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Number one:
I knew from the beginning that this wouldn't go very well. Deaf customer is connected to me and immediately goes off on a wall-of-text about how her TV's captions are malfunctioning for Scream 4 (I've never seen the movie, but from the title, I wonder why anyone would need captions for it), but everything else is OK; she also includes the number she is calling from, which is useless to me as I can tell that the system traced it properly. So I call up her TV provider's tech support line.
Me: Automated System at "Alex G. Ringing": Welcome to Alex G. Ringing, press 1 for French, 2 for English. [oper. pressing 1 for french] ... Please enter the 10-digit phone number associated with your account. GA
DC: You're so useless, I told you already.
Me: *disconnects call* What you told me is the number you are calling from. I have no way of knowing for sure that it is also the number that is related to your account; also, I must type everything that the recording says. Please give me the phone number associated with your account.
[some more abuse but finally I get confirmation that the number associated with the caller's account is indeed the one she was calling from]
Me: Automated System at "Alex G. Ringing": Welcome to Alex G. Ringing, press 1 for french, 2 for english. [oper. pressing 1 for french] ... Please enter the 10-digit phone number associated with your account. [oper enters 450-555-3423 *] ... Please hold, your call may be recorded [on hold] [on hold] ... live person: Welcome to Alex G Ringing, my name is Myname, may I help you? [explaining relay service] ... GA
DC: Oper tell them what my problem is.
Me: I cannot do that, please type a message for me to read for the person on the line.
DC: Goddamit, you're useless!!!!!!
Me speaking: I'm sorry, we will have to call back. *disconnects call*
Me typing: I'm sorry for any confusion but I cannot relay messages that were typed before the beginning of a call. (Note: the only exceptions are when calling businesses where a non-relay call is expected to be very short, taxis and pizzas and such, in which cases we insist that the deaf user MUST give all the relevant info before the call is made)
DC: You must be new, you don't know how to do your job. I'm going to file a complaint. SKSKSKSKSKSK (I take such a long series of SK to be equivalent to slamming the phone on the desk a few times and then hanging up)
Me: Hold on.
DC: *hangs up*
Me: *facepalm*
(I didn't type the following, but it's good to let it out now.)
My job is to relay messages IN REAL TIME, just like the phone does for people who have the physical ability to use one. I'm not a f***ing note-taker (other than in the aforementioned cases). When you get connected to me, you're in the same situation as a hearing person who gets a dial tone. Would they start speaking and then dial a number and expect the phone to repeat what they said? No, which means that guess what, you don't get to do that either.
* readers might want to take a look at a phone keypad with the number in mind.
Number two:
(About 930 PM)
DC: Hi, please call West Corner Luigi's at 416-555-3665 I want info on birthday parties GA (this kind of info before a call is good, as it helps me find the right person quickly; what the other caller had done with the wall-of-text was more of a detailed description of the problem and so very irrelevant before the call)
Me: Thank you hold please... It's ringing 1 2 3 4 5 6 [fax machine] ... Would you like another call? GA
DC: It's not a fax, I gave you the telephone number, I have both numbers here.
(usual number verification stuff happens: I type it back to him, he confirms, wants me to 411 it, yep it's the right number)
Me: You do have the right number, unfortunately at this time it just rings 6 times and then the fax comes on.
DC: That's impossible.
Me (thinking maybe he doesn't know this) : Sometimes when you call a business phone line and the business is closed, it will ring 5 or 6 times before the fax picks up. This can happen even when you're not calling the fax line. It is possible that WCL is closed right now, which would explain what happens. Would you like another call? GA
DC: I don't know if you're joking or lying or if you just don't want to work, but I'll call again and get someone else [hangs up].
Me: *makes a fist so tight my knuckles crack*
Dammit. These people need to learn that while I'm very willing to help, there are some things you just don't do, such as insulting my competence or my honesty, because then I get all kinds of pissed off and dial back to bare-bones service. Also, rethorically: Why on earth am I immediately seen as the bad guy when something goes wrong?
edit: the company mentioned in the first call was named after Alexander Graham XXXX, I hope I didn't make it too unrecognizable.
