For context, I’m in the United States and this is about someone speaking english.
I was on the phone with my bank yesterday after someone stole my debit card and emptied out my account. I was connected with someone and I couldn’t understand a word he was saying, he was talking very quickly and quietly and I spent about 20 minutes trying my best but he was clearly getting annoyed when I asked him to please repeat himself a few times.
Eventually I thanked him, ended the call, and called back to be connected to someone else. I feel so guilty about it, is there a polite way to handle that without just giving up and calling again?
I’m not trying to be derogatory in any way, learning any language is difficult and I have nothing but respect for anyone who does it.
Comments
Do what you did. Don’t feel bad about it.
Same.
I feel like I am on “AM I RACIST?” every time.
I just say I can’t understand, and request someone else.
Most of these call centers are packed with people and they make next to nothing. but hey, we get a cheaper bill, so we are fine with this, we are fine with keeping slave work so we don’t have to pay Americans or any western country citizen a decent wage for this job. why would we want people paid fairly who can do the job well, when you can pay people in countries without labor laws and barley speak English pennies on the dollar. again we are fine with this. Well, obviously im not lol, but I guarantee most here are all for slave labor in 3rd world countries so we can save a couple bucks.
I can usually tell within seconds if I can’t understand someone well enough. Sometimes this isn’t accent but poor enunciation! I hang up and call again.
I say “I’m sorry I can’t understand you is there a person I can speak with who has no accent?” I don’t care if they are offended, I’ve got problems to resolve.
chat GPT might be able to catch what this person is saying live, if you have a subscription. Go into a chat, and press the record button. Put your conversation on live speaker on a seperate device, if you have one. Or maybe alexa, may be able to do the same thing. Make sure you are recording in short bursts, so that it doesn’t lose the recording, and is able to transcribe.
Asking the person to slow down, because you also have a challenging time understanding english as it’s your second language, (even if you don’t) may sometimes prompt them to slow down.
Sometime saying thank you and calling again may be a viable solution.
I struggle with this as well with some reps and I just ask to speak with someone else.
ihang up and call back if i cant understand what someone is saying.
I say that I’m struggling with their accent, and I feel like I’m wasting their time because I can’t understand. Is there a way I can be passed onto someone else please
“I’m sorry, I’m having trouble understanding you,” is fine. Either they will slow down and try to speak clearer, or you can ask to speak to someone else. 20 minutes is a long time to try to muddle through a language barrier when you have other options.
When you first call in, press 2 for Spanish. 99% of the time their Spanish speaking reps speak English better than the English speaking ones.
Whether I’m calling a local business or a call center, I learned long ago that it’s best to just start over sometimes.
I don’t do that capriciously, or just because I’m not getting my way, but if the person and I aren’t making progress, or the miscommunication is constant? Maybe it’s them.
Maybe it’s me. Doesn’t matter. Let’s go again, shall we?
I’ve learned to just disconnect the call while saying something like
“No, Kitty, stop!” Or “Rover, don’t, don’t, don’t take the ph—“ So many choices.
End Call. Breathe. Re-situate your everything. Sit down. Grab a pen and a paper, it helps if one is nine or ninety years old. The person on the other end is following a scripted guide and a company policy directive. On a piece of box, we can do the same thing.
Now call back.
Be oh so careful with even the most official help phone calls. If they ask for your Social Security number, they should only need the last four digits.
I don’t know if this has happened already, but if there’s a way to somehow appear to have the Real Bank phone number while calling from a scammer number, scammers will probably do that.
It’s already happened with Fast Trak and The Toll Roads.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/13/why-toll-text-scam-is-out-of-control-and-apple-android-cant-stop-it.htm
Everything is truly global now. The person who can’t understand you? The person whom you can’t understand?
They might be far away. Most of the time, the call center isn’t close, but: They might be in the same area as you, but the call center is represented as being far away from wherever the person needing help is located.
There are call centers that offer real help for hardware/software problems while running financial scams out of the same office.
If you go to the scammer subs and/or watch a couple of videos on YouTube, they will probably explain that scenario better than I can.
If someone tries to hurry you up for no apparent reason, if they start sounding out-upon or condescending, then stay calm and take beat. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad over resolving a situation.
Remember also the situation doesn’t mean you can make someone else feel bad.
I hung up on my old cell company over & over & over until I got a guy with a Texas accent.. First words outta my mouth were “cancel my account” lol
Just ask to be transferred to someone else.
