish which sounded vaguely like a question. Without thinking about it, I said 'Sure, you can take one!' She gave me this look and said 'You speak Polish?!'