Can I talk to a human, please!!!
By daycarepal
@daycarepal (1998)
United States
June 28, 2007 1:07pm CST
Remember the good old days when you could pick up the phone, call a company, and actually have a HUMAN pick up on the other end??? Oh how I miss those days!!
I'm just a little ticked off today. I called an insurance company and had to listen to the...Press 1 for English....Press 2 for Spanish....ok so I press 1. Then I get....Press 1 for blah blah...Press 2 for blah blah blah...goes all the way up to Press 6.
So I press the one I need. Then have to go through another series of...Press this or that.....only to be told by a recording that all service representatives are busy and to please hold :) So I hold, a HUMAN comes on and asks for policy #, name, address, date of birth, all this before I can tell her why I'm calling. I give her the info, explain my issue, and she tells me she has to connect me to another department!! So I go through the whole thing again with another operator, ugh!! And that operator tells me she has to transfer me to someone else because I should never have been connected to her to begin with!! Oh and guess what happens as she is connecting me.....go ahead guess........I got disconnected!!
What ever happened to good costumer service???
36 people like this
103 responses
@ibuemma (2953)
• United States
28 Jun 07
it is so irritating. Do you know it some company there's actually people listening when those machine "chat' with you. you know sometimes you get this "this call is being monitor or recorded for security/satisfaction purpose"....I find out when I try to call Chuck E cheese, to book my daughter birthday party. The machine start picking up, and i start getting mad, i said "For God sake, somebody answer me" and the next second somebody answer, he explain that a lot of that automated machine actually has a person that their job "monitoring" the phone call...
3 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
So they are listening in while you are on hold? I thought they were only listening in while you are actually talking to a human.
2 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Yes it is unbelieveable. Actually it sounds like an invasion of privacy.
2 people like this
@youdontsay (3497)
• United States
29 Jun 07
I know what you mean! It drives me wild. Yesterday I had to phone my mail order pharmacy about a medication that never came. I went through all the press this and that and learned it didn't know how to name my problem. I kept ending up with a system that had more machine choices and none of them getting to my need. I kept trying options - there were nine of them - and finally, finally got a customer rep. Well, she had trouble finding the answer to my questions, too. I was on the phone for half an hour just to discover that they had forgotten to process the order! I've been waiting on this medication for weeks. It's a good thing it isn't for a life threatening condition!
3 people like this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
29 Jun 07
I can relate to what you are saying. Even some doctors offices are using that system now. But I have more patience with them than my boyfriend does. He gets so upset and usually ends up giving up and then I have to do it.
3 people like this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
29 Jun 07
grrrrrrrrr...good customer service went out the door when the technology walked thru it. Sometimes I like the automated system that almost every business uses nowadays but once in a while, I just want to call and get a real person on the phone right away instead of going thru all the crap only to get put on hold and then.....disconnected. That really ticks me off!
3 people like this
@cynddvs (2948)
• United States
28 Jun 07
That is one of my fiances biggest pet peeves. He makes me do a lot of the calls like that since I'm a little more patient then him. What I especially hate is when you through through all the menus asking you to put in your phone number, account number and blah blah blah. And then when you get to a real person they ask for the exact information you just put in all over again. What the heck is the point?!?!
3 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
YES!! Exactly!! It doesn't make sense.
2 people like this
@speedy1279 (2665)
• United States
28 Jun 07
I hate it also. They think this makes it easier for people, but all it seems to do is aggravate people even more. I also don't like it when you go through all the press this number and press that number to just end up on hold that feels like eternity. And what gets me is when you are on hold a recording comes on and says "All customer services reps are currently busy now so please stay on the line". It's like hello don't you think I know they are busy, why else would I be on hold. Here recently I was actually on hold for 45 mins. before anyone ever picked up. Do you realize how many times I heard the "all reps are busy now"? I lost track, then when someone picked up I asked about why I had been on hold for 45 mins. He says to me "45 mins?" and yes 45 mins. Then he says "oh sorry about that, we are having techincal difficulties. "technical difficulties my rear end" that was just an excuse for poor customer service.
3 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Oh how aggrevating that is!! Sometimes I wonder what all those representatives are doing while we are on hold.
2 people like this
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Hi daycarepal I know the feeling quite well. I do miss the good old days indeed. I hate it when ever I have to call anything like that. I just dread it. They really should have if you speak english press 1 well hello yes we should speak english we live in america!
3 people like this
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Oh yes, this happens so much these days on anybody you call, I just did it this morning with Paypal and then again with I called my telephone company and will do it again when I call the Post Office ... in fact I can't remember the last time I did not get a recorded call when I called someplace, and the worst part is when you get disconnected and have to do it all over again .... grrrr
3 people like this
@rosie_123 (6113)
•
28 Jun 07
Well you are definately not alone! Recently a poll was conducted here in the UK to see what annoyed people about everyday life the most - and these robotic telephone things, came out tops!! And as for customer service - well, - they don't care do they? All these big companies want to do is save money, and a quick way of doing that is making "real" people redundant, and having machines answering the phone instead! Plus the money they make from telepone companies for having people using their premium numbers and hanging on for so long.