Not everyone is good with accents. That’s part and parcel with outsourcing CS to ESOL countries. As long’s s you’re kind, that CSR is at fault for being frustrated, not you.
I’m bilingual (second language Spanish) and have been on the receiving end of this. In my case, after 5 minutes of careful explanation in Spanish, I ended by asking if there were any questions. Just one: “Can I speak to someone who speaks Spanish?”
I wasn’t offended, because I know what it’s like to be on the phone with Delhi, and I know my limits (I’m not native). Sometimes it just happens, and it’s nobody’s fault. People need to communicate to correct the problem, and if it’s not happening, then step 1 of the fix is finding a new voice.
You’re allowed to politely say, “I’m sorry, but I’m having a lot of trouble understanding your accent. I’m just not used to it. Is there anyone else who could assist me today?” They should understand.
Depending on the product, ask to be transferred to a call center in the USA. I have an Amex card and if I have any issues explaining or understanding, I simply ask for their US-based team.
High-end companies especially have too many rich old farts as customers that they don’t want to lose so they’ll often keep a small call-center in the USA for those customers. At this point I often don’t even get transferred overseas when I call, and I’m wondering if they’ve flagged me as “asshole who always demands a native speaker” in the system and route me accordingly.
I’m autistic and have speech processing issues which are made worse by accents or particularly deep voices. I always feel terrible about it when I can’t understand people but I generally just explain to them that I have auditory processing issues and they are cool with it
I just try to politely explain that I’m having a hard time understanding them and that it’s my problem not theirs and I ask to be transferred to someone who speaks in an American or less thick accent if possible. If it’s not possible, I ask if there is a chat portal that I can use to communicate with them in a more clear way.
Sometimes I say I’m hard of hearing and ask them to speak more slowly and loudly. That seems to work most of the time.
At the end of the day I don’t really think there anything inherently rude about just letting them know that you are having a hard time understanding them. It will save everyone involved some time and trouble. It could be rude depending on the approach but if you are polite and apologetic it will probably go over better.
Nah, an accent is fine, but just botching the language and daring working in CS to me is insulting.
I just be kind and say “ma’am/sir, I’m having a difficult time understanding you. Can you transfer me to someone else.” There’s nothing negative about that.
I say similar shit when I’m talking to people from deep in Louisiana or Kentucky. Or some of the Brits and Aussies I play rugby with. “Bro, I have no idea what you just said, say it slower.”
Girlfriend is French and when she yells at me it’s Frenglish. “Babe, you’re going full French again. What?”
I have to have my 11 year old translate my 7 year old sometimes because she isn’t very good with her Rs.
There’s nothing wrong with not understanding and simply asking “what?”
I get it sometimes when I say shit like “gonna go up da crick der ta see ifda fish’er better” (not Canadian, northern Midwest).
Ask them to say it again, using different word (rephrase).
I tell them that I’m a foreigner and don’t speak English too well, sorry l can’t understand them. Doesn’t matter if you are a foreigner or not. They don’t know all the native accents.
It’s happened to me before. I said “Hi. I cannot understand ANYTHING you are saying. I need a different operator THANK YOU.” Had to repeat it.
I have a deep booming voice so that helps when you need to get your way.
I will say “I’m sorry but I’m having a hard time understanding you. Can you please transfer me to someone else?”
I think the key is just being kind. I am a native English speaker who’s done my time in call centers, and it’s really appalling the way people treat reps sometimes. And the racist shit they say to me assuming that because I don’t have an accent I must feel the same way or something. It’s really gross. I think if you’ve tried for a bit and it’s just too much of a struggle it’s fine to say that you’re having a difficult time with the accent and either you’re going to call back, or see if you can be transferred. Just don’t make it seem like a failure on their part, or obviously be racist about it. not everyone can understand all accents after all, I can understand someone from Ethiopia just fine but fuck me if I have to decipher what a Scottish person is saying.
Tell them they have a bad connection, and ask to be transferred?
What about a job interview and the older guy interviewing you has a strong Indian accent and speaks softly. I had no idea what he was asking and felt too embarrassed to ask him to keep saying it again, so I just start rambling and of course I don’t get the job. Life where I live.
In the past I’ve said, “I’m sorry, I’m getting over an ear infection and can’t understand what you’re saying.”
Play the medical card and you might get someone easier to understand.