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Unsavoury accents in business. Offputting?

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2

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    #32
    darkdubh
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,628 ✭✭✭darkdubh


    Sergeant wrote: »
    How would you feel if you were about to get complex spinal cord surgery carried out and the surgeon who was discussing the procedure with you in advance sounded like Damien 'Damo' Dempsey?
    As long as he knew his stuff I woulden't mind how he spoke.Are you snob by any chance?


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    #33
    yore
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,127 ✭✭✭yore


    Sergeant wrote: »
    How would you feel if you were about to get complex spinal cord surgery carried out and the surgeon who was discussing the procedure with you in advance sounded like Damien 'Damo' Dempsey?


    DAMO. DAMO DAMO


    I'd be delighted. Sure it's all good



    Jesus, he doesn't even have a "bad" accent.


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    #34
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    H3llR4iser wrote: »
    Regardless of what most claim, I would say the way people working in retail (and generally in contact with the public) present themselves, including the way they speak, is absolutely fundamental - especially when said retail person is the one initiating contact with the customer.

    I would not be put off buying something because I'd be ultimately interested in the product, which in most cases is not made by the clerk, however speaking in a clear voice, pronouncing words well and well separated, without the use of abbreviations, slang and local terminology, is the most basic form of courtesy.

    Besides, approaching customers trying to sell something is kinda pointless if they cannot understand you...
    Nobody is a harsher critic of customer service levels in retail (believe me, you don't want to get me started:pac:), but I would never consider someone's accent as a factor in their ability to do their jobs. It stinks of bigotry, pure and simple.


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    #35
    lertsnim
    Registered Users Posts: 9,728 ✭✭✭lertsnim


    Lando Griffin wrote: »
    Whilst shopping for some new trainer in a busy well established shop at the weekend I approached an assistant to ask if she had a certain size to which she replied in a rather unpleasant accent.


    “I don’t think theres nathin der dat size, Ill takes a look for ya” and off she went.


    This caught me by surprise and her rough accent actually put me off buying.
    I was edging towards the door when an attractive well-presented young lady approached and enquired in a well-mannered tongue “Good day sir, do you need any assistance?
    I replied that I wanted xyz size in the trainer and she replied she had one in the back and off she went.
    She was very prompt and came back with the exact size and I needed and popped them on my feet and they were very comfortable indeed.
    She boxed them up and although a large queue of irate customers had gathered she ushered me to the front explaining that her colleague must have disappeared!
    The other one came back and was scorned rightfully by the other customers.


    Do accents decide who you do business with or would a bad accent put you off?

    You're a bit shallow aren't you.


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    #36
    Rocket19
    Registered Users Posts: 451 ✭✭Rocket19


    maximoose wrote: »
    I find any sort of uninitiated contact off putting in a shop, regardless of their accent. If I don't come looking for help, leave me alone.

    Shoe shops are the worst for it too, I know they are forced to do it by their employers but I feel like face-kicking the "greeters" in the doorway of Schuh/Office whose sole job is to say hello and goodbye. How f*cking pointless is that?

    It works though. You might find it annoying (many people do), but a lot of people DO respond well to the overbearing approach.

    I used to work in a shoe shop, and we'd circle the customers like sharks when they came in. Before I worked in retail, I thought everyone hated this (I don't like it myself), but they don't! Some people (especially middle aged and older women) actually seem to come into the shop solely to have a chat, and tell you their woes (seriously).
    These people are far, far more likely to make a purchase if you use the pushy, friendly-friendly approach.

    I think younger people (my age) tend to dislike making conversation with the shop assistant, but fail to realise that many older people do appreciate and respond well to the smiling, greeting and the chit chat.
    Though it does put certain people off, and is a bit vomit inducing in general :P, it undoubtedly drives up the sales targets.


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    #37
    lahalane
    Closed Accounts Posts: 954 ✭✭✭lahalane


    Sergeant wrote: »
    It may be a prejudice

    It IS a prejudice.

    The accent means nothing to me, the attitude is what counts.

    H3llr4iser
    I would not be put off buying something because I'd be ultimately interested in the product, which in most cases is not made by the clerk, however speaking in a clear voice, pronouncing words well and well separated, without the use of abbreviations, slang and local terminology, is the most basic form of courtesy.

    Sometimes these credentials together with a snobby attitude can be very offputting. Eloquent speech is nice but it's not essential, for me anyway.


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    #38
    oisindoyle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 899 ✭✭✭oisindoyle


    Incredible amount of snobs in here.the so called rough accent is the actual dublin accent...why complain?


