(I found this via the lovely Karen at verbatim. Thanks, Karen!)
Is there anything more frustrating than calling for customer service and finding yourself stuck in the never-ending maze of menus and infobots (“Your! Current! Balance! Is! Zero! Dollars! And! Zero! Cents!”) when all you really want is to speak to someone?
Bookmark the database at GetHuman for not only the phone numbers of many U.S. companies you may call, but the input shortcuts for reaching a real live person. I hear some of them even speak English.
Really, English? Wow, it has been so long since I have been able to understand “steve” and “Jane” on the other end of the line. We are in the process of moving, and every utility I called to transfer service I had to spell my new street name about 50 times before they understood what I was saying. I also had to ask them at least 51 times to repeat what they were saying.
The worst customer service I have ever run into is Overstock. I love to shop there, but if you ever have a problem with an item, the love affair stops quickly. The customer service group is based in India, and all they can do is read the paragraph that pops up on their computer screen for the type of problem you are having. It is worse than the infobot, because you THINK you are speaking to someone that can help you, but you are not.
Wow, English… to think!
Thanks for this information! Priceless indeed!
Yay! Thanks, Mir!
This sounds fabulous. We wasted all kinds of cell phone minutes last summer trying to call the landline phone company after lightning hit our house. I could hear Husband yelling out on the deck “Nooooo! Don’t cut me off! I don’t want billing!”
There is also ivrhacks which is a database of US, UK, Australian and Canadian shortcuts to company IVR systems.