Unknown phone carrier

[aurelemsrealm]

My c-store, like many others, sells prepaid cellphone minutes.

I had a customer ask if we had phone cards. I asked him which provider he's using. He just holds the phone up expecting me to figure it out for him. (Oh great, another one who doesn't know his phone carrier. )

I know sometimes the screen will display the carrier's name, so I looked at it while he held it closer. No indications visible. So, I ask him Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Boost....? He just gives me a blank stare, shaking the phone. Again, he repeats, "Phone card."

On a side note, I'm not going to look at a customer's phone for them because I'm not going to be blamed if something goes wrong with it.

I ask, "Which company are you using?"

"I don't know."

"If you don't know what company you're using, I can't help you. We sell minutes for several companies."

He just gives me a blank stare.

"I don't think I can help you."

"No?" followed by another blank stare.

I just shake my head wondering where these people come from. "If you don't know, I don't know."

"Okay...." the guy slowly shuffles out the door.

[sirwired]

Can you say Phone. Theft. ?

I knew you could.

A beautiful day for an SC,
SirWired

[aurelemsrealm]

The thought of phone theft did cross my mind as one possibility, but that would be a strong accusation when I didn't know the customer and had no proof. One factor I didn't mention was that he was a Mexican, and didn't seem to speak English very well. We all know how some people will push anything mentioning race into Fratching territory if not careful. I didn't mention that factor because I didn't want to deal with that hassle.

It's certainly possible that the issue was more of a communication barrier. I studied Spanish for probably seven years throughout high school and college, but have no practical experience. What you learn in school is quite a bit different than street Spanish. I can pick out words I understand when I hear it, but Latin American dialects are generally spoken too fast for my listening comprehension to keep up. I have a much easier time understanding spoken Castellano (the dialect spoken in Spain) because it is spoken at a slower pace, but that's not a common Spanish dialect spoken in the United States. I can also read written Spanish well enough to understand the basic point in most any situation. I try to practice sometimes with bilingual customers who can speak English functionally, but usually don't have time since we are one of the busier c-stores in town.

In reference to the question about cellphone minutes versus a standard phone card, I would have assumed the customer wanted cellphone minutes since he kept using his cellphone to gesture while making his request. That seems the most logical conclusion.

[Chromatix]

One of the good things about Finnish is that it is often spoken slowly, especially if you're talking to someone from the countryside - perhaps not so much for long-time Helsinki dwellers. The other good thing is that the spelling is sane.

This works the other way around too - if a Finn speaks English, they will often speak it slowly, which gives you a chance to work around their accent.