VRS rudeness

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Melissa123

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Hi, Just a question. I work as an Interpreter for a VRS company and as an interpreter I'm required to answer the deaf person by saying "Hi, thank you for calling video relay company, I'm interpreter xxxx, would you like me to call now?" Lately it seems I cant even say "Hi,..." and the deaf person interrupts me say "call cable company" or "call mom." Just seems rude to interupt when all i'm trying to do it say "thank you for calling :)" If you call bank, bank answers "Hi, thank you for calling the bank, my name is Jane Doe, can I help you" and people dont interrupt the bank person, it is RUDE. Any thoughts??
 
Anxious to get in touch with who they want to contact, and most people probably assume you are forced by policy to give your greeting and don't know you really want to do it.
 
perhaps, just proceed on what you're doing on the job.
 
I find it extremely frustrating. It seems the callers are becoming more angry and impatient.

I also want to put out there that you see us before we see you. Please wait until we say hello before you start signing.
 
Sorry you are having a bad day or too many of those bad days.

I personally appreciate and thank my relay operators. Even when some of the relay operators are just plain outright rude, I just ignore it. It's just not worth the time or energy to be bothered.

Just remember not all people are rude and/or abrasive. Hold your head up high and smile. Smile, grind your teeth and think muzak and oh yes.. treat yourself to chocolate! MMM!
 
Hearing people don't have to listen to a dial tone (how the FCC views us) introduce itself before making a phone call. Since I'm required to, I do the company introduction. But should a deaf person interrupt me and say GO-AHEAD CALL or something, I drop my intro and go ahead and connect. And I don't take it personally. Maybe they're in a hurry or whatever. No big deal.
 
Don't be offended.

There are a lot of impatient people out there.

I do try to make an effort to acknowledge the relay operator by explaining any key details before the call is made and by thanking him/her when I am done with the call. :)
 
I agree 100% with Chris. If they interrupt you, just drop the intro - they have a right to interrupt you, whether it's rude or not.

As for hearing people's behavior when calling the bank, remember that deaf people don't have years and years of experience with phones like hearing people do. Who told you to wait for the bank person to stop talking? Nobody, right? You probably learned it by observing others' phone behavior.

Deaf people don't have that experience. Kind of like when they say "live person" when you're reciting a recorded menu. They often don't realize that you CAN'T get a live person without picking a department. It's also confusing because various phone systems work differently - sometimes there is a voice response and you can just say "representative" a few times and you'll get somebody. Other times you can ONLY press buttons, and your choices are ONLY billing, tech support, and sales - no "live person" option. So it's confusing, and deaf people don't have experience with this stuff. When they get their VP, they don't get a lesson in hearing phone etiquette.

This doesn't mean they can't learn, of course. There are sometimes classes at conferences and events that talk about how to use VRS. And after a few times of the terp saying "no live person, you want 1, 2, or 3?" they can pick that up too. But it's not something they grew up with like hearing people did.

But yeah, don't take it personally...callers will do what they do, and it has nothing to do with you personally.
 
When calling through VRS, I try to wait until the operator tells me to go on even if she/he mouths that. I am able to lip-read anyway.

I have noticed this, the operators will wait for me to say whom I was calling for, etc. before dialing the number. Maybe this is something deaf people should give instructions, like telling to press 1, then press 4, whom to ask for, etc., before calling?

I thought it was funny when calling my grandmother through VRS, if I signed "hello, Grandmother, this is Brian calling," they would repeat this, but I always called her "Mamaw" instead of "Grandmother." I guess I should start fingerspelling it?
 
interpreter said:
I find it extremely frustrating. It seems the callers are becoming more angry and impatient.

I also want to put out there that you see us before we see you. Please wait until we say hello before you start signing.
Click to expand...

That's true with one company but not with another. I'm assuming you work at sorenson :P


Brian- If you want them to specifically say Mamaw then yes, tell the terp before the call connects that you'd like to address your grandmother as Mamaw.


I was considering making a thread like this recently.. but with more of a general topic I suppose?

I'm curious what good and bad vrs experiences everyone has had.


I've made calls through an interpreter and been frustrated when they didn't quite relay the mood I was trying to convey. I wanted my honey to be called honey and sweetie and that kind of stuff... the terp completely omitted the lovey names. I was disappointed. I understood maybe terp is under pressure or first day who knows.. but still disappointed.

On the other end, when I'm working @ the vrs WHEW BOY the things you can come across. One minute someone is telling you you're the best thing ever and the next someone is chewing you out like no tmw and threatening to 'report' you.

