Apologies if this makes me sound mean or anything. I don’t have anything against anyone not from the states or with a heavy accent at all. My family is italian and my grandparents have very heavy accents and I struggle with them too.
I have issues with hearing. More specifically, processing what I hear and understanding it all the way. My doctor believes this is tied into my ADHD. Even with people who mumble or just are more quiet- I cannot understand what they say at all. This is a nightmare in person, but when I’m trying to get something done over the phone like a return or customer service stuff, it’s hell. I’ve nearly always gotten someone with a thick accent, and they end up saying things I don’t understand and get frustrated with me or I just anxiously say yes and oh shit why did I say yes now I ordered a new tv. lol.
Anyways, is there a way for me to request to speak to someone who maybe speaks more clearly? It’s not something I can help and it’s not an active bias I have. I just don’t want to waste their (or my) time going back and forth trying to understand. But I don’t want to sound like a huge racist jerk either. Is there any way to go about this?
5 comments
You might want to post on the ADHD subs as well.
“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. Could you please transfer me to a manager?”
I have no advice, but I sympathize really hard with you. I’ve always had a hard time with phone calls. I work very hard to use context clues to understand, and if I can’t, I’ll ask very politely if they can repeat it (usually with a lie like, “I’m sorry, my phone cut out, can you repeat that?” so I don’t make it about them). I don’t think I’d ever be brave enough to ask for another rep. Maybe just hang up and call back, hoping you get someone else?
Don’t mention that it’s about the person being foreign; even if you tell them you’re Italian, they’ll find an excuse to paint you as racist.
However, you can easily say that you are a bit deaf or that you have a disability, and even that you find someone’s accent a bit hard to understand.
In theory, you can mention adhd but most people aren’t aware that it affects sound and people in some foreign countries won’t be familiar with it, so it might confuse people.
What the person said about disclosing your disability is the best way in my opinion, with a caveat.
If you just mention that you have a hearing issue, they might route you to a TTY line. If you don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a specialized phone line that routes regular calls to a phone that can display visual captions. Not very useful if you don’t actually have the equipment for that.
With that in mind, I would tell them that you have a hearing issue that doesn’t require being transferred to the TTY line, just being transferred to someone who can speak slowly and clearly enough for you to understand.
Also, fellow ADHDer here. I sympathize. While this tends to crop up for me way more when I’m reading versus listening, I know how much it sucks. It actually might be worth it for you to look into getting a caption phone or some other kind of relay device. If you’re in the US, you can set up an appointment with your county government where they’ll go over your issues and figure out what you need. The equipment will be free, and you just have to pay what you’re already paying for a phone line. Google stuff like “TTY [your state]” or “caption phone for the hard of hearing.”