Automated Phone Systems

[CNF2002]

I just have to vent! I've been moving into a new house, and I've had to deal with all of my utility companies at once. Every one of them has an impossible automated phone system...I spent 15 minutes on one of them pressing buttons, going through menus, and listening to ads about their great new services.

Does anyone else think these are getting out of hand? I can't get to a real person for the life of me...and I can't think of one question that automated system could tell me, unless I was checking my bank balance or something. It takes half an hour to ask one simple question, or to get an update on a tech's ETA.

Speaking of which, my cable company people are morons. I have called 3 times to get service, had to reschedule once, waited 12 hours one day for them to never show up, rescheduled again to have them show up within a 2 hour time frame and they were 40 minutes late (and of course we were gone, because surprise we actually have to work sometimes) and I am STILL waiting for them to show up. I threatened to cancel and they just shrugged it off, the KNOW they are the only cable company in the entire city.

Okay rant over.

[Sev]

Always talk to sales. They'll solve your problem for you.

Failing that hit 0 and it'll send you to a real person.

[CNF2002]

No, it won't. It used to, but not anymore, they've wised up.

Hitting zero will usually reset the recording, or get you a "Im sorry, I didnt understand that response". They've caught on to that trick, I'm afraid.

What's worse...is when you DO get someone in "sales", who BTW are usually the only ones who you can get ahold of, they tell you that they can't help you and they need to transfer you to billing/repair/service/etc, at which point they send you to another answering service.

They want you to hang up in frustration so they dont have to deal with your problem...it seems.

[bennettoid]

Get a gun and go postal in the front lobby. That will get their attention.

[9000white]

any time i did eventually get to a live human they had no concept of the english language.

[blues2cruise]

You are not alone, CNF. It's just as bad here. Both getting a live person and a tech to your house.

[Mag7C]

As long as we're venting... I hate phones. I hate everything about them. I hate the way they distort the person's voice I'm talking to, I hate how the ringing makes my ears pound, I hate how people are so damn dependent on their cellphones that they can't just turn the "procreating" thing off during the SAT for god sake, I hate how I have to talk to someone regardless of whether or not it's a convenient time for me, i hate trying to come up with polite reasons to hang up... I hate phones!

[oldnslo]

Even small offices with staff levels under 10 employees have turned to automated systems, and many do not have the feature allowing connection to a real human. Really helps their business a lot, I imagine.

I have always thought people walking around in grocery stores or department stores with cellphones to their ears are merely mentally challenged or unable to make rational choices, instead getting information from others via the cellphone regarding what to purchase.

[dr_bar]

Get a gun and go postal in the front lobby. That will get their attention.

As a postal worker, I hate that term...

[Wizzard]

The whole concept of automation was to make life easier . For whom , I can't figure out . It raises my stress levels as well as my blood pressure .
And the worse part of it all is that it dehumanizes , not only the companies employees but , we the consumers , as well .
The reality is that living outside the box is equally important to thinking outside the box .
Kind regards , Wizzard