Press 1 for English!

[*pixie*dust*]

What interests me about this thread is that both the OP and at least one other poster arguing in favor of the OP's position are from MI.
I live in MI as well and we have a large Spanish speaking population in my area. We try to hire bi-lingual staff whenever possible at my work to better serve the needs of our Spanish speaking customers. I don't really see why Spanish being an option for a call center is such an inconveince or surprise.

 

[MIGrandma]

So every country you've been to, you've spoken lots of the language? I am impressed. I certainly haven't. I can't imagine knowing all the languages of Europe well enough to get by in all of them.


As for you asking how difficult it is, there were other military (I think they were all military) posters who said the same thing I did. So I am going to say again that it is difficult. When you first move to another country, you have to set up internet, cable, electricity, gas, firewood delivery....setting up a house takes a lot of work. You don't learn those words in class. Try calling to set up any appointment and having the person on the other end of the line speak rapidly in a language you are not comfortable in. There's no way to 'pointy-talky' like you do when you're not speaking your native language.

I believe I said I wouldn't vacation in a country that DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH without learning at least SOME of their language. And as I said before I am probably not a world traveler as you and some others are. Did you not read what I said???

Gosh, kind of makes me wish I wouldn't have come to the defense of the OP. She's been jumped on by several posters here for her opinion, and now I have too. Guess I'll go back to my spring cleaning.

 

[MIGrandma]

Just press 0 dammit!! That is my answer EVERY time. I press 0 as often as possible, sometimes I press it so many times that it takes me directly out of the dreaded "loop" I am in and directly to a person. Yeah me!

I learned that trick here!!! Found out recently it truly does work!!

I called a customer service number and needed to speak to an actual person. None of their "press this number for this selection" choices worked for what I needed. I went through and listened to them twice and thought, "now what?" So then I remembered, pressed 0 a bunch of times and lo and behold got to talk to a real person!! Loved it!!

 

[crashbb]

I believe I said I wouldn't vacation in a country that DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH without learning at least SOME of their language. And as I said before I am probably not a world traveler as you and some others are. Did you not read what I said???

Gosh, kind of makes me wish I wouldn't have come to the defense of the OP. She's been jumped on by several posters here for her opinion, and now I have too. Guess I'll go back to my spring cleaning.

But how much is SOME? Dealing with customer service over the phone, which is what we are talking about, requires a considerable knowledge of the language - much more than "Hi", "Thank you", and "Where is the nearest restroom".

 

[Chuck S]

This thread reminds me of the time some lady, and I use the term loosely, started yelling at me in the grocery store because I put a product into my cart that had the audacity to have labels in both English and French (remember the Freedom Fries?). She was basically screaming at me not to buy this French product. What product was it...Sauerkraut, imported from Germany, and labeled for sale in the US and Canada.

 

[ZuZugal]

I learned that trick here!!! Found out recently it truly does work!!

I called a customer service number and needed to speak to an actual person. None of their "press this number for this selection" choices worked for what I needed. I went through and listened to them twice and thought, "now what?" So then I remembered, pressed 0 a bunch of times and lo and behold got to talk to a real person!! Loved it!!

One time I pressed 0 and the recording said "that is not a valid response". So then I pressed 0 like 10 times quickly and BINGO! It became a valid response and I immediately got to speak to a person. Love that 0 thing!