Are you happy now?!
A while back I had a strange customer service experience when ordering my cell phone. The entire incident was hilarious with lots of communication faux pas and I'm sure I'll be sharing that at another time. Sometime soon Carla and I will be having a Grace Talk Soup show on cultural and regional differences on communication. This little tidbit is a great warm up for that show.
The customer service department for Best Buy.com was apparently in India where they have extensive training in various aspects of the English language in order to converse with customers here in America. However, some cultural or regional differences or perhaps American customs and expressions in communication were apparently not addressed.
After a quite lengthy discussion about why my cell phone had not shipped where I still was unable to understand the reason for the delay, I was told I was going to be given a $25 gift certificate for my trouble. The customer service rep took my information down and boldly asked..."Are you happy now?"
Rolling laughter could be heard emanating from my office long after she hung up!
Learning Communication skills can also be fun with Art of Eloquence.com!
6 comments
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Oh, my!!! You mean to say you didn’t answer her? ROFLOL
Yes, there are lots of things that can give us a laugh these days with our “offshore” customer service. I have heard some of the strangest accents on the other end of the line. Along with A Word Aptly Written and Grace Talk Soup, I sell Avon. Avon outsources “some” of its customer service to its reps. I have had quite a few colorful conversations with folks swearing to me that they are Americans. Yeah, right. To quote an old country song, “I was born in the dark, but it wasn’t last night.” :) I have occasionally had to ask for someone who spoke better English so I could do my business and, gratefully, hang up.
Can’t wait for our show when we highlight a lot of these things. Hey, it’s frustrating so what can we do BUT laugh at it, right? Communication FUNdamentals. . . heavy on the fun!
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That is hilarious!! So…ARE you happy now?! LOL
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Carla, it took me a little while to compose myself enough to answer her, then after trying to swallow my giggles until she hung up, I just roared!
Christie, no actually. I wasn’t happy. The gift certificate they finally sent me was so difficult to use that I just threw it away. I believe you had to go online and register, wait for a confirmation, go back and do something else. Then to use it was also difficult. lol
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JoJo,
That is so funny! Probably something we have all felt like saying at one time or another, but held back. Apparently, she didn’t have training in “holding back!”
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I can so relate with this!!! Years ago I had trouble with my computer software and was connected with someone in India too – and he kept calling me, “Mrs. Hallaman” over and over again – until I was in giggles. Not at first – mind you – later as I told the story to my family. While it was happening it wasn’t very funny. They thought I was STUPID and spoke to me like I was about 12 years old. Good times.