Re: Thank you muchly



Mike Barnes wrote:
In alt.usage.english, William wrote:
On 7 Dec, 16:44, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The accent doesn't bother me, but I often have a difficult time
being patient with sub-continent tech support people. They don't
go straight to the point, but rather over-formalize simple
statements.

I've often wondered how annoying *we* are to them. Compared to
their style of speaking, we must seem brash and rude.

BT Asian Support-Desk
"Thank you Sir. I am intending to initiate the resolution of your
ongoing support situation".

Today I had a tussle with a Welsh support guy. I got him to repeat
"Roam <something> networks" several times, and couldn't understand
the middle word. Then I asked him to speak the middle word alone,
slower each time, without success. Eventually I asked him to spell
it, and understood ("other"). Without it being spelled out I would
never have guessed what he was saying. What I don't understand is
why people who can't speak English clearly are given such jobs.

Not only that but he and the two colleagues that I'd spoken to
earlier completely failed to understand the nature of the problem,
and suggested solutions that required me carry out tedious
procedures that would obviously achieve nothing other than getting
me to terminate the call. (The fourth support person came up with
the solution, which was "*#104#".)

Yeah, well, I'm waiting for someone to mention that many if not most support folks are reading from scripts on computer screens; they are not authorized to deviate. They try to extract a few key words about your problem, type them in, and try what comes up in front of them. The answers and branches are undoubtedly prescribed by "engineers" who are notorious for the delicacy, grace, and potency of their language.

Couple weeks ago I had a serial set of go-arounds with some Road Runner (Time Warner cable ISP) offshore "help" people in the Philippines (I asked). Repeating my questions seemed to give them time to sift through their "answer" options, usually to the point where the script said, "I'm sorry, sir, I do not have the specific tool required to resolve your question. I will escalate it to the supervisor level. Allow them 24 hours to respond. They will call you; is your number "858-278-XXXX?"

No one ever called until after the third 48-hour "allowance" I generously allowed them, each requiring the same intitial get-aquainted dance. Such joy when a competent, pleasant, near-accent-free woman ("Ivy"; uh-huh) called and agreed that my proposed solution, first offered to the first "helper" but apparently not in any script at that level, was correct. She pressed a key or two and it all came right; almost all, anyway: she said she would perform an action which would have been a time-saver for me, and didn't, and that she would call back in 24 hours to see if everything was still working, and didn't. Must be one of the scripts included "Mention 24 hours and put in the "ignore file".

The problem was that Road Runner had decided the home.san.rr.com should cease operation after ten years or so, most of which had been entirely satisfactory for me. They offered options of starting all over with a set of tools designed to accommodate neophytes (home.rr.com), or continuing to use mature Web construction tools and FTP programs, "migrating" my fifteen hundred files (including graphics and HTML pages) to home.roadrunner.com. I chose to migrate. The new server was to provide ten "free" MB of space; I had been using 30 MB of 35, paying extra for the expanded capacity. They migrated my 30 MB into the free 10 MB with my name on it. Didn't fit. "Ivy" finally took the clue and bumped my piece up to 50 MB, as they only offered 10, 25, and 50 MB slices. I eventually FTPed my files, and all is well. Except for the linked files with specific addresses within home.san.rr.com, a few of which I've found and moved, a few of which are still awaiting transport or the executioner's axe.


The Filipino people I talked to were relatively easy to understand. When I worked for a public service agency in San Diego, a popular settlement for people from the Philippines (due in part to its Navy connections), the civil service exams had no measure for intelligibility. It was amazing to me how many of the densest accents migrated to telephone-answering and other initial-contact positions.

Strangely, one of the thickest, least penetrable accents was perpetrated by a fellow in the cubicle next to mine. His job was to explain life-governing conditions to people who had lots to lose if they missed important details. His technique was to repeat, at increasing volume, what he had to say, until he or the other party gave up either assuming, or abandoning hope of, understanding. I recall hearing one end of an exchange where my neighbor was becoming more frustrated by the pause, until he cursed under his breath in Tagalog, when it all seemed to make sense to the other party, and they went on quite happily in the common language. Tagalog. They had been shouting Obscured English at one another. I had to giggle.

Almost as much as after one interview, probably the most technically difficult I ever did over the telephone. The other man, an excited crime victim, was Spanish-speaking. From Cuba. With a harelip. That was a challenge. Got a good result though.

--
Frank ess

.

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