IP Relay service phone call transcript - an example of frustration and humor

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rushabh

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This is a transcript of the SEVENTH IP relay service call I made to the same number in as many minutes:
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Operator: SPRINT IP 0140F DIALING 253-572-2118 THE number YOU ARE CALLING DOES NOT ACCEPT UNIDENTIFIED CALLS IF YOU ARE A SOLICITOR please HANG UP NOW OTHERWISE please ENTER THE 10 DIGIT telephone number YOU ARE CALLING FROM (F) (RECORDING HUNG UP) GA
User: (opr, pls redial and enter 206 771 0052 as the number i'm calling from GA)
Operator: (RECORDING PLAYING) (ENTERING INFO) (ONE MOMENT PLS) RINGING 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... (M)
User: Hello, i
Operator: HELLO
User: am calling about the sea ray boat. is it still available for sale? GA
Operator: NO AND I DONT KNOW WHO IS CALLING AND IF THEY DONT SAY WHO IT IS YOU NNED XXX NEED TO STOP MY number FROM COMING through I DONT WANT THESE MOTHER FUCKERS CALLING ALL THE TIME YOU NEED TO STOP FUCKING CALLING MY MOTHER FUCKING HOUSE (PERSON HUNG UP) SR 0140F GA OR SK
User: (OPR< pls redial and before the person has a chance to respond, please explain to the person that this is a deaf person calling about the sea ray boat GA)
Operator: (REDIALING) (RECORDING PLAYING) (ENTERING INFO) (ONE MOMENT PLS) RINGING 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... (M) HELLO DONT KEEP calling MY HOUSE (RELAYING message ) DONT KEEP TALKING WHILE IM TRYING TO TALK WHY YOU GUYS KEEP calling MY HOUSE (PERSON HUNG UP) SR 0140F GA OR SK
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So in a nutshell, I called this number to inquire about a boat that was posted on Craigslist (the Craigslist post had the guy's phone number). He keeps hanging up the phone after finding out it is a IP relay service.

This is an example of frustration many deaf users of IP relay service have with calling hearing users who don't know anything about deaf people.

Just for kicks and giggles, I kept calling this guy just to piss him off. It is in the seventh call above that he started cussing out the operator.

Any suggestions as to how to deal with idiots like this guy?
 
I've had that happened to me couple of times and certainly, I was frustrated like you too.

Sometime I find it easier making the conversation transitions go smoothly when I ask the relay operator nicely not to state that "This is a relay, blah blah". You can give it a try.

Oftentime, These people who are not aware of a relay service always usually mistake them for marketing which does not make things easier. I know, it sucks but yeah.
 
Jolie77 said:
I've had that happened to me couple of times and certainly, I was frustrated like you too.

Sometime I find it easier making the conversation transitions go smoothly when I ask the relay operator nicely not to state that "This is a relay, blah blah". You can give it a try.

Oftentime, These people who are not aware of a relay service always usually mistake them for marketing which does not make things easier. I know, it sucks but yeah.
Click to expand...

I did actually ask the relay operator not to explain relay and stuff but the other caller just keeps cussing the operator out or keeps hanging up on me.

He sounded a lot like a hillybilly, using words like "y'all" and "ain't" and stuff like that.
 
Yes that does happened to me few times . Some of them thinks it's a long distance call and don't want to pay for it ..the Relay Operator tried to explain to the caller but the caller would hang up on me .
 
I have the same frustrations. I used IP Relay last year to schedule an appointment with my academic advisor to get me set up for classes. I called and got the secretary of the English Department at ATU. She hung up on me and said she cannot accept marketing calls. I got fed up and went down there in person which is a 45 minute drive, chewed out the secretary, she apologized and got me set up straight away with my advisor. I think after seeing the person trying to make contact for legitimate reasons she was embarrassed.

Then I called American Eagle Outfitters using relay, no problem. I would have thought that American Eagle would have hung up on me, not ATU.

I'm willing to read some humorous relay calls. Of course a lot of these funny calls are at the expense of the poor operator assigned to take the call, but I'm sure some operators have had experiences where they wanted to burst out laughing.
 
I get this all the time. I can't count the countless number of times I've been hung up on no matter where/what the scenario. It certainly does get frustrating after a while.
 
