I am becoming really fed up with automated telephone systems.
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
December 30, 2012 10:58am CST
I am referring to the type of system that automatically answers the telephone call and presents you with a recorded message, followed by a series of choices to guide you to the correct department, which then puts you on hold until someone is available to take the call. The use of this process has been steadily increasing for several years and now almost every business in the United Kingdom is doing this.
It was fine when we used the old system of simply waiting for someone to answer because if we had to wait for 20 minutes then we would only pay from the time that the call was taken. Nowadays we are charged for all the time that we are waiting for someone to answer, which really infuriates me.
To make matters worse they are usually 0845 numbers, which I am charged for on my mobile phone even if I have several hours of calls left on my monthly contract.
2 people like this
7 responses
@mariaperalta (19073)
• Mexico
30 Dec 12
I was with them a few years ago while living in the us. Now, they have started them here with the phone companies and gas co. I hate them. They never seem to get me to the right person here. So how are you these days.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
30 Dec 12
That is perfectly true, it is as though they have been designed to confuse the public. I used to wonder why any company would use such a number since a standard telephone call is much cheaper for their customers, often thinking that it may be intended to deter people from calling in the first place.
1 person likes this
@karjatwala (1120)
• Pune, India
31 Dec 12
Yes it really gets on your nerves making you wait for services which they are supposed to give 24/7. Seems this is their way of saying that we do not entertain calls once our payment is received. In India I look up their office in my city and take time out and go there physically and get my complaint lodged or any services which I require from the concerned parties.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
31 Dec 12
Yes, it sometimes does seem as though they do not want to deal with customers. Oddly enough a lot of companies here use a similar system for new customers calling to buy or enquire, which makes very little sense at all.
I could put up with being on hold for 20 minutes, but it is really annoying when I have to pay for every minute that I am left on hold.
@karjatwala (1120)
• Pune, India
31 Dec 12
Well, if companies are doing that to new customers, the best thing to do would be to hang up and go to some company who has a human at the other end. But if most or all of the companies are resorting to these tactics, you just cannot help it, and if you want to buy something, go and buy it at a store where it is available.
@julyteen (13252)
• Davao, Philippines
31 Dec 12
That's really frustrating. I only stay on hold and listen the recorded voice if the number are toll free like contacting my network provider but if I call somebody very important and I heard the other line only a recorded message I quickly hang up the phone. 
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
31 Dec 12
There was a time when I would do exactly the same, but that is not practical anymore due to all the businesses using such machines. if I wish to make a call to the council, Electricity Company, Insurance Company, Plumber etcetera the I know that it will be an 0845 number.
I can call my friends and relatives anywhere in Britain on either their landline or mobile and the call will be covered by my contract, but a call to the company CCTV team would cost me.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
1 Jan 13
Oh...I hate hate hate automated telephone systems. It seems they never have the option I need and if they do it usually takes me in a circle
More and more we have to deal with it here too. I bought a coupe of books at the local book store for my daughter last Christmas and they were doing a magazine promotion. I got so many free magazines and after a certain amount of time you called and cancelled or you kept the subscription. I decided to cancel but it took moving a mountain to do it. I actually had to go back to the bookstore and raise the roof. It wasn't their fault but after hours of circles I had nowhere else to go. I think they set it up to be a hassle sometimes.
More and more we have to deal with it here too. I bought a coupe of books at the local book store for my daughter last Christmas and they were doing a magazine promotion. I got so many free magazines and after a certain amount of time you called and cancelled or you kept the subscription. I decided to cancel but it took moving a mountain to do it. I actually had to go back to the bookstore and raise the roof. It wasn't their fault but after hours of circles I had nowhere else to go. I think they set it up to be a hassle sometimes.@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Jan 13
Oh yes, it can be frustrating enough having to make several selections and listening to a series of pointless and unrelated messages before each choice appears, but all too often we are given a choice between a few options of which none sounds in the slightest relevant to the department we require. This presents the undesirable choice of whether we select one and hope for success, or simply hang up and start again. In either case we have to listen to all the same messages and still may be unable to make the appropriate choice.
We used to be irritated in the old days when we telephoned a company and waited 20 minutes with nobody answering, but at least we were not charged for the call. Now I look back at those days and wish that we could have the same thing again.
@vidhyaprakash_2 (7116)
• India
1 Jan 13
Hi friend, most of us hate this kind of automated calls, but the network provider and most of the call center services frequently call us and give such kind of recorded calls. Some times we wrongly press some buttons without our knowledge and our balance will be deducted based on it, we are in need to pay unwanted charges due to this mistake.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Jan 13
The calls made to us by call centres are not quite the type of call that I am referring to, although I do understand what you mean. It can be very annoying to receive unsolicited telephone calls bearing recorded messages. The ones that offer us a selection of options which can result in charges to out telephone bill are totally unacceptable. This is an unscrupulous and devious way of trying to extract money from the innocent public and I am quite surprised that the law permits this sort of deceit to continue.
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
31 Dec 12
our landline and dsl are the same company. when the internet acts up, i call the hotline to report. i'm glad they now have an option to "leave a message" so i already know all the details i have to give them.
the problem is you have to wait for the series of recorded messages to finish before you press any button, which means the welcome greetings, the promos and offerings, the sorry we're busy, the ways to reach them. pressing the correct number while the recording is "talking" is useless. it won't let you through. it's like they treat recorded messages as real people who shouldn't be interrupted!
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
31 Dec 12
Yes, if it is a number that you have previously called then you already know exactly the message is about to say but still have to listen to the whole of it again. I always makes you wary of hanging up the line because you know that you will have to start at the beginning the next time that you call.
It must be very frustrating if you internet connection is down because you will have to listen to the message telling you that you can report the issue via the website and informing you of the site's address.
@BarBaraPrz (51828)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
30 Dec 12
I ran into this the other day when I was trying to get some information from the computer department at FutureShop. A million options later, I get to press the correct button for the department, and no one answers! Had to go through it for about ten minutes before someone finally answered. It was a local call, so I didn't get charged any extra than the flat rate monthly charge, but it was annoying.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
30 Dec 12
Oh yes, they always seem to offer a series of options that do not appear to relate to the department that you are trying to reach. I find myself trying to guess which option to select. It can be really irritating when you finally make contact with a human being and get told "Oh, you want a different department, I will put you through". This normally results in the line going back on hold again for several minutes.
I would not be so concerned if they were local calls because my mobile phone contract allows me unlimited local numbers, which covers the whole of the United Kingdom, and around 8 hours of mobile phone numbers per month. Annoyingly they are all 0845 numbers, which are not covered by my contract so I end up paying for every second from when the call is first answered by the machine.
1 person likes this
