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  • Unknown phone carrier

    My c-store, like many others, sells prepaid cellphone minutes.

    I had a customer ask if we had phone cards. I asked him which provider he's using. He just holds the phone up expecting me to figure it out for him. (Oh great, another one who doesn't know his phone carrier. )

    I know sometimes the screen will display the carrier's name, so I looked at it while he held it closer. No indications visible. So, I ask him Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Boost....? He just gives me a blank stare, shaking the phone. Again, he repeats, "Phone card."

    On a side note, I'm not going to look at a customer's phone for them because I'm not going to be blamed if something goes wrong with it.

    I ask, "Which company are you using?"

    "I don't know."

    "If you don't know what company you're using, I can't help you. We sell minutes for several companies."

    He just gives me a blank stare.

    "I don't think I can help you."

    "No?" followed by another blank stare.

    I just shake my head wondering where these people come from. "If you don't know, I don't know."

    "Okay...." the guy slowly shuffles out the door.
    The Borg wouldn't know fun if they assimilated an amusement park. -- B'Elanna Torres, Star Trek: Voyager

    Math! Math, my dear boy, is but the lesbian sister of Biology. -- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

  • #2
    Can you say Phone. Theft. ?

    I knew you could.

    A beautiful day for an SC,
    SirWired

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    • #3
      The thought of phone theft did cross my mind as one possibility, but that would be a strong accusation when I didn't know the customer and had no proof. One factor I didn't mention was that he was a Mexican, and didn't seem to speak English very well. We all know how some people will push anything mentioning race into Fratching territory if not careful. I didn't mention that factor because I didn't want to deal with that hassle.

      It's certainly possible that the issue was more of a communication barrier. I studied Spanish for probably seven years throughout high school and college, but have no practical experience. What you learn in school is quite a bit different than street Spanish. I can pick out words I understand when I hear it, but Latin American dialects are generally spoken too fast for my listening comprehension to keep up. I have a much easier time understanding spoken Castellano (the dialect spoken in Spain) because it is spoken at a slower pace, but that's not a common Spanish dialect spoken in the United States. I can also read written Spanish well enough to understand the basic point in most any situation. I try to practice sometimes with bilingual customers who can speak English functionally, but usually don't have time since we are one of the busier c-stores in town.

      In reference to the question about cellphone minutes versus a standard phone card, I would have assumed the customer wanted cellphone minutes since he kept using his cellphone to gesture while making his request. That seems the most logical conclusion.
      The Borg wouldn't know fun if they assimilated an amusement park. -- B'Elanna Torres, Star Trek: Voyager

      Math! Math, my dear boy, is but the lesbian sister of Biology. -- Peter Griffin, Family Guy

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      • #4
        One of the good things about Finnish is that it is often spoken slowly, especially if you're talking to someone from the countryside - perhaps not so much for long-time Helsinki dwellers. The other good thing is that the spelling is sane.

        This works the other way around too - if a Finn speaks English, they will often speak it slowly, which gives you a chance to work around their accent.

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