Wow- now that's a miscommunication.

It could happen to anyone though.

Yeah this was a lose-lose situation. even asking him to repeat himself would've been an accidental dick move.

one hell of a miscommunication:(

Safe to assume his father is not OK.

Heaven is a great place! even so, it's sad for the poor man that lost his father. fhl and fyl

Actually the guys father is completely fine. He survived the death and is now making a full recovery! Thanks for asking, OP!

Oh so wrong but oh so right xD

That's terrible but mistakes happen.

Even if mistakes happen, we have to assume this is why companies prefer their employees to remain impartial and impersonal. Sure, they're not gonna get any gold stars for customer service, but stories like this one will never be published and circulated to give their name a bad reputation, even if it was a one-time incident.

8 - I fail to understand how being impartial and impersonal has any effect on one's hearing.

Sounds like a personal problem. "People hear what they want to hear."

8- I understand what you're trying to say, but asking if the other passenger in the accident is OK is not trying to be personal. It's probably her job. She just simply misheard the son.

I know you think you're being sensitive, but saying "Is your passenger okay?" isn't that hard.

your just nitpicking on word choices. everyone mishears something every once in a while and op did nothing wrong..

Asking if the passenger was okay still would have had the same result since the son said he was dead.

Yikes... It's an easy mistake to make OP! :(

Oh noooo...that poor man. :( it's really easy to mishear things on the phone though don't beat yourself up

Wow that is awful. People make mistakes though and it's not your fault, because everyone has done the same :(

Maybe due to his being distraught he didn't hear your comment.
It's completely plausible that it could've gone in one ear and out the other

Comment moderated for rule-breaking.. Show it anyway

Can you even read?

Yeah he completely missed this FML.

Are you stupid, dumb, and blind? Stop giving this person a hard time!

That's really sad and unfortunate but accidents do happen. Don't beat yourself up OP.

It's an honest mistake. Those two words would have sounded very similar even if the line was clear. Make a mental note to reconfirm and move on.

"Did you say your father was deaf or dead?"