Same problem here whenever I make a relay call (via TTY)....Years and years of "cursing and hang up" etc....I've even had to ask my son to make a call for me since they would not "accept long distance calls" or they just hung up! Pisses me off to no end, and I, in turn, call them back and cuss them out!

Also, (and it's still happening)...whenever the phone rings, and my boys answer it, the caller will ask for me, and when my boys say, "She is deaf. May I take a msg. and she will call you back via the Fla. Relay"?.....they automatically "hang up"!

And to top it off.....we deafies never know when we're gonna get a "good speaking" operator!....My sister told me one time, that the relay operator "stuttered" so much she could not understand the man!....And one relay operator had a "very heavy accent" that was too hard to understand.....and also.....some relay operators get names, numbers and even conversations messed up!.....And you never know!....when you ask the relay operator to pls. leave a msg/. ....and they redial, and then say "ur msg. left."......So many times they're lieing!

And...how about the "lazy relay operators"?....The ones that repeatedly say over and over..."ur msg. is garbled"...."ur msg. is garbled".....so I've hung up and redialed to get another operator, and they took my call with no problem!

But here's one of the worst! (for me)....my carrier is Comcast...and when I make a LD call, I give the number to call and say "Comcast pls," (my carrier).....they will proceed to dial the number from Sprint!....Then tell me "you don't have an account with Sprint, ur call cannot be dialed"........I tell the operator AGAIN, my carrier is Comcast.....so she redials, and the same thing, over and over!......I tell the relay opr. "let me speak to ur supervisor"!.......She comes on the phone and says..."OH we're sorry, the relay opr. should have pushed Comcast".........one moment pls.!

I've complained and complained to the Relay Supervisors for years about this!....They don't train the relay operators!.....So..it goes on and on and on!
 
AlleyCat said:
I get this all the time. I can't count the countless number of times I've been hung up on no matter where/what the scenario. It certainly does get frustrating after a while.
Click to expand...

The key is to keep calling back over and over again until it gets through the other person's thick head that a deaf person is trying to reach them.

Worse comes to worse, if that call is really important, then have a hearing person call that person, chew him out over the phone about his/her behavior, get him/her to promise to accept a relay call THEN call that person through the relay service.

But what I don't get is why people automatically assume that relay calls are marketing calls even though the operator presumably mentions that it is a deaf caller. Perhaps the IP relay services need to change their greetings to be more sensitive to the other party's ignorance about deaf technologies?
 
That is why I do not use IP relay at all, I quit using it long time ago. Im sticking with Videophone and I almost never had problem like this with Videophone.

Here is the truth, it is really annoying to plenty of hearing people who had to go though slowpoke IP relay or TTY relay. Most of them don't have patience.

If you want to test call this person again though VRS, you will be surprised how it goes though.

Complaining to relay supervisor will go to dead end road, trust me, complaining to relay operators and FCC will not work, why? There are plenty of hearing people that don't even fucking understand what Deaf is, they think everybody CAN hear and speak.

By the way, I did check in your area CL and couldn't find the one that fits in description, only that this guy is selling ford pu truck, see link http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/1200039918.html this makes me wondering if you are calling at the wrong person.

DHB
 
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When I use IP relay, I ask the CA to voice "Please do not hang up. I am not a telemarketer. I am deafblind and am using a relay service for the deaf and hard of hearing to make this phone call" to the hearing person I am speaking to. In the 14 years I've used relay, I've only had a handful of people hang up on me.
 
diehardbiker said:
By the way, I did check in your area CL and couldn't find the one that fits in description, only that this guy is selling ford pu truck, see link 1999 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer this makes me wondering if you are calling at the wrong person.

DHB
Click to expand...

This guy seems to be selling a lot of things on CL. Here is the listing where I got his phone number:


1979 SeaRay 17'

The funny thing is that he isn't even the one selling the boat - someone else is and he gave me their phone number and that other person accepted the relay call as if she had done it before. Go figure.
 
Hear Again said:
When I use IP relay, I ask the CA to voice "Please do not hang up. I am not a telemarketer. I am deafblind and am using a relay service for the deaf and hard of hearing to make this phone call" to the hearing person I am speaking to. In the 14 years I've used relay, I've only had a handful of people hang up on me.
Click to expand...

