This was sort of amazing

[Alpo]

I just got off the chat with Amazon's customer service. They always tell you what their name is when they start the chat. This name was not your normal American name.

 

When it first started everything was in absolute correct English spelled correctly. Like they have a little button to push - I apologize for the inconvenience - that sort of thing.

 

But if we got deeper into the chat, occasionally there would be a misspelling, and occasionally there would be a phraseology that was not American English.

 

But he (or she - if the name was Sally I would know it was a girl and if it was Frank I would know if the boy, but I don't know what that name was) seems to have solved my problem. I hope.

 

And in the feedback, after the chat was over, it had the standard

Was he helpful

Was he sympathetic

Was he understanding

 

But they had a new one

 

Was he easy to understand

 

Now I'm assuming that my chat was with somebody on the subcontinent. But that's all right because I could read what was being written. But if I had chosen a phone call, again, I am sure, it would have come from the subcontinent. Trying to understand an East Indian accent.

 

"Was he easy to understand?"

 

Amazon finally has decided to wake up and smell the coffee.

 

I do not understand why they put people on the telephone that have an accent that nobody in this country can understand, or they speak so quietly you can't hear what they're saying, or they speak so fast you can't separate one word from another.

 

But that's a rant for another day.

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 hours ago, Alpo said:

or they speak so quietly you can't hear what they're saying, or they speak so fast you can't separate one word from another

 

When I encounter that I bluntly tell the person,  "I can't understand anything you say.  I  have tinnitus, and with your accent and talking in a fast whisper it's impossibke for ne to understand you. Please talk slowly and loudly."  

 

If it's still an issue after that I  just say, "I still can't understand you.   Goodbye."  Then hang up. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

7 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

If it's still an issue after that I  just say, "I still can't understand you.   Goodbye."  Then hang up. 

I’ve done that.

[Pat Riot]

I called Amazon about a few months ago about something I cannot remember now, but I was connected with a woman that had a very weird accent. She sounded like a Vietnamese woman with a French accent with marbles in her mouth. Weird.
Anyway I could not understand her. I told her that I could not understand her and I heard what I thought was “I am reconnecting you”. A moment later I was connected to a woman with a very slight latina accent and I understood her perfectly. 

A “customer satisfaction survey” showed up in my mailbox to rate my transaction, but there were no questions about the first lady, only the second. 
Perhaps they’re upping their game now. 

Edited November 30 by Pat Riot
Duh-ness

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

I have always had very good experiences with the Amazon online chat feature. It is quicker than phone calls and, for me, has resulted in satisfactory resolutions of the issue at hand. 

[bgavin]

Her: < obsequious baloney in heavy Indian accent > My name is Debby.  What is your name?

Me:  < in heavy Indian accent >  My name is Rakesh Kendalwall

Her: < in heavy Indian accent >  I am not of thinking your name is Rakesh

Me:  < in heavy Indian accent > And I am not of thinking your name is Debby

Her: < click off >

 

BTW, this was with Dell Support.
Amazon customer service has ALWAYS been excellent for me.

Edited November 30 by bgavin

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I made a call to att customer service. After that I got a survey and rated the service 10/10.  The next day I learned that nothing had been done. Now I do not immediately answer such surveys.

[Alpo]

I bought a sizing die off of eBay. I thought it was carbide. It was steel. I got in touch with the seller, to complain. He told me that he didn't say it was carbide. I told him that was correct. But the picture showed the die next to a box that said carbide sizing die. That seemed like fraud.

 

He said he would send me a carbide die. And I send him the steel die back. And he would refund my shipping on sending the steel die back.

 

He sent me the carbide die. I boxed up the steel die and send it back, and then I gave him good feedback because he solved the problem.

 

He did not refund my shipping for sending the steel die back. And I had already given him good feedback.

 

Now I wait until everything is taken care of to my satisfaction before I give feedback.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I no longer answer calls the Caller ID show no name for, just the number. As these are always scam or spoof calls, for a while I spoofed them back.

I recorded "The Screaming Chinese Lady" from calls I was getting and turned it on when I answered the scammer.

We pulled a good one once at the range. 

My cell phone buzzed and I noticed the "V" prefix before the telephone number they were spoofing, so Tom and I staged the sound of a gunfight c/w yells and warnings.

 

[John Kloehr]

Some I can identity, Sirius XM wants me to sign up now at $4 per month. I won't do it if the rate goes to $20 or $40 after the teaser period, just not important enough to go through the sign up then cancel later with a rinse and repeat. If they gave me $10 per year forever, I would probably sign up. Anyway, they always call from the same number (so far) so it is in my address book and set to silent.

 

Chase bank. This number is set up the same in my address book. This one is more complicated. It is either Chase bank trying to get me to sign up for the Apple credit card or is is spoofed from a bill collection agency trying to collect debts from previous "owners" of my phone number.

 

There are a few others.

 

But setting numbers to not make audible rings is just a convenience for me, I rarely answer any unknown callers. I do have to make rare exceptions when for instance expecting a service tech for a home system. Unfortunately, individual legitimate callers do not have the ability to spoof their employer's number so I do sometimes have to answer.

 

If asked for my name, I ask who is calling. If they ask for anyone other than me, I say they no longer have this number and to remove it from their list. Then hang up, often in the middle of a followup question. Snippets seem to be along the lines of if I know how to reach them.

