Broom Hilda by Russell Myers for May 01, 2010

Oh, yeah! Everybody loves the automated message!

I think that evil laugh says it all.

That’s better than the elevator music you usually get.

Yukoner, Elevated???

Don’t put up with it Broomie.

Foe English, press one. For enchanted, press two, For ZAP. point finger.

Weather report: Cloudy, windy, with chance of ZAP!

\\//_

Let’s hope she can send a good zap through the phone.

If so, get ‘em, Broomie! Get ‘em good.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand your response.”

Now there are firms advertising that they have real people answer their phones. Now we can get ignored by a living breathing human being!

Mr Doty,

A “phone tree” is the menu of choices that you have to navigate through when you reach one of those automated phone lines. It was not a reference to the phone attached to a tree that Broomie is using.

Did you know that you can bypass the menu if you chose an option not given? Just punch in a random number or (if it is voice activated) say something that the system “does not understand” (I usually tell those that, “I want to talk to a real person”) and you will get connected to a real person much sooner.

@Maizing.

That really works. I usually type a lot of random numbers and get - “transferring to an operator”

The automated systems I really hate are the ones that ask you to speak your responses.

DON’T GET ME STARTED! (LOL)

I have found that, very often, if you just press “0” you will be transferred to a human being right away. Not always, but most of the time.

You can really tell which companies care about serving their customers! I have spoken to people who have tried to be helpful. And other people who have - well, shall we just say, “not”…

I don’t remember the URL, but maybe if you do a search you can find it – but there was this website that had a long list of the Customer Service department phone numbers for numerous companies, and the “secret” way of getting an operator for each.

Sometimes it’s “0”, sometimes it’s “00”, sometimes it’s “9”

“star 0”, “0 star”, “hash 00”, etc. etc. etc.

Sometimes it’s as simple as verbally saying, “OPERATOR”, or “LIVE PERSON”, and keep repeating that until the blasted thing decides you’re not giving up.

LOL to that one , Joe:

Used to be if you wanted the Verizon folks on line, you let them run through the menu and just didn’t do anything. They assumed you had a hearing or speaking problem and came on line. Now they just hang up on you.

“If you are calling from a touch-tone phone, press 1. If not, press 2.”