I HATE New York (and others)

[smileyeagle1021]

Yesterday was the New York day from Hell.

Seriously hooker, don't blame me
A note of interest to hearing users... if you do not make it clear that what you are saying isn't meant to be relayed, and it isn't a reason that we deem valid to the call not to relay (eg you need to speak to a manager for approval and I can't relay both sides of the conversation for context) we will continue to relay everything you say.
Making comments about "wow, I bet he would be willing to pay me for sex if I worked it right" is going to get relayed when you just say it while you are waiting for the caller's response.
So, don't blame me and go off on me that my indiscretion is the reason that your boyfriend is now pissed at you.

I'm happy you are from New York...
I'm glad that you have informed me in New York and that you don't appreciate being called. I also appreciate you informing me that apparently in New York FCC rules do not apply and that we are not required to relay everything you say because you are a New Yorker. I am also quite fascinated by the fact that New Yorkers use the term faggot as a punctuation.
I had two of those hearing users within an hour.
My coworkers report that they've all had similar experiences with New York.
Could someone please explain to me what it is about relay calls that send New Yorkers straight into douchebag mode.

patience is a virtue you lack
as a note to deaf users, it takes a moment to redial, two seconds after telling me to redial telling me "why the fuck haven't you redialed yet God Damnit" is not going to win you favor from me. If you ever do get a hearing user to answer you're getting the most boring monotone relay operator on the planet. On that note, in the 6 months I've worked in relay, do you know how often repeatedly redialing has been worked, less than 10 times... yet at least once a day there is someone who will ask me to redial repeatedly.

I hate customer service people
I know this one won't be popular on this board, but I have to say it.
What the hell is it with customer service people who can't comprehend that deaf people need to communicate too?
I can't tell you how often I've been asked something along the lines of "why would they be calling us, we aren't a clinic or anything like that"
No shit, I would have never guessed. Has it occurred to you that just maybe a deaf person (eats/travels/orders products/whatever service it is you provide)?
I guess deaf people do nothing with their time but be deaf and go to clinics for the deaf.
Also, there is nothing ambiguous about our explanation.
"Relay calls are used when deaf or hard of hearing persons are placing phone calls. They will be typing their part of the conversation to me which I then relay between the two of you. Please speak slowly so that I can type your part of the conversation to the caller and speak as if speaking to the caller directly. Also there will be a slight delay as they type their responses. Do you have any questions before I connect the caller?"
What the hell is so hard to understand? I'd say there is a nearly 25% rate of customer service employees who cannot comprehend that very simple explanation. I've even had people go so far as to call managers because they FORGOT how the call worked half way through.
I've had one call over a manager "they keep saying waiting for the caller to respond, I don't know what to do"
Are you fucking kidding me, YOU are the reason why I no longer feel bad for the cashier getting yelled at by a sucky customer because from experience there is at least a 25% chance the cashier deserves to be bitched at.

[fireheart]

The law about relay calling...isn't that Federal anyway?

Also regarding #4, relay calling (known as TTY) over here isn't as entirely well-known. I have yet to encounter it and so does anyone else I know. Oddly enough, I've never had a prank call or anything like that...partially because some places provide separate phone numbers for TTY users and partially because unless you have direct access to a machine, the only place you can do something like that is out in public.

[klhanson]

This is why i liked my last job.. it was relay but it wasn't done like this.. the good hearing person had no idea that someone else was on the line other than that hard of hearing/deaf person..

Basically the way it worked was the deaf/hard of hearing person had a special phone.. they'd call someone we'd listen in to the good hearing persons end of the conversation and repeat that back into a microphone and it would go out as text to the hard of hearing persons phone. or if they had someone calling them.. to use our service they'd call a special number and be connected that way..

either way it worked out a lot better it seems then what you have to do

[Cloudy Sky]

I've had 2 (or 3?) relay calls that I've taken personally at my call center. They are really no big deal, as long as you remember that there is a real live person on the other end. I have no trouble ignoring the relay operator (in that I address the customer only), and if I need to transfer to another department, I'll make sure the next agent is aware that this is a relay call and is comfortable with that.

