Ah, yes. The famous tech support calls to people in India that speak English but with a strong Indian accent. I was wondering about American accents being difficult for UK residents to understand.

The Indian people or African people that often do the tech support? I agree that THEY ARE HARD *ahem* to understand. Very hard actually. BTW, I did not realize that you were hard of hearing tawneywolf, so excuse me for being insensitive and jumping to conclusions.

Even for people with perfect hearing like me, people who speak English as a second, third etc. language are often very hard to understand and I find myself saying "HUH" a million times. They are used to it and slow down and explain carefully.

I suppose perhaps her IP has been K-lined or something. I got banned from Hotmail after my account was hacked and someone was sending spam with it. To unlock it I had to call their thing and get a special code to get into my account to change my password.

I could do nothing else until I unlocked it via a code only given via phone. THE ONLY WAY it could be done, so I know what she is talking about. Happens when they suspect a security breach or you got banned or something. They lock it down tight and the only way to get it back is via a code given in a phone call.

Suppose that is the trouble she is having and being unable to hear properly is why she has not wasted time trying to figure it out yet. I do not use Ebay BTW, only Amazon.

You're OK, you're not being insensitive, you didn't know.
Not a big deal to me, I just get on with it, and explain to people who don't know what the problem is lol
And that is exactly IT, in a nutshell, plus there is a timelapse on the conversation, sometimes that echo as well, I give up.........but I do need to sort this out really. Summer is an excellent time for me to buy end of line fleeces for next winter.

Myra lol!

Your 'huh' is my 'stop! Can you backtrack a bit and repeat what you said, I didn't get any of that?' When they ask where from I say 'well, from when you said HELLO actually!' It really does sometimes sound like there is just a spluttery outboard motor on the other end of the line!

Tawney - live chat is another option open to you and people often get better results from that than from phoning.

http://ocsnext.ebay.co.uk/ocs/cusr?query=1464&ref=1

LOL Pat, can you imagine being deaf then, if YOU have problems, imagine if your phone was muffled with cotton wool (which is what it sounds like to me) then you can get an idea as to why I think oh sod it, cannot be bovvered

"spluttery outboard motor"

HAHA, Tang!! My goodness that gave me a good laugh! I really do not understand why they hook us up to those people? I have nothing against them, I swear but how can they help you with your tech issues if you cannot understand what they are saying?

You know what's even funnier? They understand YOU perfectly and you end up feeling like such a moron having to ask to repeat things and constantly saying "HUH" and "WHAT" along with "EXCUSE ME" and "SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME" over and over again.

I actually feel sorry for them, too. How annoying it must be to have to deal with American residents and UK residents constantly needing you to repeat things all day long.

Entertaining as this thread has become, I must now GO.
Bones awaiting me and I have to check on girlies first, hand out bones, skip out, take washing and hang it out at Jackies, before even venturing out onto the motorway.
See ya later

Hmm, interesting how this all changed from a post about the OpenSSL protocol bug to a discussion on understanding accents.

I find I have adapted my English accent so I can be understood by Americans, however my OH cannot seem to do the same.
For example, when I sent her to a bar in Disney Orlando, to get me a Budweiser she returned back with a napkin. When I asked why, she said she asked for a "bud" several times, the bartender kept asking "what's that you say" and eventually gave her a napkin. At which point she have up in complete bewilderment and returned to me with the napkin.
Another time we were stopped at the service area on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Virginia and we bought a salad sandwich each. Wife opened hers up to find it didn't have any butter on the bread. She asked the waitress for some butter, simple eh? Well no, the waitress couldn't understand the English accent. My wife resorted to describing it, "you know, dairy produce", "spread spread", "cows", and then made a mooing sound. Eventually there was a look of comprehension on the face of the waitress and she said "ah, budderrrr" and promptly brought us some.

So over the years I have got into the habit, as soon as we arrive on US soil, of just slightly modifying my accent and phrasing ... my wife just tells me to ask for whatever it is we need so she doesn't have the embarrassment.

WHAT!!! seriously!!!! well I have lived in the US for 10 years and still have a perfect English Accent - I know I do as I get complimented on it all the time! I have NEVER had to adjust my accent to be understood.... I adjust my words, ie: I use Gas instead of Petrol, and do Laundry instead of Washing, but that is just terminology.

I still ask for BuTTer and get BuTTer and WaTer and get WaTer. I guess I just found your post funny!!

I've only been once and had NO probs being understood. Americans would approach me in the Mall or on the pier and 'ask me to talk' so they could hear my London accent lol! There were one or two who thought I was Aussie but not because they couldn't understand me. Because of the cockney twang.