@kayrod2 (1304)
• Australia
28 Jun 07
They were the days, werent they? Talking to a human when you first ring. Customer service went down the toilet i think. When you do finally get on to a human, there's not much customer service either. Some are so rude. I really hate the voice activated systems. The usually dont get what you say. They are so annoying.
Best wishes to you
@cmsk2005 (1770)
• United States
28 Jun 07
i know this is very much disgusting these to call some customer services but the funny thing is you know what every company (insurance to travel..all of them) always claim thir customer service is very best. I just hate to try their customer service for any reason and my husbnd does that and you knoe you cant skip it, we need to do it all the time though!!!
3 people like this
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
28 Jun 07
It flew out the window with everything else that we are losing do to automated things...That is awful.
3 people like this
@2wicelot (2945)
•
28 Jun 07
I guess we are moving totally into the computer age and it seems the human is becoming literally extinct. I guess the world we see from science fiction shows and movies like star trek where you just talk to computers and give them orders and they obey and carry out is becoming a reality. Hope they don't take over like the machines in the matrix.
@cloud_kicker_32 (4635)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Ughh!! dont i know it!! I am sooo damn tired of going threw a million people just for one little problem or question..its insane! I was on the phone today for about 45 mins to my credit card company.,.i went from one person to another..and everytime i had to regive my information...alot of information..it was rediculous!But i have leanred a few tricks i would love to share with you..if you ever get soemthing taht says..if you dont have a touch tone phone..stay on the line...STAY ON LINE..even if u dont have pulse!! you get right threw asap!! how crazy is that?? and many times..when you get all these number to pick..i have just pushed 0 and got a real person there too!! so try those and i hope it helps ya somehwhere down the road:) take care!! April
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
Thanks for the tips. I have tried the 0 thing but today it didn't work for me. It has worked a few times in the past though, so that's a good tip to remember.
1 person likes this
@Bunny2 (2102)
• Australia
29 Jun 07
Oh it's bad enough when they keep you hanging on to speak to machines, but when you finally get through to a human, it's often a person in another country! I have no issue with foreigners - I'm a child of immigrants - but I live in Melbourne, Australia and if I have a problem with a local service, I want to speak to someone in Melbourne, Australia NOT Mumbai! I get so irritated because often they can't even speak English. (Please note, I am not trying to be racist, merely stating facts about customer service in Australia)
2 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
29 Jun 07
Oh don't worry about it, you don't sound racist at all. I completely understand what you're saying. If you're calling a local company, you wanna talk to someone local, not someone halfway around the world.
1 person likes this
@Trace86 (5030)
• United States
28 Jun 07
I can go you one better. I got hung up on by a computer yesterday. I went through all the buttons it said for my concern, I was at work and trying to get information from Blue Cross for a resident. I pushed buttons and listened to menus. I had to call back several times to get to the prescription information menu. That menu told me they didn't handle that and call 1-800-YOU-SUCKer(creative license taken) and disconnected! Right then, our pharmacy rep walked by and saw the look on my face and asked me what happened and started laughing. Then she called her pharmacy and got the information I needed.
2 people like this
@spiritwolf52 (2300)
•
29 Jun 07
If I can't talk to a human straight off, then I usually hang up. I don't have all day to waste waiting to talk to a human. They just love to give you a run around. There is no customer service these days.
2 people like this
@ESKARENA1 (18261)
•
29 Jun 07
I have found, if you dont pick an option, you are redirected to a call centre in New Deli
2 people like this
@luv2cook4u (398)
• United States
28 Jun 07
I also want to speak to someone who clearly speaks the same language I do and can clearly understand what I am saying. It is so frustrating when you spend so much time trying to understand what each other is saying. It leaves me more frustrated than when I started. My issue is not with the employee, but with the company who prefers to outsource their customer service department to another country.
2 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
28 Jun 07
That happened to my husband the other night. He could hardly understand the other customer service rep. My husband asked the guy what state he was in and the guy said.....I'm in India.
1 person likes this
@KatieS (503)
• United States
28 Jun 07
I was having problems with my computer last week and was talking to lots of different people, from ISP to computer techs. Most of those people I could not understand because of their accents. On one I had to hang up on the person and call back til I got someone I could understand. I felt rude doing that, but I was in need of assistance I COULD understand.
2 people like this
@luv2cook4u (398)
• United States
28 Jun 07
That is exactly what I mean. I have no problem with people from India, but when I am frustrated and stressed about a situation, i want to talk to someone who can help me quickly. If I am having trouble understanding them or they have trouble understanding me, it talks so much longer and makes the problem so much worse. THese companies are hoping to save some money by outsourcing their customer service department, but I imagine that doing so cuts back on efficiency in a major way. They may save money in one way, but they have got to be spending more in another way.
2 people like this
@dbhattji (2506)
• India
29 Jun 07
I also miss the good old days, although automation has not yet been introduced in all the areas in India, we do get to talk to real people, but in customer care services of certain facilities like telephone exchange we have to go through the whole press this and press that system, which is really annoying. On the one hand we say that unemployment is increasing, so why are we replacing people with machines?
2 people like this
@daycarepal (1998)
• United States
29 Jun 07
We are replacing people with machines because it's probably alot less expensive. Sad, but probably true.
1 person likes this
