CVS Telephone Survey Should Begin in English

There are a lot of things I could say to you Donald/Paulette, but I
think "You're an idiot" says enough.

Oh my God. Your letter made me throw up a little in my mouth.

I can say so much. First of all, and I believe this has already been
pointed out - the survey WAS in English. They asked you to push 1 to
continue in English. Did the call start in Spanish and ask you to push
1 for Engles? Second of all, speak for yourself - do not throw other
Americans in with your bigotry.

Finally, unless you are Native American - who are the only people who
have the right to complain about others being in this country - then
you need to sit down, shut the hell up and ask yourself, "Where are my
ancestors from?"

GRRR!! I can't stand bigots.

Pushing that single button must have been really difficult and
emotionally wrenching for you. I'm so, SO sorry that you had to go
through that trauma. There must be support groups out there for
people like you.

From what I can tell, the survey did begin in English. Otherwise, how
could you have known that they said to press 1? From what I can tell
with just about every phone call I make anymore, they all ask you to
press 1 to continue in English, or they begin in English and then they
say something in Spanish which I assume to be "Press 1 to continue in
Spanish." I do not speak Spanish, so I'm only assuming.
"THIS IS AMERICA"
Yes, and in America people speak many, many different languages. We
aren't called "the melting pot" for nothing, you know. And I would
not claim with pride that you are "not the only American who feels
this way" because those of us who don't feel this way see people in
that group as hateful and small-minded. Do you want to be part of
that group?
You are a racist, plain and simple. And make sure you never travel
abroad, because they'll all be laughing at the stupid,
English-speaking American. Or should everyone in the world learn
English just to suite people like you?

You must NEVER talk on the phone then because most businesses now say:
Press 1 for English and Press 2 for Spanish. It does BEGIN in
english...


Unfortunately, you are not the only "american" who feels this way. If
you remember correctly, this country was founded because of
persecution and insane demands on the people. Looks like you should
get on the boat and go to England because clearly you have missed the
message.

Disgusted at you,
Sean G.

"But to do that, the call would likely have to begin in Spanish."

Excellent point!

"THIS IS AMERICA!"

Yes, it is.
The Melting Pot.

Wikipedia: "The melting pot is an analogy for the way in which
homogeneous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot
(people of different cultures, races and religions) are combined so as
to develop a multi-ethnic society. The term, which originates from the
United States, is often used to describe societies experiencing large
scale immigration from many different countries."

Meditate on that one for a second.

I honestly don't get myself upset about things like this anymore, I
just press 1 if I want to continue. It's not the end of the world.

Don't come to Canada; the law says we have to be nice to the French.

No, you're not the only American who feels this way, unfortunately,
based on the number of letters we get about this issue. But I really
don't see what the big deal is. You press "1" for English,
Spanish-speaking people press "2" for Spanish. What's the problem?

The only calls I hate are the ones that go through the spiel in
English, then the same one in Spanish, THEN ask you to press a number.
And the only reason why I hate those is because it makes the call take
longer.

But the survey does begin with English, it says "Press 1 for English".
If they didn't make you press a button for English, then you would be
forced to listen to "Pulse uno para espaol". Atleast now you can
quickly press "1" so you don't have to hear a word of that un-Godly
Spanish.

By the way, I think its great that CVS values all customers opinions,
not just English speaking ones.

Donald/Paulette,

Are you saying that English-speaking Americans are too lazy to put a
button? As an English-speaking American, I know that America's
strength comes from our willingness to work hard. When we're too lazy
to push a button a phone, we're doomed.

Actually, there is a reason for this. When the call instructs Spanish
speakers to put a button, English speakers complain that they hear
gibberish. This approach is actually used to favor English speakers
by not making them have to listen to Spanish. For true.

I honestly can't see what the big deal is. All you have to do is to
push a single button.

So you want the survey to be in English, and only have Spanish
speaking people be the ones that have to push a button? Even if you
got your way, you'd still have to listen to "Por espaol oradores, por
favor, pulse el nmero uno", before the survey would start, which would
take even longer, since it would need to allow time for any input. At
least you can cut off the whole sentence as it is by pushing #1, and
getting on with the survey.
What if they were to allow input for several languages? "Press 1 for
English, 2 for Spanish, 3 for French, 4 for German, 5 for Italian, 6
for Swahili, 7 for Japanese, 8 for Chinese, 9 for Hindi, and 0 for
Tagalog". Imagine how long that would take for your survey to begin!

As others have pointed out, there is no official language in the US.
I think you're making way too much out of this by refusing to press a
single button on your phone.

First of all I have some shocking news for you, you might even want to
sit down for this. English is not the only language in this world, or
even in American. Heck, we don't even HAVE an official language.

Let me guess, you also get upset when instructions are printed in more
than just English.

The call could be completed, it is just your odd views that made it
impossible.

You push 1 for English. Spanish speakers push 2 for Spanish. They're
pushing a button, too. AFTER you. Happy now?

What would your comment be if Spanish were 1 and English were 2? One
can barely imagine.

You don't speak for all Americans, so get that out of your head. I,
for one, acknowledge that there are more Spanish speaking people here
than there used to be, so if they require a menu to choose a language,
putting Engish as number 1 is a nod to the past domination of the
language.

"The call could not be completed because I was asked to enter the
mumber 1 to continue in English." All you had to do was enter a 1 -
you could have completed the survey. Sheesh.

The United States is the only country that does not have a national
language. English speaking people will soon be the minority, it
already is in some states.


Good Day

As dulynoted said, it's been that way for quite a while now, but I do
agree that it's annoying and should be the other way around. However,
if you are receiving excellent service from a pharmacy, I wouldn't let
this get in the way. A good pharmacy is hard to find.

Don't know where you have been but these automated calls have been
like this for a while now. Its very annoying to say the least that our
language - English - is considered to be secondary to Spanish now.
I deal with this daily with insurance companies also...even the ones
in India and South America. They all have these options on their
phones now.