He said 'Do you want to get your mummy to talk for you?'

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Claire

As part of our End The Phone Call Nightmares campaign, Claire Coulton tells us how challenging phone calls can be, and shares one particular call where the operator belittled her for stammering.

"Please say your telephone number or customer number after the beep."

I can feel the stress and anxiety growing in my head. Here goes… "Zero sssssssssssssssssseven…" I always struggle on 's' sounds.

"Sorry, we didn't recognise that number. Please try again." 

I try my customer number instead. "Zero, one, three, sssssssssss…" 

...

"We are sorry, we have not been able to identify you from the details provided. Please wait to be connected to an advisor." Surely the automated machine is laughing at me, I think, irrationally. If the machine is laughing, what on earth is a real life person going to do?

I am a 42-year-old single mum who has to use the telephone on a regular basis to book doctor appointments, arrange school matters, speak to the bank, the HMRC and a variety of other people. To my daughter, I probably look confident as I scuttle off into a room by myself where no one can listen to me make the call. But I'm not, I'm panicking. 

In this modern age, companies should be more aware.

Automated systems are a stress that no one needs. Paying for items over the phone can be tricky, as you can guarantee you can't use the keypad to input your card number. When I haven't been able to carry out the tasks expected of me, it can be embarrassing.

In this modern age, companies should be more aware that people with a stammer or other speech impediments can't always deal with this. It makes us more stressed and that makes us stammer more. 

One awful experience I had to deal with was when I had to call my mobile phone provider. The man I spoke to asked me five times to repeat my mobile number, and I heard him sniggering when I couldn't say 'seven'. He kept asking and each time his snigger got louder. He must have got bored, because he proceeded to ask for my address and postcode, which I again struggled with. I felt more stressed and therefore stammered more, and his response was "Do you want to go get your carer or your mummy to talk on your behalf?" followed by another muffled laugh.

This destroyed my confidence for a while and I avoided making calls. If I had to, I handed the phone over to my daughter to read numbers out for me. Why should I have to do this? My voice is MY voice, no matter how long it takes me to get my words out.

Companies should allow people to use keypads to input numbers and ask if they have any additional needs. It's just about being patient and considerate.

Get involved in the campaign

Help us to drive our campaign and keep the pressure up on call centres and businesses to make calls accessible for people who stammer. Share your phone call experiences, donate to the campaign, share our social media posts, volunteer and more. See how you can get involved.