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    #39
    Zulu
    Registered Users Posts: 10,965 ✭✭✭✭Zulu


    oisindoyle wrote: »
    Incredible amount of snobs in here.the so called rough accent is the actual dublin accent...why complain?
    No, it's not. It's a Dublin accent, but not the Dublin accent.


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    #40
    Pace2008
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,587 ✭✭✭Pace2008


    oisindoyle wrote: »
    Incredible amount of snobs in here.the so called rough accent is the actual dublin accent...why complain?
    What is "the actual Dublin accent?"


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    #41
    H3llR4iser
    Registered Users Posts: 4,027 ✭✭✭H3llR4iser


    The Backwards Man wrote: »
    Nobody is a harsher critic of customer service levels in retail (believe me, you don't want to get me started:pac:), but I would never consider someone's accent as a factor in their ability to do their jobs. It stinks of bigotry, pure and simple.

    Certainly...but we are talking about a job that essentially IS talking, and the person in question has some kind of "peculiarity" exactly with what is one of the major aspects of the job.

    A capable engineer with a peculiar accent will no doubt do absolutely fine in his/her job, as well as, say, a doctor (although I would be wondering why, with all the study and preparation they went through, they never bothered learning to speak their own native language).

    However, a salesperson with poor language skills is to me the same as an engineer with poor technical knowledge or a surgeon with a shaky hand...


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    #42
    jimgoose
    Registered Users Posts: 20,176 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Sergeant wrote: »
    It wouldn't fill me with comfort. It may be a prejudice, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with someone like that operating on my spinal cord. Nor would I like someone with a Limerick accent to call to my door offering to carry out a home security assessment...

    <Harrumph>. I have a Limerick accent. In fact, I sound exactly like this:



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    #43
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    H3llR4iser wrote: »
    Certainly...but we are talking about a job that essentially IS talking, and the person in question has some kind of "peculiarity" exactly with what is one of the major aspects of the job.

    A capable engineer with a peculiar accent will no doubt do absolutely fine in his/her job, as well as, say, a doctor (although I would be wondering why, with all the study and preparation they went through, they never bothered learning to speak their own native language).

    However, a salesperson with poor language skills is to me the same as an engineer with poor technical knowledge or a surgeon with a shaky hand...
    But as long as they are articulate and able to make themselves understood, what does it matter what accent they have?


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    #44
    Tiddlypeeps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭Tiddlypeeps


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    If it were pointless, they wouldn't be made to do it in the first place.

    Logical fallacy. Just because something is done by many does not mean it is right/best.

    I'm not saying that it is pointless (I have no idea) just that the logic you used to reach your conclusion does not follow.


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    #45
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    Lando Griffin wrote: »
    an attractive well-presented young lady approached and enquired in a well-mannered tongue “Good day sir, do you need any assistance?
    Good day Sir?

    Was she not Irish? I'd probably be wondering why someone was speaking to me in such a strange manner.

    You should have told her to take a leaf out of her colleague's book and relax. It's just runners. I'd rather people didn't speak to me in affected voices when they're selling me things. I'd tend not to trust them.


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    #46
    IzzyWizzy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,645 ✭✭✭IzzyWizzy


    Pace2008 wrote: »
    What is "the actual Dublin accent?"

    "Hoiiii! Hayw are yooooou? What toipe of shewz wush you loike to look ash?"


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    #47
    jimgoose
    Registered Users Posts: 20,176 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    IzzyWizzy wrote: »
    "Hoiiii! Hayw are yooooou? What toipe of shewz wush you loike to look ash?"

    I wouldn't buy anything off her either. The Rossmeister General told me - Sorcha's a focking cont!


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    #48
    Duggys Housemate
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,298 ✭✭✭Duggys Housemate


    The OP is possibly being more honest than the people answering. Businesses do tend to employ customer facing employees who are well spoken, for a reason I suppose.


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    #49
    Lando Griffin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,952 ✭✭✭Lando Griffin


    Esoteric_ wrote: »
    I don't see how somebody's accent could affect their work ethic, so no, I judge them on their customer service skills. Sorry, OP, I'm not enough of a snob for you, although I come from north Dublin, so that may make my point invalid in your eyes.

    Not at all, Malahide is a fantastic place.


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    #50
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    Duggys Housemate wrote: »
    The OP is possibly being more honest than the people answering.
    Really? I'm not sure I believe his exact version of events.

    Aside from the predictable character constructions; one girl with a lower socially ranked accent was a rough and ready shop girl, the other ("Good day Sir", in apparently American vernacular) spoke with a higher socially ranked accent, was exceedingly polite, attractive, let him skip the queue and brought him some trainers which "were very comfortable indeed".

    The entire narrative clearly revolves around a provocative bias that the OP is seeking to legitimize, aka troll.


