I had to phone our would be new Internet service provider today just to confirm the time they're coming tomorrow as they sent me a text saying they'd be there in the morning whereas I arranged for them to come in the afternoon.
When switchboard answered the phone I was presented with a menu: press 1 for Luxemburgish, press 2 for German, press 3 for French or press 4 for English. Feeling a bit lazy, I opted for #4, English, so when the human operator actually answered the phone I started speaking English. The operator immediately asked me if I spoke French as she didn't feel able to handle the call in English! Is it just me or is it really a bit odd to offer people the option of speaking English and then when they ask for that option, you say to them “no, no, I can't do that!

@Paulos_the_fog I have worked in a multi language call centre. I have basic french but not enough to handle the content of the calls. On rare occasions I was put on the french lines if call volume was unexpectedly high. Instead of a customer not getting through at all I could offer a best effort with supporting english if a customer was ok with that. If not I passed the call back to the french team. This helped filter those edge cases out of the french teams que allowing customers who could only speak french a higher chance of getting support.
There was likely a decent reason (could have also been someone assigned to the wrong incoming que) it should not be a regular occurrence but could be a "best effort" measure.

Follow

@Bunkopirate

I think in this case it is because the company is totally incompetently run!

Today they actually accused me of lying about an appointment despite me having confirmed the time of the appointment in three separate phone calls with them! The stupid bitch who phoned me back about it insisted that I was wrong and that their planning was right - that is a very good way to get your ears burnt as that involves them telling me I'm a liar! I may not always get everything right, but if I confirm something three times, the odds are, I've got it right!

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.