We dont take relay calls, piss off

I had this happen to me many times,even before the BS nigerian scammers were well onto the scene.These days,if I use SIP relay or typing on the computer,I use the "operators instructions" and fill that out before making the call.I tell the relay not to ID them as a relay since most hearing people have no clue what this is and hang up.

Since using the operators instruction box to tell relay to not ID themselves,most calls dont get hang ups anymore.Its suxs but its what I been doing to stay on the line.

Btw my wife has called the relay a few times to leave me a message and she always got a foreigner that she could barely understand the english they were speaking on the phone.That can be a factor in some calls...not syaing its everywhere,but dont be suprised if the relay OP who takes your call sounds like shes from France or Bosnia,hence the hang ups people assume its a foreign scammer.
 
The operators serving Montana Relay were for the most part angels and fierce advocates for the deaf. They worked the prevailing systems to get my calls through.

My problem with relay calls is that no business or government agency EVER returned a call, even when they promised they would be different and call back with whatever information I needed.
 
A lot of relay companies are driven by the profit motive of the government subsidies for relay services. It's a good thing, because the U.S. is the most advanced country in the world for relay services (and the envy of me Canadians). Unfortunately that means they make it too easy for large numbers of anonymous individuals to use the relay services, which leads to lots of abuse. More money in relay company pockets, but more abuse.

Unfortunately, I have been witnessing that many businesses are reluctant to take relay calls, even certain businesses in Canada.

Now that the relay service system is a lot more mature, the subsidy system needs to be revamped to be linked to the fraud ratio somehow; the fewer fraud calls, the higher-per-minute the government will subsidize that particular relay company's calls.

Unfortunately, this could prove impossible to police because there are many relay calls that relay operators are not always 100% sure if is nigeran fraud or not. (i.e. a deaf Canadian caller like me travelling in U.S., calling a U.S. phone number, thorugh IP relay -- many IP relay services let me do that, for example - and I happen to be calling my bank company about my own banking account.)
 
every call center is different, apparently. and javapride is right that education is a two way street.
 
UGGH !! no matter which relay service we use, no matter how we try to make a simple call as a customer, WE are already victims of scammers, telemarketers, etc before we even lift a finger to make the call. Nothing get my blood to a boiling point froma simple phone call. Even those businesses or gov/t that says oh we have a TTY line and when we try to use it (if we still have the dinosaurs machines still working from the basement since VRS) I find that TTY lines have no one manning the line and we never get a response even if we leave a message. SIGH! It must be nice to be blind - you can claim tax break on your 1040 forms. Must be nice to be in wheelchairs since they have mandatory access like ramps, elevators, specail voting machines etc. paid by business or government. We deaf have to buy the high speed internet, we have to put up with rude service from businesses for simple phone calls, we have to put up with automated phone service that ends too quicklyh before we can make a choice. We even have to buy tvs for VP's, buy flashers for vp, phones, alarms, doorbell, smoke alarm etc. Do WE get a tax break on this NNNOOOOO! sigh! CRAP!!! All we get is FCC is paying for VRS. FCC paid for tty services from the beginning too and then passed it off to state to be responsible for the services. Will FCC do the same for VRS? they tried !!! they are still reducing the cost per min and all VRS's are fighting for us. That's all we get!!

thanks for letting me rant on today . whew ! fI feel better getting this off my chest.:D
 
radioman said:
It must be nice to be blind - you can claim tax break on your 1040 forms...We deaf have to buy the high speed internet, we have to put up with rude service from businesses for simple phone calls, we have to put up with automated phone service that ends too quicklyh before we can make a choice. We even have to buy tvs for VP's, buy flashers for vp, phones, alarms, doorbell, smoke alarm etc. Do WE get a tax break on this NNNOOOOO! sigh! CRAP!!! All we get is FCC is paying for VRS. FCC paid for tty services from the beginning too and then passed it off to state to be responsible for the services. Will FCC do the same for VRS? they tried !!! they are still reducing the cost per min and all VRS's are fighting for us. That's all we get!!
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as someone who was born totally blind, let me tell you it is no picnic being blind either. it's not just a matter of getting tax breaks because we have to fight for so much more. we need to hire mail readers to read our mail to us and other information which means that our privacy is invaded. we also don't have access to newspapers and magazines (a majority of them aren't available through the national library service for the blind and physically handicapped) and therefore must also pay for internet services if we want access to online newspapers and publications. if we *do* want internet services, many of us have to find other ways of getting adaptive computers equipped with expensive screen readers (which can cost $700-$800) or if we also have a significant hearing loss and cannot use speech, we also need to find a way to receive a braille display. (vocational rehabilitation is an option here, but remember that most blind people are on subsidized incomes and aren't in college.) if we move to a new neighborhood or city, we oftentimes need to hire an o&m (orientation and mobility) travel instructor to help familiarize us with our environment. we face a 70% unemployment rate. if we want adaptive equipment, 95% of it is *very* expensive and cannot be covered by insurance or vocational rehabilitation.

by the way, you don't have to pay for local phone calls like blind people do. as you mentioned, the fcc pays for relay, so the cost of your calls (and mine as a deafblind person) are covered.

i know my post is a little off-topic, but i thought i'd chime in to let you know that it's not easy having *any* kind of disability.

remember, it's always easy to think the other person has it better -- until you've had to walk a mile in their shoes.
 
radioman said:
It must be nice to be blind - you can claim tax break on your 1040 forms. Must be nice to be in wheelchairs since they have mandatory access like ramps, elevators, specail voting machines etc. paid by business or government.
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Lots of places have no braille on their signs. Lots of places don't have ramps or wheelchair access of any kind. My university for example, is seriously lacking in both of those areas. In the end it evens out.
 
