Why is it so damn hard to get a human on the phone?

[Loonman]

Trying to resolve cable issues, and all I keep getting is the stupid fucking menu.

Telephone support Reps wonder why people are in such foul moods when they finally get someone on the line.


Goddamn bastards.


If I get somebody in India, I'm going over to my cable comapny witha baseball bat.

[areschild]

1. When they start giving the menu,

press 0. A lot of times an actual person will then answer.

[silverlib]

2. Timely rant...

I just got off the phone with an outsourced AT&T rep that could do nothing to help me and was told it would take 48 hours for a supervisor to call me back. And the problem happens to do with an EXPANSION of service!

It takes a long time to get a message from one country to another!

[Intelsucks]

3. It's called "customer no-service" which means they don't WANT you

to talk to a real person unless you absolutely have to.

[judge_smales]

4. Short answer-

Because they cost money.

[Insider]

8. bingo

bottom line...profit margins...technology over (costly?) humans

[RebelOne]

5. Try to get a human on the phone to report an outage

to your electric company. Can't be done. Press 0, press this, press that.

[Loonman]

6. Freakin' unreal

Like I said, these turkey-necks on the phones wonder why people are so mad when they get connected.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Even Republicans hate this

I bet if some Dem ran on a platform of banning automatic phone answering systems, he'd be elected in a landslide just on that position alone! :-)

Seriously, the menu options almost never match the reason I'm calling.

[Loonman]

10. Oh, they never do

"your information is incorrect"

No shit, asshole, that's why I'm calling, to give you the right information.

[Cuban_Liberal]

9. I refuse to deal with voice menus!

I just keep pressing "0" until a real person picks up.

[MercutioATC]

11. Go with WideOpenWest if they're in your area (cable and internet)

...a simple push-button menu and a live human after 2 or 3 rings. They have the BEST customer service I've yet encountered.

[skypilot]

12. I don't know if this was an intended effect...

...or a side effect of companies centralizing operations at these call centers but it seems that they are more comfortable screwing you than they were when they had to deal with you face to face. If you manage to talk to an actual person, that person is probably going to be in another state or another country so that know that they have you at a disadvantage. It's very cowardly.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. Because they have all been fired

That's why.