get paid to learn english!

Okay - this is going to be a rant, and one that some people may find offensive. But please, please hear me out.

We recently purchased a new DVD player from BestBuy.com and had it shipped to our house. The online purchase was easy enough, and I was fairly happy with my purchasing experience on their website, although I think it is unfair that they charge me sales tax, considering that the nearest Best Buy is about an hour away. None-the-less, the price seemed fair and I was excited to get a replacement for our old DVD player that has been having trouble lately. (Our old player also can't read CD-R's, MP3's, etc.)

We came home from shopping at the grocery several days later to find our new DVD player sitting on the porch. Thanks, UPS. I know that we live in a fairly safe community, but it's a little ridiculous to leave a big box sitting on someone's porch that has the words "DVD Home Entertainment System" with a color photo of the system right on the side of the box. Nobody stole it, so we were happy.

After setting it up and watching a few movies, we noticed an obnoxious vibrating noise coming from the unit. We tried different DVDs but the noise ensued, so I ended up calling Best Buy for a return authorization. Here's where my rant begins...

If you run a large retail business chain and you are hiring customer service people, please hire someone that can clearly speak English! I am so sick and tired of having to ask someone to repeat themselves over and over again, and having them spell common words. Thanks to the fact that Best Buy had to hire someone who doesn't speak easily recognizable English, I was stuck on the phone for three or four times longer than I needed to be. My time is valuable, and I don't appreciate it. There are enough people in this country that speak easily recognizable English to not have to slot someone who is still learning it into a job position where they will have to answer telephone calls.

This is *not* a slam on non-English speaking people, as I actually feel sorry for these folks. The corporation is doing them a disservice by placing them in the awkward position of having to constantly repeat themselves. If I moved to France, do you think I would get a job as a customer service person speaking French - hell no. Isn't there a better job that the corporation could have given them, that doesn't involve trying to speak English to customers - like processing orders or something?

I have run into this problem for years, and it is common enough in our society that it has become an oft-mocked comedic situation in sitcoms and hollywood movies. Yet few corporations have figured it out. The only one that I know of that aggressively promotes the fact that their customer service people speak clear English was GoDaddy, who told me this on the phone when I first signed up with them. I was impressed, and a bit shocked at something that could also be seen as anything but politically correct.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Hate me if you will, but I feel that I am justified. I'm a customer, not a translator, and I don't believe that someone else should be getting paid to sharpen their English speaking skills on my time. Thanks for nothing, Best Buy.