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    #51
    Lando Griffin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,952 ✭✭✭Lando Griffin


    Cody Pomeray wrote: »
    Really? I'm not sure I believe his exact version of events.

    Aside from the predictable character constructions; one girl with a lower socially ranked accent was a rough and ready shop girl, the other ("Good day Sir", in apparently American vernacular) spoke with a higher socially ranked accent, was exceedingly polite, attractive, let him skip the queue and brought him some trainers which "were very comfortable indeed".

    The entire narrative clearly revolves around a provocative bias that the OP is seeking to legitimize, aka troll.

    What the?
    I do protest, just because some of us actually venture away from our keyboards and support the high street and meet real people with real problems, and not buy everything on line, never meeting or comunicating with a person face to face.
    I would rather the way I do business and meet attractive sales assistance to woo me into spending my hard earned cash in the place of their ( sometimes struggling ) business.


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    #52
    GreeBo
    Registered Users Posts: 27,120 ✭✭✭✭GreeBo


    As long as I can understand the accent then its irrelevant to me, service is important.
    However if I cannot understand the accent I often find it varying degrees of frustrating, annoying and embarrassing and not a position I want to find myself in.


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    #53
    monster_mouse
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 7 ✭monster_mouse


    The Backwards Man wrote: »
    Nobody is a harsher critic of customer service levels in retail (believe me, you don't want to get me started:pac:), but I would never consider someone's accent as a factor in their ability to do their jobs. It stinks of bigotry, pure and simple.


    their was a time ( a simpler time ) when bigotry revolved around prejudice against people of a different religion or race

    now it appears to include accents aswell as your address

    luckily their is boards to keep me up to date with what satisfies the PC clergy :)


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    #54
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    Lando Griffin wrote: »
    I would rather the way I do business and meet attractive sales assistance to woo me into spending my hard earned cash in the place of their ( sometimes struggling ) business.
    What have your personal shopping preferences got to do with this? I just think that the construction seems a little predictable to the point of being artificial, secondly that the idea of not buying objects because of how a worker enunciates certain words suggests more of a personal problem on behalf of the buyer, and not the seller.


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    #55
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    monster_mouse wrote: »
    their was a time ( a simpler time ) when bigotry revolved around prejudice against people of a different religion or race

    now it appears to include accents aswell as your address

    luckily their is boards to keep me up to date with what satisfies the PC clergy :)
    Bigotry;
    'someone who, as a result of their prejudices, treats other people with hatred, contempt, and intolerance on the basis of a
    person's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national identity, religion, language, socioeconomic status, or other status.'

    :)


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    #56
    PizzamanIRL
    Registered Users Posts: 5,148 ✭✭✭PizzamanIRL


    Lando Griffin wrote: »
    “Good day sir, do you need any assistance?

    I'd be willing to bet money that she didn't say 'Good day sir'

    And no i'm not a snob. An accent put you off buying something? I feel bad for you.


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    #57
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Fiachra is that you ? You must have been Morto.


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    #58
    jimgoose
    Registered Users Posts: 20,176 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Fiachra is that you ? You must have been Morto.

    Totes awky mo-mo! :D


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    #59
    Larianne
    Registered Users Posts: 35,954 ✭✭✭✭Larianne


    Sergeant wrote: »
    How would you feel if you were about to get complex spinal cord surgery carried out and the surgeon who was discussing the procedure with you in advance sounded like Damien 'Damo' Dempsey?

    There is a neurosurgeon who works in a Dublin hospital with a dublin accent. Granted it is not as strong as Damo's but it's not a fake Trinity/West-brit accent by any means.

    I would actully feel safer with someone with an accent like that. You'd know they worked bloody hard for their career and was in it for more than just the social status.

    Just remembered, I do know a registrar with a thick Dublin accent. He grew up in Tallaght actually. :)

    I'm biased though as my dad is from inner city Dublin and my mother is from a posh Dublin suburb. Their accents are at opposite ends.

    OP sounds like he just got bad customer service. Nothing to do with the accent.


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    #60
    Mr.Prodston
    Registered Users Posts: 16,304 ✭✭✭✭Mr.Prodston


    Well I guess I'm just lucky everybody loves a strong Wesht Cork accent, I'd hate to be offputting to people


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    #61
    Pumpkinseeds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,635 ✭✭✭Pumpkinseeds


    Princess Petulia Pissy Pants wrote: »
    So it was nothing to do with the persons accent but the suits which the store stocked....

    A sales person trying to sell you something... the horror
    Nope, it was actually the badly dressed man with the knackerish Limerick accent using poor customer service to try to persuade my Husband to buy overpriced crap that was the issue. I should have been clearer:P

    And I'm a snob


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