They said, 'You obviously have some connection issues'

Image

Caption

Dilpreet

As part of our End The Phone Call Nightmares campaign, Dilpreet Dhinjan tells us how challenging phone calls can be for him.

Two weeks ago, I received a call asking me to book an interview for a recent job I had applied for. The interaction was friendly at first, but when they asked me to spell out my last name, I stammered and no words came out. They then 'attempted' to reassure me, saying, "OK, you obviously have some signal and connection issues, don't worry, I have all the information I need" and ended the call.

This made me feel misunderstood and talked over. It frustrated me, especially since I had mentioned on my CV that one of my dreams is to become a motivational speaker with a stammer. 

This made me feel misunderstood and talked over.

Phone conversations, especially with someone new, or for important matters, make me stammer more. I've had calls where I struggled to say "Hello" at the start, and in one instance I was hung up on, which was very discouraging. It put me off answering calls which I needed to take after applying for summer jobs to get more work experience before my final year at university. 

One piece of advice I would give to companies dealing with potential callers who stammer is to be patient and not finish their sentences. This is something that gets so many people who stammer really mad (including me!), so time and patience is needed. I really believe a little patience can make a huge difference in accessibility and communication, not just over the phone but in all interactions.

Finally, for those readers who stammer, I want to share this quote from another motivational speaker with a stammer, named Motivational Ange: "What you are saying is so important that you have to say it twice".

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.