Why doesn't the relay service make this or something similar the standard greeting? If people hang up so many times, it would indicate a poor introduction to the relay service on the part of the relay service. Any thoughts?
 
I would e mail that seller instead, or the fact that it is revenge of somebody else to harass this person with that telephone number. Either way, who knows... they are undergoing divorce... Perhaps that is part reason why he got divorced... attitudes

rushabh said:
This guy seems to be selling a lot of things on CL. Here is the listing where I got his phone number:


1979 SeaRay 17'

The funny thing is that he isn't even the one selling the boat - someone else is and he gave me their phone number and that other person accepted the relay call as if she had done it before. Go figure.
Click to expand...
 
diehardbiker said:
I would e mail that seller instead, or the fact that it is revenge of somebody else to harass this person with that telephone number. Either way, who knows... they are undergoing divorce... Perhaps that is part reason why he got divorced... attitudes
Click to expand...
Email with the deaf person's anger will make them think again and have a wtf moment, and apologize.
 
rushabh said:
Why doesn't the relay service make this or something similar the standard greeting? If people hang up so many times, it would indicate a poor introduction to the relay service on the part of the relay service. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why, but what you could do is ask the CA to add this to your customer profile. I don't know if all IP relay services do this, but it's worth asking the one you use for more information.
 
Nah, post that transcription on craigslist, this is gonna to wake up alot people.

If you do, please remove your telephone number

JClarke said:
Email with the deaf person's anger will make them think again and have a wtf moment, and apologize.
Click to expand...
 
rushabh said:
This is a transcript of the SEVENTH IP relay service call I made to the same number in as many minutes:
-------------------------------
Operator: SPRINT IP 0140F DIALING 253-572-2118 THE number YOU ARE CALLING DOES NOT ACCEPT UNIDENTIFIED CALLS IF YOU ARE A SOLICITOR please HANG UP NOW OTHERWISE please ENTER THE 10 DIGIT telephone number YOU ARE CALLING FROM (F) (RECORDING HUNG UP) GA
User: (opr, pls redial and enter 206 771 0052 as the number i'm calling from GA)
Operator: (RECORDING PLAYING) (ENTERING INFO) (ONE MOMENT PLS) RINGING 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... (M)
User: Hello, i
Operator: HELLO
User: am calling about the sea ray boat. is it still available for sale? GA
Operator: NO AND I DONT KNOW WHO IS CALLING AND IF THEY DONT SAY WHO IT IS YOU NNED XXX NEED TO STOP MY number FROM COMING through I DONT WANT THESE MOTHER FUCKERS CALLING ALL THE TIME YOU NEED TO STOP FUCKING CALLING MY MOTHER FUCKING HOUSE (PERSON HUNG UP) SR 0140F GA OR SK
User: (OPR< pls redial and before the person has a chance to respond, please explain to the person that this is a deaf person calling about the sea ray boat GA)
Operator: (REDIALING) (RECORDING PLAYING) (ENTERING INFO) (ONE MOMENT PLS) RINGING 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... (M) HELLO DONT KEEP calling MY HOUSE (RELAYING message ) DONT KEEP TALKING WHILE IM TRYING TO TALK WHY YOU GUYS KEEP calling MY HOUSE (PERSON HUNG UP) SR 0140F GA OR SK
------------------------------------

So in a nutshell, I called this number to inquire about a boat that was posted on Craigslist (the Craigslist post had the guy's phone number). He keeps hanging up the phone after finding out it is a IP relay service.

This is an example of frustration many deaf users of IP relay service have with calling hearing users who don't know anything about deaf people.

Just for kicks and giggles, I kept calling this guy just to piss him off. It is in the seventh call above that he started cussing out the operator.

Any suggestions as to how to deal with idiots like this guy?
Click to expand...

Why don't you call that guy back, as soon as he picks up, immediately start cussing at him (tell the relay operator beforehand what you're gonna do and not to bother announcing relay and to use a VERY LOUD voice!). Cuss him out til he hangs up. Give him a taste of his own medicine, hmm? :D
 
It happens to me often when I call a place that isn't familiar with relay calls. The most common assumption they have is that those relay calls are solicitors. :roll:
 
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