A Bengaluru resident expressed his disappointment on social media after Urban Company employees refused to speak in Kannada on his request and cancelled his bathroom cleaning service due to it. Sharing the matter on X (formerly Twitter), the user explained that he had booked a service for bathroom cleaning. When two employees arrived, he showed them the area for cleaning the bathroom. However, the employees started talking in a language he did not understand. When he politely requested, “Kannada, please,” the conversation continued, but in an unfamiliar language, causing communication problems. To solve the communication problem, the employees called a Kannada-speaking supervisor. According to the user, the supervisor claimed that the employees were uncomfortable speaking in Kannada, as the customer had demanded to speak only in Kannada. Following this, the service was cancelled and the employees left without any cleaning, leaving the customer extremely disappointed. The user wrote in his post, “Surprisingly, the person said that it is difficult for their staff if the customer only speaks Kannada. I replied, ‘I have not asked them to write a poem about my bathroom. Just clean and go away. What’s the problem?'”
Company’s response and disappointment
The user informed that he then contacted Urban Company’s Karnatakacustomer care, but there too he did not get any help in speaking Kannada. “They said that they cannot speak Kannada. Since I prefer to get the service in my language, I did not continue the call. After some more conversation, they just cancelled the booking and left,” the user shared. He questioned why speaking Kannada in Karnataka can be a problem when it is the dominant language of the state. “What I still don’t understand is why should language be a barrier for such a straightforward service? And if communication is required, shouldn’t Kannada be the first choice in Karnataka?” he wrote. He also mentioned that he was polite throughout and only expected cleaning from his staff, but their attitude was cold and dismissive.
Urban Company’s response
Following this post, Urban Company quickly responded and apologised. The company said, “Hi, thank you for reaching out to us. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to you. We would like to assist you in this matter. Can we get your registered mobile number or email address via DM to investigate the matter further?”