HOWEVER - I did have one time where I filled in as floor support, and there was an agent who nearly went in a panic attack, and called me over because they did not understand the concept of a relay call and was nearly in tears at the prospect of continuing the call . I ended up taking over the call, with lots of apologies for the delay, and took care of the customer's inquiries. I over that one for a while - it ain't rocket science!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I hate customer service people
I know this one won't be popular on this board, but I have to say it.
What the hell is it with customer service people who can't comprehend that deaf people need to communicate too?
I can't tell you how often I've been asked something along the lines of "why would they be calling us, we aren't a clinic or anything like that"
No shit, I would have never guessed. Has it occurred to you that just maybe a deaf person (eats/travels/orders products/whatever service it is you provide)?
I guess deaf people do nothing with their time but be deaf and go to clinics for the deaf.
Also, there is nothing ambiguous about our explanation.
"Relay calls are used when deaf or hard of hearing persons are placing phone calls. They will be typing their part of the conversation to me which I then relay between the two of you. Please speak slowly so that I can type your part of the conversation to the caller and speak as if speaking to the caller directly. Also there will be a slight delay as they type their responses. Do you have any questions before I connect the caller?"
What the hell is so hard to understand? I'd say there is a nearly 25% rate of customer service employees who cannot comprehend that very simple explanation. I've even had people go so far as to call managers because they FORGOT how the call worked half way through.
I've had one call over a manager "they keep saying waiting for the caller to respond, I don't know what to do"
Are you fucking kidding me, YOU are the reason why I no longer feel bad for the cashier getting yelled at by a sucky customer because from experience there is at least a 25% chance the cashier deserves to be bitched at.

I wouldn't be surprised if outsourcing call centers is partly to blame for this. I can easily see a foreign rep being totally hamstrung by a relay call.

Also I'm with you on the New York thing, almost all the NYC people I talked to at my call center job had an attitude.

I can understand a relay call is a bit different than a standard customer service call, but it's really not difficult to handle one. My mother is hard of hearing so I am very sensitive to matters such as these.

[DeltaSierra]

I wouldn't be surprised if outsourcing call centers is partly to blame for this. I can easily see a foreign rep being totally hamstrung by a relay call.

Also I'm with you on the New York thing, almost all the NYC people I talked to at my call center job had an attitude.

I can understand a relay call is a bit different than a standard customer service call, but it's really not difficult to handle one. My mother is hard of hearing so I am very sensitive to matters such as these.

This wouldn't surprise me. When I have to make a call to a company regarding a bill or whatnot, 9 times out of 10 I'm shunted to an offshore call center and the relay operator gets hung up on after being told that they either "Don't accept this type of call" (and their company doesn't have a dedicated TDD/TTY line either - so how are deaf customers supposed to get in contact with you?) or that they "Don't have time" for that type of call. Thank goodness my hearing family, bf and friends have no problem with making a call for me if I encounter this type of situation, but its still a pain in the a$$.

The hardest thing is companies that have automated phone trees. It is a terrible hassle for BOTH the relay operator, and the caller.

I have slowly started being able to make some phone calls myself the normal way (I've had a cochlear implant for 5 years) if I ask people to speak slowly and clearly, but that goes the way of the dodo if I end up talking to a foreign call center operator because their accent fubars everything. And forget phone trees. Computerized voices do NOT compute with a cochlear implant.

My heart goes out to the relay operators and what they deal with, and I always thank them at the end of my conversation for their patience.

[smileyeagle1021]

The law about relay calling...isn't that Federal anyway?

Also regarding #4, relay calling (known as TTY) over here isn't as entirely well-known.-snip- partially because unless you have direct access to a machine, the only place you can do something like that is out in public.

First yes, it is federal law, we are directly overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, which is right up there with the Internal Revenue Service for people you don't frack with.
Second, you no longer need a TTY machine to make the calls (in fact there are many services, like ours where you CANNOT use them). Most relay companies are moving over to software based systems rather than hardware. With the prevalence of internet connections, computers, and smart phones, there is no shortage of places to install said software without the need to have a specialized machine.

This is why i liked my last job.. it was relay but it wasn't done like this.. the good hearing person had no idea that someone else was on the line other than that hard of hearing/deaf person..

