Why do people assume I can't spell?

At work I have to answer the telephone all day and I am sick of people spelling their name to me when I haven't asked them! I am quite capable of spelling most names, if I don't know I will say "Can you spell that for me please"?

Don't flaming well say "It's Mr Smith, S M I T H" It really pees me off!!LOL

I think I must be too good for this job!!

Wow, you sound like me! I have a bunch of big pet peeves when people call me at work:

1.) They interrupt my greeting (just as I'm saying "Good afternoon", they say "yeah, I just need to speak to so-and-so". GRRR!).
2.) They say "Can I speak to so-and-so, thanks". Saying "thanks" before I can say whether or not so-and-so is available is so rude to me!
3.) When so-and-so isn't available they say "OK, just tell them I called" [click]. Umm, you DO know I need to know your name, right? How would that look on a message?!? What's worse is when they say "Yeah, tell them John called back". Do you know how many people so-and-so knows named "John"?!? Or when they say "so-and-so has my number". Just give me the number and don't argue!
4.) When they ask to speak to so-and-so and they aren't there or available, and they say "Well, were is he/she?", "Why can't he/she come to the phone?", "But I really need to talk to him/her". WTF do you want me to do?!? Get in my truck and track that person down?!? Mind your own business and leave a damn message!


Sorry, I've been a receptionist/switchboard operator for 3 years now and the job's getting to me, lol!

because not everyone is like you and we get use to asking how to spell our names

people are really being nice spelling it out not thinking your thick

regards x kitti x

I spell my name because FAR too many times it's been mutilated by the person answering the phone. It's just good business. Suck it up, or find a job where you don't have to answer the phone or take messages for others.

It might have been SMYTHEE . . . .

::yawn::

It's common courtesy--it's not an attack on your intelligence or lack thereof.

When I am giving someone my name, its just a habit for me to spell it. Its not that I think that the person on the other end can spell it, I am just trying to make it easier for them. Also, keep in mind, maybe they get asked to spell it most times so it just comes natural for them to give you the spelling of it.

All in all, I wouldn't take it personally. It is probably just the other person:)

Stop ranting....lol
What I always do is after they spell it out i say "oh the common way" gets the point accross.

mist pople cont speel cos the compooters do that speel cheek thing, so they dont need to know how proper words are splet and so, thats the answer..

or they just judge by their own standard of poor education

People have probably experienced others not understanding their names and so probably automatically spell their names every time, even when they do not have to. It is annoying to tell somebody your name and they hear a completely different name.

I am sure that you can spell people's names so it is probably nothing against you.

They dont know you they are just trying to help

my name is Yasar pronounced Yashar. i get letters to Mrs Yazar, Yasher, Yozer etc etc. its a case of having to spell it for me.

I'm afraid it's because a lot of people can't. Check out the questions here for example.

Well, I am a court reporter and I always verify spellings of people's names because there are so many variations of just even the most common name. For example, "Smith" could be spelled Smith, Smithe, Smythe, etc.

Green and Clark can both have an "e" added to the end. My own maiden name, Abbott, can be spelled with one or two t's or one or two b's.

And that's not even touching on the variations of first names.
Catherine, Katherine, Catheryn, Kathryn, etc.

For some reason, we always want to see our name spelled correctly. Just the narcissism in humans, I guess.

I actually appreciate it when my customers spell their names out because sometimes it's hard to hear over the phone and when they spell it out I realize it wasn't what I thought it was :)
But I guess I'm used to people misspelling my name and because it annoys me so much (nothing worse then my name being in my email signature and when people reply they still spell it wrong!) I tend to be over cautious in making sure I get other people's names correct.
Try not to take it personally! For some it's just habit.

well they have obviously had problems in the past where people have not known how to spell their name, its probably common practice for them to relay off the spelling of their names.

I do appreciate what you say but some people are really poor at spelling the simplest words - or maybe it's their typing that is poor...
I remember once a caller named Sharp said what sounded like "that's Sharp-Knowee thankyou". I asked her how to spell "Knowee" and she replied, "S H A R P without an "E"!
I got the point!

My surname is Baksh.. which is pronounced as Bash. People don't know that the "k" is silent.

I get documents with my name spelt Bash, Baskh etc, etc.

I don't assume that people can't spell, I make it easier for them to be accurate by spelling it out.

I wish everyone was like you, I have the opposite problem. I'm Welsh and have to spell out my Christian name, housename, town name and county name.
It's rather tedious.

Because theirs TOO many people who work in environments that are like call centres that employ people who :-

a) Do not listen to the customer
b) Cant spell

And having done a job like it myself, I can say that it is more annoying when you get people on who don't spell their name and expect you to know how it is actually spelt, eg, Abercrombie & Abercromby or Burleigh & Burley or Cotterell & Cotterill or Davoren & Davorin or Fahey & Fahy & Fitzmaurice & Fitzmorice... to name a few.

I can understand your fustration because your obviously a rearity unlike the brain dead muppets that get employed in some call centers.

Take it in stride and don't let it bother you.

I called a pizza delivery place and automatically spelled my last name after saying it (otherwise, I get all kinds of variations, as similar sounding names are more common than my last name). The person on the other end of the phone replied, "I KNOW how to spell that!" I felt his attitude was uncalled for. He did not getting a tip when he came to deliver my food (and yes, I am sure it was the same guy). If I had cared enough, I would have also put in a complaint to the manager and/or not patronized the place again.

Again, don't take it personally. Grin and bear it and don't be rude in response.

~Kyanna

well it annoys me that no one can spell or SAY my surname and its not foreign or long (5 letters) so it may have something to do with their past experience

Yes well when your surname is like mine, it is no longer amusing to see what appears to be educated people crumble into remedial mode. It is so simple. And I`m very touchy when people misspell it. What really infuriates me are those that give up after 5 or 6 tries with the intention of spelling it later. How rude can a person be? I do see your point with smith. You know even phonetically spelling my surname doesn't help either. It can be funny though looking at the attempts some have made, sometimes you wonder about.....

I agree, it is common courtesy-- such as my always leaving my phone number when I call my advisor at uni. She knows it, has it written down, but I give it anyway. I have on occasion in other offices had people ask how to spell my name. I say "Classic Spelling--like Prince ....." I usually get an Oh! Okay!

Odd one, some. Chances are you are actually an exception to some who do your sort of job!!

--That Cheeky Lad

we all have a cross to bear
sometimes accents make names sound different

Because you are obviously not a know all or you'd have a better job. Just listen and take the message without the attitude. The customer is always right.

Names can be spelt anyway that is phonetically feasible, it is not like words were there is only one way of spelling it - smith could be smyth - May could be mai or mae, Grey could be Graye or Gray etc.

They could be unsure of how their accent sounds to you and could think you've misheard their name because of it.