Nika said:
Lots of places have no braille on their signs. Lots of places don't have ramps or wheelchair access of any kind. My university for example, is seriously lacking in both of those areas. In the end it evens out.
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i agree with you nika about braille signage. my university has braille signage, but not inside every building on campus. some is better than none though. i'd also love to see braille signage on bus stops.

by the way, some of the businesses that do have braille signage do not follow the correct rules of usage so the signs end up having lots of errors in them.
 
Hear Again said:
as someone who was born totally blind, let me tell you it is no picnic being blind either. it's not just a matter of getting tax breaks because we have to fight for so much more. we need to hire mail readers to read our mail to us and other information which means that our privacy is invaded. we also don't have access to newspapers and magazines (a majority of them aren't available through the national library service for the blind and physically handicapped) and therefore must also pay for internet services if we want access to online newspapers and publications. if we *do* want internet services, many of us have to find other ways of getting adaptive computers equipped with expensive screen readers (which can cost $700-$800) or if we also have a significant hearing loss and cannot use speech, we also need to find a way to receive a braille display. (vocational rehabilitation is an option here, but remember that most blind people are on subsidized incomes and aren't in college.) if we move to a new neighborhood or city, we oftentimes need to hire an o&m (orientation and mobility) travel instructor to help familiarize us with our environment. we face a 70% unemployment rate. if we want adaptive equipment, 95% of it is *very* expensive and cannot be covered by insurance or vocational rehabilitation.

by the way, you don't have to pay for local phone calls like blind people do. as you mentioned, the fcc pays for relay, so the cost of your calls (and mine as a deafblind person) are covered.

i know my post is a little off-topic, but i thought i'd chime in to let you know that it's not easy having *any* kind of disability.

remember, it's always easy to think the other person has it better -- until you've had to walk a mile in their shoes.
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I always thought blind people had more access to their community than deaf people do because of the lack of communication barriers?
 
Hear Again said:
i agree with you nika about braille signage.
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I noticed that too, with the errors. My university has some braille, but usually only for big rooms (like auditoriums) and not for classrooms. My friends have also pointed out to me that in one of the buildings there was braille on the top of the door frame. Gotta be pretty tall to reach that, haha. Maybe they should put the braille signs on the ceiling. <laugh>
 
shel90 said:
I always thought blind people had more access to their community than deaf people
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It's true blind-hearing share a language in common with surrounding sighted community. At the same time, blindness can be a real isolator. Lots of people straight up ignore me in casual conversation, such as asking my friend questions about me. So I think in the end it really Blindness in a sighted world is just a different experience from Deafness in a hearing world.

Back to relay calls...
 
I usually use i711 for call to check my paratransit ride, they knew 'Internet 711" on my sidekick cellphone, (Metro Council President ordered paratransit companies accept the i711, not the IP-Relay).
 
Nika said:
It's true blind-hearing share a language in common with surrounding sighted community. At the same time, blindness can be a real isolator. Lots of people straight up ignore me in casual conversation, such as asking my friend questions about me. So I think in the end it really Blindness in a sighted world is just a different experience from Deafness in a hearing world.

Back to relay calls...
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i agree with you there, nika. while it is true that hearing-blind people do have access to communication, it doesn't always guarantee that a sighted person *will* communicate with them. i know i've also been in situations where i've tried to initiate a conversation, but have been rudely ignored. even after i've told the person i wish to speak to that i'm talking to them, they still react with total silence thinking that i won't know they are there even though i know differently. it can be very frustrating. like you said, it's just a different experience of being ignored compared to those who are deaf or hoh.
 
Nika said:
I noticed that too, with the errors. My university has some braille, but usually only for big rooms (like auditoriums) and not for classrooms. My friends have also pointed out to me that in one of the buildings there was braille on the top of the door frame. Gotta be pretty tall to reach that, haha. Maybe they should put the braille signs on the ceiling. <laugh>
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<laughing> i know! i was going to mention the fact that some braille signage is placed so high you can't even reach it.

unfortunately, most businesses don't realize that there are across-the-board standards for braille signage that they need to follow.

braille signs on the ceiling! yeah, right! <laughing>

sorry for diverting this thread.

back on topic. <smile>
 
shel90 said:
I always thought blind people had more access to their community than deaf people do because of the lack of communication barriers?
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i'd just like to say one more thing if i may. blind people do face communication barriers just as deaf and hoh people do, but in a different way. we also experience visual barriers meaning that we need sighted people (or orientation and mobility instructors) to familiarize us with new environments. construction and winter travel also aren't easy to deal with nor do we have access to services in areas where there are no cabs or public transportation (unless we can find a driver), so it all evens out in the end. it's just a matter of your perspective. <smile>
 
Hear Again said:
i'd just like to say one more thing if i may. blind people do face communication barriers just as deaf and hoh people do, but in a different way. we also experience visual barriers meaning that we need sighted people (or orientation and mobility instructors) to familiarize us with new environments. construction and winter travel also aren't easy to deal with nor do we have access to services in areas where there are no cabs or public transportation (unless we can find a driver), so it all evens out in the end. it's just a matter of your perspective. <smile>
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HearAgain and Nika...thanks for helping me understand better. I appreciate it! My ignorance about blindless has lessened thanks to the both of you! :wave:
 
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