Basically the way it worked was the deaf/hard of hearing person had a special phone.. they'd call someone we'd listen in to the good hearing persons end of the conversation and repeat that back into a microphone and it would go out as text to the hard of hearing persons phone. or if they had someone calling them.. to use our service they'd call a special number and be connected that way..

either way it worked out a lot better it seems then what you have to do

we offer that service also (in fact we use the same software to do the typing), but most of our users do not like to use that service. Many of them have difficulty speaking as well as hearing and prefer someone else to do the talking for them.

The hardest thing is companies that have automated phone trees. It is a terrible hassle for BOTH the relay operator, and the caller.
-snip-
My heart goes out to the relay operators and what they deal with, and I always thank them at the end of my conversation for their patience.

There are two things with the phone trees. First is the fact that you can't actually just go through them. The reason why it takes so long is because we have to disconnect after each level to wait for the caller's selection then reconnect and go through the menus again to input the selection. The second one that bothers me is that the company allows the deaf user to say "get me a live rep" and no other information about what they need and we aren't allowed to ask them any questions, just do what we can to get to the first live rep we can find. And then both the hearing user and the deaf user get pissed when we, shock of shocks, don't direct them to the right department.

And if you have a good relay operator, the operator will thank the hearing user for their time and patience whether or not you've requested it.

[Evil Queen]

I love the relay calls. The person I'm generally talking to is so pleasant.

[Andara Bledin]

I've never taken a relay call for the deaf. I have, however, taken one for a translation service.

I don't see why people get so astronomically stupid when one comes in. The only real difference between that and a regular call is that things go slower than normal. And that's it.

^-.-^

[JoitheArtist]

I love the relay calls. The person I'm generally talking to is so pleasant.

Me too, actually! My org has one chapter in Florida that is made up entirely of hearing-impaired women, and they are sweethearts! Relay calls are a pain just because they take so long, but I generally enjoy interacting with the callers and relay operators.

[Darkforge]

I guess I can understand that a lot of call centres that are timed on their average call length would be annoyed as a relay call would increase their average call time, but 99% of managers should understand this.

If I got a relay call, i'd let the manager know why the call was taking longer than normal and add a note to the file that the customer may have hearing problems and is using a relay service, which would more than cover me if my call time took a hit.

[Jester]

I have in my career in the food service industry had my fair share of deaf customers. While some servers get a little befuddled or tensed up about dealing with them, I never have a problem. As much as I usually move at Mach 10 while working, I slow down and go into my Super Patient Mode when I get a deaf couple/family/whatever. I always have pen and paper ready for them, I speak directly to their eyes (since I know they can't hear what I say), and despite my habit of speaking very quickly, I slow that down too.

I cannot understand why a CSR could not do the same thing. Oh, wait...I know....just like any other group of people, there are some CSR's that are idiots.

Could someone please explain to me what it is about relay calls that send New Yorkers straight into douchebag mode.

You seem to have confused "cause and effect" with "general life attitude." See, it's not that the relay calls send those New Yorkers into douchebag mode. It's that those particular New Yorkers ARE douchebags. Always have been and probably always will be. The relay call is merely one more way they show their douchery to the world.

[r2cagle]

I have taken many relay calls during my time in the phone center, as well as translation calls. Yes, they do take more time, but not as much time as someone determined to be a douche.

The relay call that tickled my funny bone was the one where I had to spell all the 'big' words for the operator as she typed up my response. I wonder if she (operator) still has that job?

[Andara Bledin]

I guess I can understand that a lot of call centres that are timed on their average call length would be annoyed as a relay call would increase their average call time, but 99% of managers should understand this.

They might know it, but most of them don't care. All they care about is the automated program that regurgitates figures without the data to give them any real meaning. Mostly dictated by corporate, which has never actually set foot in the trenches.

^-.-^

[Magpie]

My ASL instructor was Deaf, and tells the story of trying to get a coffee with milk. Now, anyone who knows ASL will know that the sign for milk is actually fairly intuitive. My instructor, however, knew that there could still be some confusion. So he used TWO hands, and mimed milking a cow. Nope, still no clue. To this day I still occasionally wonder if the girl just had that hard a time communicating, or if she was really thrown by having to deal with customer from a different culture and language.