I knew from the beginning that this wouldn't go very well. Deaf customer is connected to me and immediately goes off on a wall-of-text about how her TV's captions are malfunctioning for Scream 4 (I've never seen the movie, but from the title, I wonder why anyone would need captions for it), but everything else is OK; she also includes the number she is calling from, which is useless to me as I can tell that the system traced it properly. So I call up her TV provider's tech support line.
Me: Automated System at "Alex G. Ringing": Welcome to Alex G. Ringing, press 1 for French, 2 for English. [oper. pressing 1 for french] ... Please enter the 10-digit phone number associated with your account. GA
DC: You're so useless, I told you already.
Me: *disconnects call* What you told me is the number you are calling from. I have no way of knowing for sure that it is also the number that is related to your account; also, I must type everything that the recording says. Please give me the phone number associated with your account.
[some more abuse but finally I get confirmation that the number associated with the caller's account is indeed the one she was calling from]
Me: Automated System at "Alex G. Ringing": Welcome to Alex G. Ringing, press 1 for french, 2 for english. [oper. pressing 1 for french] ... Please enter the 10-digit phone number associated with your account. [oper enters 450-555-3423 *] ... Please hold, your call may be recorded [on hold] [on hold] ... live person: Welcome to Alex G Ringing, my name is Myname, may I help you? [explaining relay service] ... GA
DC: Oper tell them what my problem is.
Me: I cannot do that, please type a message for me to read for the person on the line.
DC: Goddamit, you're useless!!!!!!
Me speaking: I'm sorry, we will have to call back. *disconnects call*
Me typing: I'm sorry for any confusion but I cannot relay messages that were typed before the beginning of a call. (Note: the only exceptions are when calling businesses where a non-relay call is expected to be very short, taxis and pizzas and such, in which cases we insist that the deaf user MUST give all the relevant info before the call is made)
DC: You must be new, you don't know how to do your job. I'm going to file a complaint. SKSKSKSKSKSK (I take such a long series of SK to be equivalent to slamming the phone on the desk a few times and then hanging up)
Me: Hold on.
DC: *hangs up*
Me: *facepalm*
(I didn't type the following, but it's good to let it out now.)
My job is to relay messages IN REAL TIME, just like the phone does for people who have the physical ability to use one. I'm not a f***ing note-taker (other than in the aforementioned cases). When you get connected to me, you're in the same situation as a hearing person who gets a dial tone. Would they start speaking and then dial a number and expect the phone to repeat what they said? No, which means that guess what, you don't get to do that either.
* readers might want to take a look at a phone keypad with the number in mind.
Number two:
(About 930 PM)
DC: Hi, please call West Corner Luigi's at 416-555-3665 I want info on birthday parties GA (this kind of info before a call is good, as it helps me find the right person quickly; what the other caller had done with the wall-of-text was more of a detailed description of the problem and so very irrelevant before the call)
Me: Thank you hold please... It's ringing 1 2 3 4 5 6 [fax machine] ... Would you like another call? GA
DC: It's not a fax, I gave you the telephone number, I have both numbers here.
(usual number verification stuff happens: I type it back to him, he confirms, wants me to 411 it, yep it's the right number)
Me: You do have the right number, unfortunately at this time it just rings 6 times and then the fax comes on.
DC: That's impossible.
Me (thinking maybe he doesn't know this) : Sometimes when you call a business phone line and the business is closed, it will ring 5 or 6 times before the fax picks up. This can happen even when you're not calling the fax line. It is possible that WCL is closed right now, which would explain what happens. Would you like another call? GA
DC: I don't know if you're joking or lying or if you just don't want to work, but I'll call again and get someone else [hangs up].
Me: *makes a fist so tight my knuckles crack*
Dammit. These people need to learn that while I'm very willing to help, there are some things you just don't do, such as insulting my competence or my honesty, because then I get all kinds of pissed off and dial back to bare-bones service. Also, rethorically: Why on earth am I immediately seen as the bad guy when something goes wrong?
edit: the company mentioned in the first call was named after Alexander Graham XXXX, I hope I didn't make it too unrecognizable.
cos i've heard of those issues too)
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