Challenging interactions over the phone

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Michael

As part of our ongoing 'End the Phone Call Nightmares' campaign, Michael Letheren shares some frustrating experiences of companies not accommodating his stammer on the phone.

"Hhhhello [cc-company name], Mmmichael speaking, how can I help?" Brilliant — they've hung up. 

It's widely regarded within the stammering community that phone calls can be particularly challenging. Speaking over the phone, especially to someone you don't know, can be stressful. The person on the other end might ask for repetition, claim the line has dropped or even hang up altogether. 

These responses unintentionally increase stress levels, resulting in my stammer becoming more severe and subsequently the call takes longer. In this article I'll share a couple of firsthand experiences with automated systems and customer service representatives.

Automated systems have become increasingly common amongst larger companies to direct incoming phone calls to the most suitable department. For people who stammer this can be problematic, as most automated systems do not accommodate for variations in speech. 

My first notable encounter with this was when I contacted a government branch whilst at university. The system prompted me to say the security phrase, "My voice is my password". My voice really would make a very secure password, as the severity of my stammer can change unpredictably! After waiting on hold for fifteen minutes, and the automated system informing me that it could not understand me, this was extremely frustrating. This experience happened nearly a decade ago, and to this day I still have not been able to set up that particular password.

For people who stammer this can be problematic, as most automated systems do not accommodate for variations in speech.

Other encounters with automated systems are usually unremarkable — the real stress tends to begin when I'm speaking to a customer service representative and have to confirm my name and address.

When contacting smaller companies, some have asked for alternative forms of communication. A fire alarm company once requested that I text them, as they were driving and struggling to hear me, while a potential employer asked me to email them because they were in the middle of lunch service. While these situations were understandable — the person on the other end simply did not have the time to talk — not all phone interactions have been so accommodating. 

My worst experience was when I dealt with a booking agent in Australia. I was booking a boat trip and needed to call them in order to redeem a local worker's discount. The person I spoke to kept guessing my name, my email address, where I wanted to go, when I wanted to go, and how many people were in the group. If they had stopped talking and started listening, the process would have taken half the time it did. It was degrading. It was disheartening.

At the start of that particular call, an automated message informed me that the call "may be recorded for quality and training purposes". Right then… you're not getting away with this one! After multiple drafts, I sent an email to their office asking them to use that call as an example of how not to deal with an individual who stammers, attaching guidance from the STAMMA website for their reference. I called them again for the same reason a couple of weeks later and the agent who answered my call was significantly more respectful. Taking that stance assisted their understanding and provided a much better service.

These are just a couple of my experiences of making calls. I could go on to talk about receiving calls, which can be even more daunting as you have less control of the situation, especially in a work environment. 

Speaking up for myself has helped in the past, and with greater awareness amongst the general public, I hope it will become less necessary in the future.

Have you had a recent phone call that went badly? Fill out our short form and tell us about it. We need your experiences to show companies what the problem is.

Why not tell your employer about our free online phone call training?

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