Not sure about RME, but, IME, in this industry there are a lot of smallish companies doing business without proper dedicated customer service people.

So you get a lot of people doing "support" who should never ever be allowed within a thousand miles of an actual customer - least of all a frustrated one with a (real or perceived) problem. Some people just aren't cut out for customer interaction under difficult circumstances.

Not that that's an excuse or anything.

It would be very easy to perceive rudeness in a conversation by people of
different cultures.
I heard that it is rude for a man to cross his legs where the soles of the shoe
could be seen.
I sure don't know what I may say that could be taken as rude to some cultures
but I do know when I think they are being rude......I call them a stupid face and
hangup...after all, I don't want to be rude too.

"Intentional" is the key. When that is confirmed everything changes, cultural or not.

I think that's a great suggestion. 

I read an interesting interview with Erik Schmidt, CEO of Google, about the unique challenges of working with and/or managing technical personnel.  He said that one of his observations was that technical personnel tended to answer specific questions very accurately.  They would answer exactly what was asked, and only what was asked.  They would not provide any additional information, no matter how relevant or critical unless it was specifically requested.  He said that he came to learn that this was not an attempt to be "difficult", but was actually a sign of respect.  He said they assumed that the person asking the questions was seeking specific answers and to provide additional detail that was not requested would be seen as assuming that the other person did not know what they needed to know.  Since a technical person would never ask general questions with no real idea of what they needed to know, they assumed that everyone else thought the same way.  To be asked a general or "unintelligent" question was very frustrating to them since it required more than just a specific answer.

Apologies to Erik and anyone who works at Google for any mis-statements of this point of view.

That's exactly why, before attempting to communicate with one of our British friends, I always watch Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.  It helps me to speak their language.  They really appreciate it.  They call me a Wanker, which is, I'm sure, a term of respect.

drewfx1


All this talk about culture is misplaced, because if you're in customer service talking to people from different cultures, it's your job to understand that something you say might be taken wrong.

Tuff job....anything they say will be taken wrong by some.
My experience with verbal support has been with Dell. I wasn't offended and it may be because
I didn't understand a word they said. I too figured it was their job to speak English clearly so I could
understand them. Just not the way it is though.