I find automated phone systems increasingly annoying.

[StageLeft]

It's gotten to the point that if at all possible instead of going through reams of menus, often which are deadend, I'll just talk to a customer service person immediately. Sometimes in fact I call the "new service" number, so that instead of having to wait through a menu to press the "talk to a rep" I am automatically sent to them right away and then I just ask them to transfer me.

It undermines the point of these systems, but they undermine my sanity. It's so brutal that sometimes one must spend a good two minutes playing through menus to get anywhere!

 

[radioouman]

I routinely hit "0" as soon as I get a phone menu. Usually it works.

 

[dman]

Welcome to 1980.

BTW, what are you talking about 'new service number'? Nevermind, you mean like for ordering a new cable/electric/etc service you pick that instead of tech support. I've gotten put back in the queue trying that before. Or thinking they could answer a simple question like 'is there an outage right now'. Hah.

 

[LakAttack]

"Please listen to the following menu options, as the selections have recently been changed."

For a while I was having tons of problems with earthlink, and I finally just wrote down the 8(!) numbers that I had to push to get the area I needed.

 

[Aves]

Originally posted by: radioouman
I routinely hit "0" as soon as I get a phone menu. Usually it works.

Pressing no buttons at all will usually get you straight to a person also.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Phones need an LCD screen & an organization chart so you can navigate the voice menus more easily...

I've found pressing 0 about 100 times many times gets me a human, or pressing nothing works on a lot of them.

What pisses me off is thinking of my 70+ year old mother or older technophobes in general having to wade through the menus.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: LakAttack
"Please listen to the following menu options, as the selections have recently been changed."

For a while I was having tons of problems with earthlink, and I finally just wrote down the 8(!) numbers that I had to push to get the area I needed.

Yes I've had systems before where you have to hit like: 1,3,2,5,4 and then you're talking to who you want.

 

[Aves]

Many of the phone companies I deal with require you to listen to the menu before making a selection.

Even though I know to get status it's Option 1, 1, 2, 5 I have to sit there and wait. :|

With one of them I get to listen to the guy tell me that "Effective June 1, 2001 our options have changed." before making a selection.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: aves2k
Many of the phone companies I deal with require you to listen to the menu before making a selection.

Even though I know to get status it's Option 1, 1, 2, 5 I have to sit there and wait. :|

With one of them I get to listen to the guy tell me that "Effective June 1, 2001 our options have changed." before making a selection.

My favorite is when there is an ad before anything starts. I love that.

 

[Kyteland]

I like the phone system my bank uses. The first time I called in to check mt account balance it I had to wade through the menus. From then on I had it memorized and I can simply tack the proper sequence immediately on to the end of their phone number to get where I want to go. No waiting at all.