I just wish Deaf & terp could work together. I get the feeling now and then that the Deaf I'm interpreting for has had a terp burn them before.. and because of that they treat me with less courtesy and respect than I individually have already earned. It's really frustrating. I want successful and complete communication to happen but they don't trust that.. for some reason they think I want to skew their message? *sighs*

I'd like your perspective on this, everyone.
 
You don't have to give complete instructions, but it's helpful to know if you're calling your sister, tech support, your lawyer, etc. Just puts us in the right frame of mind for the call. :)

I usually voice what you describe as "grandma" but if you call her "Mamaw" then do let the terp know that in advance, if it's important to you.
 
Thanks, Hen and Etoile. :) I think it would be a little too much to ask the operators to do this and that. My grandmother knows signs (not fluently though) - she should know what I mean/meant. :)
 
Honestly I like being told your preferences. I want to make you, the customer happy.

Being told the context of the call helps me get my mind in that place. It makes the process more clear.

An example of why giving context is important..

If a woman calls in and tells you she wants member spending services... and it ends up being La Leche League that you connect with on the phone you'll know you had your context wrong and in turn interpreted incorrectly. Having a little more information on what the general topic will be can sometimes immensely reduce possible misunderstandings/misinterpretations.
 
Melissa123 said:
Hi, Just a question. I work as an Interpreter for a VRS company and as an interpreter I'm required to answer the deaf person by saying "Hi, thank you for calling video relay company, I'm interpreter xxxx, would you like me to call now?" Lately it seems I cant even say "Hi,..." and the deaf person interrupts me say "call cable company" or "call mom." Just seems rude to interupt when all i'm trying to do it say "thank you for calling :)" If you call bank, bank answers "Hi, thank you for calling the bank, my name is Jane Doe, can I help you" and people dont interrupt the bank person, it is RUDE. Any thoughts??
Click to expand...

sorry to hear. It's not that we're rude and unappreciative of your service but we just know the same old drill. If you want to know what's it like - how do you feel every time you turn on tv, it goes thru intro - "Hi, thank you for using Time Warner cable service. What channel would you like to watch now?" You just want to get straight to channel when you turn on tv, right?

:cool2:
 
I just started using VRS recently, and never knew the "rules" of etiquette. I try to be polite and wait for the interpreter to do his/her introduction, and make a point of thanking him/her for their services. Even if they're having a bad day, they're making my communication so much easier. And they forgive my bad days, I hope.

Reading through the posts has taught me a lot. I don't typically tell the terp who I'm calling or introduce a name preference. Thanks for the suggestions. I am equally responsible for the ease of communication. I would love to hear more suggestions about using relay or live terps more effectively.

Thanks, all!
 
I really think VRS's need to change the greetings. Sometimes its toooo long, sometime its just fine. Even though its the same greeting. I for one sometimes have need just to make a quick call and dont have time to dispense with the pleasantaries. :roll: I can see the terp Id on the screen so i dont need you to tell me your terp ID via sign. Tell your bosses that and see if they can revise the required greeting. Is it really necessary for you to know who i am calling to ?
 
radioman said:
I really think VRS's need to change the greetings. Sometimes its toooo long, sometime its just fine. Even though its the same greeting. I for one sometimes have need just to make a quick call and dont have time to dispense with the pleasantaries. :roll: I can see the terp Id on the screen so i dont need you to tell me your terp ID via sign. Tell your bosses that and see if they can revise the required greeting. Is it really necessary for you to know who i am calling to ?
Click to expand...

This is the kind of complaint you have to file yourself. Either email or call the company, they will have a formal procedure for handling complaints.
 
radioman said:
Is it really necessary for you to know who i am calling to ?
Click to expand...

I am still using good ol' TTY myself (though planning on switching to VP very soon! Even when I use TTY i make sure to start of the relay call with..."Hello my name is Jenny, I would like to call Dr._____, and _______hopsital. The number is _________. There will be an automated system and I need to speak with the _______ department first in order to get to Dr. _______"...That was just an example, I call people who aren't doctors too. I do this so the relay operator is prepared for the call the are about to relay.

Now think about an interpreter. They need to interpret between languages, not just read written English (or whatever other language). The wording they use when interpreting may differ depending on the context, and as others have explained before it is very helpful for the interpreter to know a bit of background.

Think of an interpreter in a face-face job. You book an interpreter for 11:00am on Monday morning, and tell them to go to such and such address. That is all the info they are given. They show up and they are interpreting a 4th year University physics class, with no preperation. That isn't fair at all and I would hope no one would do that (unless they REALLY hated the interpreter!). Why would you do that to a VRS interpreter?
 
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