 

I ignore a couple dozen calls a month, and if they do not leave a voice mail, it must not have been worth answering. Of the ones who do leave voice mails, maybe one in ten is a legitimate caller.

 

We no longer live in the time where we had to haul ass to the kitchen when the phone started ringing.

 

 

Edited December 1 by John Kloehr
Teaser, not Taser. But for one I like Otto's thinking

[John Kloehr]

 

Anyway, back on topic, at least sort of...

 

Way back met the parents of a nephew-in-laws wife parents. Indians from India, but reasonably americanized. And the topic somehow got to call centers, specifically Dell.

 

And with an Indian accent, I parodied a call...

 

"Hello, thank you for calling Dell technical support today, my name is" (at this point seeing obvious offense developing in the dad's eyes) "George," (he absolutely busted up laughing in total hysterics nodding 'yes' at this point) "how may I assist you today?"

 

Then expressing the next thing would be explaining the problem, the response (again in an Indian accent) would be "I'm so sorry you are experiencing a problem with your Dell product today, I will do my best to assist you in resolving the issue."

 

Yes, yes, yes, I nailed it! Indian accent, american name, and the apology with the offer of assistance. I made a friend that day.

[Eyesa Horg]

We have the same offers from Syrius, was free in the new truck for 90 days. I concur with the $10, but nope!

We go in spurts with the POS spammers. Been quiet for a few days, only half dozen a day! When they get busy, it drives you insane! The worst day ever was 42 counted on the caller ID, with the ringer shut off. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

My gripe is with them hiring people who DON'T have any accents, but some little girl (there are male versions, too, but not as often) with a squeaky Minnie Mouse voice and who talks so softly I can't hear what is being said.

 

[John Kloehr]

Many phone calls coming in are marked "Potential Spam" so I don't answer them. The way a number gets marked as potential spam is the spammers spoof a legitimate number.

 

Short side story to get to the point... my water bill started going up some months ago. First thought the increase was due to use by the lady keeping horses on my land. Then the bill went up again a lot!. Started investigating, figured out the service line between the meter and my house had rotted through, and was leaking more every month. Got estimates, got it fixed. Not cheap.

 

A friend suggested calling the water company for a bill adjustment. I was skeptical as the leak was after the meter, but worth a call to ask. It turns out they do have a program, the nice lady told me how to apply and I did so.

 

And a call came in yesterday, Verizon marking it as potential spam so I ignored it. The caller left a voice mail, it was the water company with a proposed adjustment to my bill! I go to call the number and realize that it is the same number as the potential spam call...

 

The spammers are or have in the past been spoofing the water companies phone number. Folks have then reported the spam calls and now the number is poisoned.

 

Combine this event with Salt Typhoon (recent news on it, congressional hearing on the calendar, maybe worth a google) which is an identified hacker group and has been in the cellular network for at least 4 years and has still not been kicked out!

 

Have you had a feeling spam calls come in seconds before a legitimate call, or soon after making a call, this is probably the reason why. At this point, assume bad actors have a good database of everyone who regularly calls everyone else. A big attack would be to spoof your friends and families phone numbers with any and all bogus calls.

 

The attack goes far beyond metadata (calling number, destination number, time and date, length of communication) as "exfiltration" of content (texts, voice mails, and calls) is documented. I'm not a big fan of the phrase, but stay frosty, my friends. At this time, there is no solution to keeping these and other hackers out of the network.

[Eyesa Horg]

I've gotten several calls from ME according to caller ID. Generally a couple dozen spam calls per day although it's been pretty quiet for the last few days.

[Subdeacon Joe]

12 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

At this point, assume bad actors have a good database of everyone who regularly calls everyone else.

 

My working assumption is that doing anything online,  over the phone,  or using a card in a store is the same as walking on a public sidewalk - there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.   Any transmission of electrons is being monitored or mined in some way.  The only thing that you can do to be 100% sure of your security is to not use a cell phone,  not have a bank account,  not use a computer that is connected to the internet, do all your shopping in person and pay in cash.  

[John Kloehr]

There are also databases of names associated with numbers. Some published by the carriers 9your name is not private). The database used by local 911 services has a different name associated with my number even though Verizon does have the correct info in their published database.

 

One of the reasons I do not answer calls is bill collectors looking for that other person, was surprised to find it in the 911 data source. No way to fix it for "operational reasons."

[John Kloehr]

1 minute ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

My working assumption is that doing anything online,  over the phone,  or using a card in a store is the same as walking on a public sidewalk - there is no reasonable expectation of privacy...

 

NO! There is a reasonable expectation of privacy and violation of it is a crime. But I do see refining your point is to recognize every bit of communication done over the networks is likely compromised and to act accordingly and protect yourself as best possible.

 

Using a card in the store... Use ATM cards at your bank and nowhere else.  If using plastic, use a charge card. Much better protections when disputing a charge. It is removed until proven legitimate rather than refunded when proven bogus.

[Subdeacon Joe]

9 minutes ago, John Kloehr said:

But I do see refining your point is to recognize every bit of communication done over the networks is likely compromised and to act accordingly and protect yourself as best possible.

 

Exactly what I was trying to say.   I have a LEGAL expectation of privacy, but from a real world point of view it's not a reasonable expectation.