Some of my favourite customers are from "Down South"
but then so are some of the worst spacktards!

We have one crazy old bat who phones us from Devon and moans that it's costing her a fortune. We've tried so many times to explain that 0845 means the call isn't charged at the overseas rate, but she won't have it. So far as she's concerned, Scotland is "abroad". We now tell her to send a copy of the phone bill with the charge on it for a refund. So far she hasn't.

The other "favourites" are the ones who have purchased a contract with a company bearing the name of our nation in the title. All mail has a return address showing "Edinburgh", and yet they're still surprised when told "the chap I spoke to had a Scottish accent" doesn't help us establish who it was. Most of our "chaps" have Scottish accents. So do most of the chapesses, for that matter.

Every so often we get the old "oh, I love your accent, I could listen to it all day" flannel. Some of them might even mean it, but usually they're trying to butter us up. It doesn't work. We're not going to divulge confidential information to someone not entitled to it just because they're nice to us. This, of course, is also known as "hiding behind the Data Protection Act".

Still, it does lead to us collecting a nice line of insults. If I don't get insulted then I haven't done my job right!
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Thu 4 Sep 2008, 19:31, 3 replies)

Oh deary me
The reason they love a Scottish accent is because there's marginally more chance of getting sense out of a Scot than there is from "Dave" or "Julie" who are quite obviously in a sweatshop in rural India. I would think they are teaching the call-centre ops out there to speak English with a Scottish twang. (Hmmm, they should try Welsh instead, they are half way there already)
(Rsoles, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 20:18, closed)

In all fairness
Some people do actually like the accent, like a friend from near England who seemed to love it.

But in the other all fairness, lots of people are just annoying idiots.
(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 21:16, closed)

phone sex
Well I've known a few scots (men and women) who managed to charm their way into a variety of beds on the back of having a sexy voice.

Maybe the people you were talking to were just angling for a bit of phone sex?
(woodchopper likes chopping wood, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 23:09, closed)