Pluggers by Rick McKee for December 27, 2022

um… isn’t that what pressing zero is for?

Sometimes you can ask for a representative.

Start by pressing 0 or saying operator and get real mad

They have a real person on the other end of the line?

An operator? Yes, a plugger wants phones like they operated 60 years ago.

Never could believe the options you offered me,

Neither the way you are I could believe.

Every hour regret the whole day holdin’ the line and see,

‘Cause baby, I believe that you’re a peeve.

Everyone’s a plugger, baby, that’s the truth (yes, the truth)

Taking offence of you is my last will.

Everyone’s a plugger, baby, that’s no lie (yes, no lie)

You never ever really fail to annoy (oy, oy!)

Never could understand the logic of the laundry list system being used . Just have a person respond to each call because that is what is wanted and needed and will happen in the end ;-)

Just press 0.

Tried to see your primary doctor and she is scheduled out 4 months. Second choice is out three months. But a Zoom appoint available with an associated doctor in Kalamazoo… Then the appointment lady tells me to just go to an urgent care place. There I get a part-time nurse who speaks four languages but none are mine….well one is close….oy!

Me want customer care but me never get it. Phooey to their phoney customer service.

Doctor’s offices are the worst, and they blow up your phone with appointment reminders…

Still not seeing how a company’s inane voice menu system makes the caller be a Plugger …

And all options continue with a voice operated system and there are no options to get to a person. And if by so miracle you can get a person on the phone, you won’t be able to understand them due to their strong foreign accent.

Pressing “0” will sometimes take you to the operator.

I canceled my Amex account because of it. It made me mad because I worked hard to get that cc

I loathe phone banks.

pluggers were not trained by the public school system to respond to AI – today’s children 35 and under are not trained to respond to humans. thus the age gap has never been wider, nor the intolerance more severe and critical. not all ‘new’ things technical make ‘life’ more enjoyable, usually just more isolated or supportive of virtual reality.

I hate the ones that want you to select english or spanish! This is the USA!!!!!!

Hey just letting you know if you swear enough into any automated service that asks you to speak what you want out loud you’ll get an operator really quickly (just be sure to be polite to the operator haha god bless!!!)

Try calling ATT- – - you need more than patience.

If you happen to get an operator then you got to hope they are able to speak English.

I always try to shortcut the automated answering system by dialing “O”

Recently learned to give two or three obscure responses to a chat bot, and was handed over to the ‘next available operator’ in less than a minute. Not saying it works with them all but even small victories are appreciated.

I loath phone trees.

Just dial 0

I use the hmprfer system when there is no choice which matches my need.

I keep repeating hmprfer over and over in response and sooner or later (generally sooner) the system puts me through to someone live as it cannot figure what to do and assumes that is not able to understand me. Works almost every time.

It is also important to telephone at the right time -

I had to deal with IRS for a client and husband insisted I call right away and get it over with it – on a Monday morning. I knew it was a mistake to call on a Monday – especially after a holiday, but did not want to hear him complaining. I could not even connect to the phone number – he had me try 3 times. I then waited until 7 pm and called again. That time I got into the queue and waited for someone – yes, it was about an hour, but I reached someone and resolved the matter.

Why wait for night? I live on the east coast. By the time I called basically they were only getting calls from the west coast/Hawaii – many fewer people calling. I would not have called on a Monday on my own as they are dealing with calls from people who have received notices over 2 days and were not able to call right away.

Same is true for credit card companies, etc. Don’t call on a Monday or days after holidays and call later when fewer time zones have people calling.