Why can't American companies hire English speaking employees?

Dhaller · Jul 31, 2015

quiller said:
So are you saying that I should learn a myriad of languages so when I have a problem with my local health insurer,insurance agency,any company I deal with regularly in this country or ebay I can communicate with them.

No, I'm saying that you live in a multilingual and multicultural world, and it's more likely that you can adapt to it than it can adapt to you.

In other words: when in Japan, eat sushi, not Big Macs.

DH

quiller · Jul 31, 2015

When in America,speak English

Shaver · Jul 31, 2015

Anyone who has endured the misfortune of interaction with Virgin Media customer support could easily be forgiven for believing that their barely intelligible staff are a vital component of a strategy which deters customers from pursuing grievances.

Dhaller · Jul 31, 2015

quiller said:
When in America,speak English

Why? It's not the official language of the United States!

Also - brace yourself - but when you're calling those customer service numbers?You're not actually calling the United States!

You are actually visiting their country courtesy of the magic of telecommunications. So, really... be polite.

The Ugly American is very real, alas - don't be "that guy".

DH

Dmontez · Jul 31, 2015

Dhaller said:
In other words: when in Japan, eat sushi, not Big Macs.DH

I completely agree with you. When you travel abroad you should absolutely try and speak their language, and be courteous and respectful of their culture.

BUT when you are calling a company that is headquartered in America from America, there is absolutely no reason other than saving money, and using it as a deterrent, to have someone whom's first language is not English.

Odradek · Jul 31, 2015

Dhaller said:
Why? It's not the official language of the United States!

It should be.

Dhaller said:
Also - brace yourself - but when you're calling those customer service numbers?You're not actually calling the United States!

You are actually visiting their country courtesy of the magic of telecommunications. So, really... be polite.
DH

No, no you're not. They are visiting your country throughout the magic of telecommunications.

My old car insurance company had it's call centres in India. My current car insurance company has it's call centres in England, and has lower premiums.
The Indians may have had fairly fluent English, sometimes with impenetrable accents, but the main problem was one of idiom.
Now, taking to some woman in the north of England is just so much better because they understand what you're saying straight away.

Joseph Peter · Jul 31, 2015

GoPro, the camera manufacturer, seems to have a US based customer service call center and they are - sit down for it - open on Saturdays. I say "seems" because when I called them, my reps were named "Scott" and "Joanne" and spoke better English with no discernible accent than most of my 'Merican born friends/associates. Plus, they actually helped solve the problem.

phyrpowr · Aug 1, 2015

tocqueville said:
But to get back to the OP's point, I sympathize. It can be worse: the other day at the airport I couldn't understand an announcement because the person tasked with making the announcements had some sort of speech impediment. It turns out he was calling me to the gate...and I arrived late, not having understood the announcement (that was my name he was saying?), and the people at the gate said, "we've been calling your name!"

You can hear that annoying "do not take packages from strangers" announcement perfectly, every thirty ?%$& seconds, but yes, the speakers used by the gate personnel seem designed to distort what they're saying. Not to mention they say the same thing so often they think they're enunciating properly, when it sounds like a drunk with no teeth .

ran23 · Aug 1, 2015

I went to Amy's Kitchens (frozen food packaging) to apply. They said I had to be bilingual. I asked, "Bilingual what?" They said, Don't you know what that means?? I said, "You are not using it correctly, perhaps you do not know what it means'. They said it means mexican. I said no, it doesn't. didn't get my foot in that door at all.

mankson · Aug 3, 2015

ran23 said:
I went to Amy's Kitchens (frozen food packaging) to apply. They said I had to be bilingual. I asked, "Bilingual what?" They said, Don't you know what that means?? I said, "You are not using it correctly, perhaps you do not know what it means'. They said it means mexican. I said no, it doesn't. didn't get my foot in that door at all.

This reminds me of that old Steve Martin joke where he is asked if he is "Bi".

gaseousclay · Aug 3, 2015

You'll find that most of them are actually in India or the Philippines

yep. when i've had to call customer service for my internet service I was always connected to someone in India. The customer service reps were always proficient in English and in some cases sounded just as 'American' as anyone in the US, but I could always detect that barely noticeable accent. What I found amusing was how the reps used Western names. "Hi, my name is Bob. How can I help you today?"

SG_67 · Aug 3, 2015

gaseousclay said:
What I found amusing was how the reps used Western names. "Hi, my name is Bob. How can I help you today?"

This is actually quite common. They are also taught certain colloquialisms so as to better communicate. It's funny that most of these tech support folks have computer programming and engineering degrees and yet are able to make good money doing this.

60-Minutes did a story on this over 10 years ago:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/out-of-india-23-12-2003/

I'm sure much has changed since then, but it's an interesting story nonetheless.

Why can't American companies hire English speaking employees?

Dhaller

quiller

Shaver

Dhaller

Dmontez

Odradek

Joseph Peter

phyrpowr

ran23

mankson

gaseousclay

SG_67

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities