Th nightmare of Indian Call Centres

I rang BT when I had a problem with my broadband - got a very pleasant Asian man who talked me through all the things I had already tried - he then said I should unscrew the box on the wall!! Told him that wasn't happening and to send an engineer. It seems these "help" centres are not very helpful at all.

I just tell them I cant understand them. And politely tell them we need to stop the call.
I then redial very quickly and speak to someone else.

I feel your pain Anya. I loathe having to phone BT because I can not understand what the person is saying even when I ask them to slow down. Guaranteed to send my blood pressure soaring. Seems to be the way things are going now, phone for help and have to fix it yourself. That has solved a problem for me in the past though. Had to phone Dyson and they were able to guide me to get the vacuum working again. Helped enormously that I could understand what they were saying. Hope your washing machine man arrives in a timely manner and manages to solve the problem,

My heart sinks when I realise my call for tech, or banking support has gone to an Asian call centre. I have a real problem understanding what they are saying, as many of the operators seem to be speaking from a crib sheet. So, along with the strange pronunciations I'm contending with someone who has launched into a spiel like a runaway train. I'm afraid, like Anya, I have to keep asking them to repeat things, as my blood pressure soars. I hope I'm not being regarded as racist.... sometimes I have a problem with the DWP and the Newcastle accent, but they at least are cheerful and patient with a bewildered old trout and her pension enquiry. Some of the Indian operators can get really stroppy if you say you can't understand the last sentence of what they have just said.

One of my friends, Rupa, is Indian and I know they like to speak quickly and in a clipped manner, either that or a sing-song voice like her husband. It's them getting stroppy I dislike, as if it's us who are stupid because we can't understand.

I've had great service from some Asian call centres; those who take time and explain. But this madam was the worst ever.

sunseeker, they are very handy with their "unscrew the box on the wall" advice - TalkTalk tried that one with us. In the end, they sent a engineer, under threat of us having to pay for his time. Ultimately, the unscrewing of the box on the wall did not solve the problem. I think this problem of not being able to understand the Asian call centre operators (with names like Angus, Martin and Charlotte!!) is universal. I generally have to speak to them because apart from having no patience and a very short fuse, DH is hard of hearing, so they are better off with me, but I really never relish the prospect.

I have an Indian friend too Anya and when we are out shopping or having coffee I can understand everything she says, but if she phones me, I have to concentrate very hard and still don't hear some words very well.
I also have probs with any very strong British accent, so Newcastle or Scottish ones can floor me too ( I mention those in particular as a lot of financial and insurance calls are made to those places.)
If I don't understand what they are saying with relation to 'talk throughs' I say that I am a pensioner and are trying to do what they suggest but nothing works and I would like an engineer please.Another perk of being older.

I just say " Sorry but I cannot understand you". Then try again later hoping for a more intelligible person. My DiLs parents are Asian. Been here since 1971. DH and I have great trouble understanding them especially on the phone.

I find that I'm concentrating so hard on understanding the words that I don't understand the context.

I am afraid that when it comes to technical instructions, particularly regarding the computer/broadband etc Her Majesty herself could be on the other end of the phone and I would be none the wiser. Similarly with written instructions for flatpack furniture.
So not blaming the messenger.

#whatswrongwigeordieanscotsanyway

I've always been impressed with the BT call centre people. They've been polite and helpful and phoned back the next day to check everything was still OK.
Had a right bust up with Talktalk operatives. I was struggling to understand one lady and eventually said 'I don't mean to hurt your feelings but I'm finding it hard to understand your accent.' She replied clearly for once, 'Well you may not mean to but you have hurt my feelings,' and hung up!! That's one reason we switched to BT.

We changed from BT to Plusnet as it is cheaper. The call centre young man sounded as though he is from the north and was lovely and friendly.

When my daughter lived abroad for a while she gave me a third party mandate to deal with her First Direct bank account. She had a bit of a problem and was on the other side of the world. I phoned First Direct knowing that it was borderline whether or not they should help me with this particular problem. A lovely friendly northern voice hesitated for a moment and then said 'you would hope by this age, you wouldn't have to worry about them!' and then kindly sorted out the problem. My daughter was over 40 and the lovely bank employee was sorry for me.

My heart sinks when hear some accents but I think I've cracked it by saying "sorry I am an elderly person with hearing problems, would you speak slowly and clearly". It has worked so far. I don't mind playing the pensioner card when it suits me.

If you look at the Samsung website there is a "Live Chat" facility and this is so much better than phoning. They respond quickly and there is no accent problem. I have found it very good.

When I was in the middle of moving house my land line went dead. After endless calls to Call Centres during which I was told on one occasion, to "stop crying," an engineer arrived with a bag of tools and fixed the problem in half an hour. I was soooo pleased to see him.

My TV goes "peculiar" from time to time which involved calling a Call Centre and going through a lengthy procedure. My son called in and said "turn the TV on and off again. It works every time.

Thanks Lucky may well use that info next time,

I did get my call back from a local repair person and he will 'come to look at' (as opposed to fix??) my machine between 9.00-12.00 today. Here's hoping.

Anya although the 'look at' is only a figure of speech, imagine if he really came and just looked at it, and then left!

Apart from call centres being difficult to understand has anyone else found some speech on Radio4 being difficult? We listen to it late at night and in the morning and I have found that at times the newsreaders or other commentators are hard - they drop their voice and it goes out of range. Last night I could not understand all of 'today in Parliament'. When it is volume of the sound the engineers have been able to correct this for years and they have time as it is a recorded programme. I cannot understand why they do not do it.

Early morning yesterday they were interviewing children at Calais - described how they were sleeping under bridges or in the woods. Also a Romanian truck driver was talking about the problem with not letting them stow away. They also said that the camp at Grande Synthe (Dunkirk) is now run by people traffickers.