Customer Service Demands To Speak To A Deaf Woman, So Her Brother Gives Them Exactly What They Asked For

Anyone who’s ever dealt with customer service knows the pain of corporate nonsense, endless transfers, pointless rules, and call center scripts that ignore basic common sense. But when the system actively discriminate against someone? That’s when creative revenge kicks in.

One Reddit user shared the story of how his deaf sister got trapped in a ridiculous loop while trying to cancel a TV package. The company happily let her upgrade online but required a phone call to cancel, something she physically couldn’t do. What happened next was a glorious case of “fine, have it your way.”

A deaf woman, unable to cancel her TV sports package online, had her brother call and pretend to be her to end the subscription

Accessibility often takes a back seat to outdated corporate procedures.

According to Dr. Paul Quinn, a professor of communication and accessibility at Gallaudet University, “Deaf consumers face systemic barriers not because of technology, but because companies don’t design policies that respect diverse communication needs. Accessibility isn’t a courtesy, it’s a right.”

In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses offering phone-based services to provide equivalent access for people with hearing or speech disabilities. That means accepting relay calls, written requests, or other reasonable accommodations.

Yet, according to a 2023 National Deaf Center report, more than 60% of deaf or hard-of-hearing customers still experience barriers when trying to close accounts or resolve billing issues.

This case perfectly illustrates “policy paralysis” when employees stick to scripts so rigidly they lose sight of logic and humanity. The rep’s insistence on “speaking to Amanda” shows how procedure often trumps practicality.

As accessibility consultant Jessica Flores explains, “Many companies view accessibility as an extra feature instead of a built-in responsibility. But for millions of deaf individuals, being excluded from basic customer service is more than inconvenient, it’s discriminatory.”

While Amanda’s brother’s approach may have been tongue-in-cheek, it exposes how absurdly inflexible some companies remain. A system that allows online purchases should also allow online cancellations. Anything less isn’t just bad design, it’s exclusion by default.

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

This user shared adding themselves as a decision-maker on parents’ accounts to avoid such issues

While this person recounted posing as a deceased father-in-law to cancel a phone line

Some commenters shared similar frustrations with companies demanding deceased account holders

One folk flagged the ADA violation

And this user noted gay couples’ voice-swap advantage

One praised EU laws

This story hard-of-hearing mother echoed the absurdity

Have you ever faced a ridiculous customer service rule? Would you have pulled off the same stunt or gone full complaint mode?