YES! The ultimate cheat sheet is available to one and all who are sick and tired of talking to robots, and receiving options from sophisticated voicemail systems that don't fit their problem.
Click here...and save this site. You will want to visit it frequently..
The big takeaway--- seeing all the various contortions people have to go through to get to a live customer service representative, you get the idea these companies really don't want to talk to us.
Hello? If I could figure out the problem by myself I wouldn't be calling you.
Years ago, bankers believed if they just made it painful enough to stand in bank lines that people would get used to using ATMS. For the most part, the strategy has worked for getting money out of the bank. But, if you want to make a deposit, bankers say, use a teller.
For some reason when you make a deposit in an ATM it is more likely to trigger a longer "hold" time on your deposit.
It makes no sense but neither does the convoluted phone systems that companies now use for people trying to reach a live customer service agent/representative.
They must think that if they are patient enough, we'll adjust to the robots just like we've adjusted to self-service gas stations, ATMs, and booking airline tickets on line.
What they don't get is those are very specific tasks...repeatable tasks. News Flash-- I hate filling up my car especially when I have nice shoes on. I, if dressed for business ,would go to the full-service option if any of the gas stations in my neighborhood offered this service -- they don't.
When we call customer service, it's not like filling up the tank. It's not to complete a repeatable, teachable task. Instead, it's often for a problem that has never occurred before and may never occur again. Some things depend on human contact.
The other thing that I love about this list is that I feel validated. It wasn't my imagination. You often have to work very hard to reach a live human being .
In case you haven't peaked at the Cheat Sheet here is some of what you'll find:
AT TiVo, you say " Live Agent" .If you are traveling on Delta you have to repeat Agent FOUR times--but not in a row. That's four times each time they ask for a response, then you get to go live. Geez.
Meanwhile over a T-Mobile you don't say agent, you say representative.
At Safeway, silence is golden. If you refrain from saying anything, you get bumped to the front of the line.
And, unfortunately for those of you who need to get in touch with Compaq, the code can't be cracked.
The Cheat Sheet is the brainchild Paul English who has done his good deed for mankind. The media is enthralled--English has gotten coverage from The Guardian Unlimited to People Magazine.
And, from many of us who have lost our tempers and said very foul things to those robots, Thank You from the bottom of our hearts.
My StumbleUpon Page
