I hate relay calls (well, at least THIS one)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

If you’ve ever been a recipient of a relay call, you know what I’m talking about. If not, let me explain. A deaf person places a call with their TTD to a call center. A live operator makes the phone call to the receiving phone number. The deaf person’s conversation is read out loud by the operator as it is typed in by the caller, and the hearing person’s conversation is typed verbatim by the operator to be read by the caller.

Sometimes, they’re OK. This one was over a half an hour long. I have spoken with this woman (the caller, not the operator) before - back in October - and gave her the exact same information last time. My leasing agent looked up his past appointments, and there she was. Same name, same address, same note about being deaf. Once again, she has scheduled a showing (for the same house!). Last time, she didn’t call to confirm, as is required of all of our showings, so we didn’t go. We’ll see if she calls to confirm tomorrow. :dubious:

This one drove me nuts for two reasons: the caller’s poor grammar and apparent lack of a short-term memory. I had to ask no fewer than three times for her to repeat or re-explain something because I just didn’t know what she was trying to say. (The operators won’t read something back.) At first, she told me she had a chinchilla, a cat, and a baby pit bull puppy (it was a puppy two months ago). When I told her that the pit bull was not acceptable at any age or size, she asked about the chinchilla. I told her that a chinchilla was fine since it was a caged animal. Apparently, she meant to say Chihuahua (that one COULD have been the operator’s fault).

Also, she asked the same questions about three times. Her very first question was if we had any 3 or 4 bedroom homes on the west side. I told her yes - one. Her very last question was if we had any other 3 or 4 bedroom homes for rent on the west side. I wanted to say, “No - we haven’t had any other rental homes come available in the last 30 minutes.” All I said was “no”. I explained to her that the deposit and rent amounts would increase due to having a dog and a cat and gave her the new totals. Then she asked why the deposit and rent amounts were different from what I had originally quoted her. :confused: So I had to do the math for her.

We don’t get relay calls very often, and this lady has really soured me on them. Relay calls generally take a long time (type, read, respond v e r y s l o w l y so they can type back, wait for comprehension on the other end, repeat), and they’re generally a pain in the ass for one reason or another. This lady would have been a pain in the ass if she didn’t have to use a relay call, so my annoyance was doubled.

And I’ve still got an hour left in my day. Hopefully, it ends on a better note.

2

Well, it could be worse. You can spend the rest of your telephone time being able to actually hear the conversation. You were at work anyway, it’s not as if you were going home as soon as this one conversation was over. Presumably that’s part of what you get paid for.

It’s often harder for a deaf person to become educated and to have the same grammar skills as a hearing person. She may well communicate the rest of the time in sign language, for example, which has completely different grammar and syntax. Give her a break.

3

Just wait. One of these days, she may come to your office and your conversation will be self-transcribing as the two of you scribble madly and pass a pad of paper back and forth.

Go ahead.

:smiley:

4

I understand that the grammar of ASL is different from that of spoken English, and that answering the phone and dealing with any call that comes through is part of my job.

That doesn’t mean I can’t complain about one particular pain-in-the-ass phone call, does it? I did mention in the OP that I spoke with this same caller two months ago and had was was basically the exact same conversation with her then. She asked the same questions and got the same answers as back in October. The only real difference in the conversations was that the rent has actually been lowered since then. Oh, and this time she asked me what bus line it was on and how far away it was from her current apartment. (I didn’t know about the bus line, but I did look up her approximate location online and give her directions.)

It’s frustrating to deal with anyone who uses less-than-perfect grammar and asks the same questions over and over again. But it’s all exacerbated when the conversation takes three times longer than a spoken one would.

She hasn’t called to confirm her appointment yet (she has 2 hours to go), but I hope my leasing agent has a pad of paper and an extra dose of patience.

gotpasswords, I used to work at a vet’s office that had a couple of deaf clients. We always scheduled 45 - 60 minutes for their appointments and had a legal pad ready. It’s different when you’re prepared for it.

5

I’ve had the relay calls for the deaf at this, and my last, job. In my experience, the deaf person has been very good, and very quick, when typing out their messages and questions. The operators have also been excellent.

The biggest pains in the butt have been hearing people who are just dolts. No, we are not going to rent a tiny, upper floor, bachelor suite to you and your two 70 pound pit bulls. Sorry.

I am also sorry that you are looking for an apartment for January 1st, and are only now calling me on Friday, December 30th. No, it’s too late in the day to try and schedule a showing. No, even if you put in an application to rent, I won’t be in the office Saturday to process it. Or Sunday. Or Monday. :slight_smile:

And yes, we really ask that you fill out the application. I don’t care if you have $75 cash and want to pick up the keys to the suite now. Especially if you waltz in with pisspoor attitude. I need a little bit more information than, say, your name and the repeated fact that you need a place and need it this afternoon. That makes me really, really, REALLY curious to talk to your current landlord. :slight_smile: And did I get to the part about the credit report we order? No, swearing at me and throwing the application I gave you at me didn’t help much, either.

And the otherwise intelligent (I presume) lady with the government job. I do need a reference from your current landlord before your application is approved. No, I don’t need his/her phone number after we’ve approved it. That’s kind of part of approving it… Landlord references. Dig it, babe.