English Competence of Staff

[Tropicana]

Called a hotel downtown to see if I could stay there as I have to leave from Billy Bishop Airport early in the morning. The night I requested is sold out. I asked if I could be placed on a waiting list. THREE TIMES She just kept saying we are sold out. I asked to speak with the manager. Her English wasn't perfect either but at least she understood what a waiting list was. I have no problem with multi-culturalism as I am an immigrant myself but they should hire people to answer the phone who are fluent in English and some staff should also be fluent in French.

[My Looh]

I tried to phone Revenue Canada once. What a complete waste of a phone call. I guess I need to learn to speak Hindi if I need to call in the future.

[Tropicana]

I tried to phone Revenue Canada once. What a complete waste of a phone call. I guess I need to learn to speak Hindi if I need to call in the future.

Ever try calling Bell Canada....though they seem to be a bit better. For a while there, there was no point in pressing to speak to someone in English. It was easier to take a chance and ask for someone who spoke French. Most of the time there English was passable and if it wasn't it was easier to deal with them in French than to deal wid de people dem from de call centre in India who were supposed to be speaking English.

These were Asian maybe Filipino.....I am not saying they shouldn't work but if someone is going to answer the phone, they should be able to speak clearly and understand English. There are many other positions in the hotels that do not require such precise English.

A couple of months ago, mi did spend de weekend at a hotel in the GTA. I must say ALL the yawdie dem did we proud. They were friendly, professional and spoke clearly in al instances. They let me practice patois when I wanted to too.....though dem did tell mi dat mi patois was not up to snuff. Hey at least I tried. I made sure to give one guy a big tip and to send a letter of commendation bout im to de management team too.

I have found that this is consistent at hotels across the GTA. I also find that there is some excellent staff from India working at the hotels. Mi not talking de ones wid de thick accents that no one can understand either.