4 ms·

I just keep pressing 0 until a live person answers.

by devoutsalsa 4y ago

fatnoah 4y ago
I double down and press 0 while shouting "Agent!"
- ehPReth 4y ago
  there’s a rumour that cursing can also help you get to the operator (faster?). not sure how true that is, though
kloch 4y ago
"Representative! ... Representative! ... Representative!"
amelius 4y ago
You should automate that.
onemoresoop 4y ago
If too many people do that they will turn it off, just a few representatives cannot handle such inflow of requests. The problem is skimping on customer service personnel. I could see it saying "I understand you want to reach customer representative", "Please select from these options while I connect you to a representative" while circling you around a graph of options or just automatically hanging up after 45 minutes to an hour of being on the call.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  What you've described is something I've directly experienced. There are phone systems that will do just that when you ask for an operator.
svachalek 4y ago
I think that's old fashioned. Newer systems I've dealt with just say "sorry, I can't understand you, please try again later" and hang up.
- JCharante 4y ago
  Related to this, I've had to call an airline and get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long.
  - nordsieck 4y ago
    > Related to this, I've had to call an airline and get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long. It's 100% internal metrics. When I was in the military, there was some metric that the clinic was graded on - I think it was number of days between when an appointment was made and when the visit happened. So the clinics just didn't allow unimportant people to make appointments more than 2 weeks out.
  - ljm 4y ago
    I’m happy enough if they just straight up say you’ll be waiting a while, and to press a button to get a call back when you reach the top of the queue. Can get on with life until they ring you back then.
  - hiidrew 4y ago
    the best is when the queue is too long and they let you opt-in to being called back when it's your turn.
  - jstarfish 4y ago
    > get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long. A call deferred is a call denied. Convincing the customer to give up is one way to reduce workload. See also: automated systems that play a prerecorded message along the lines of "we're currently experiencing higher than normal call volume" regardless of how long wait times even are.
sally_glance 4y ago
I once heard that in some countries you can just keep repeating "what" and they're legally bound to forward you to a human agent. Something about accessibility laws in case you don't know how to type numbers or can't understand what the voice wants (hearing aids or handicapped people)... Can't find the reference though.
bronikowski 4y ago
Some months ago I was trying to setup a medical appointment for my dad when the robo-voice picked up I got frustrated and shouted "kurwa" (an universal swearword in Polish). The automaton responded "I understand, connecting you to our consultants".
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  That is amazing. I'm going to try this.
bitwize 4y ago
Shouting "operator" or "I want to speak to a human" in your loudest, most karen-like voice, also seems to work.
runnerup 4y ago
On the latest systems this often results in the automated system hanging up on you.

I just keep pressing 0 until a live person answers.

fatnoah 4y ago

I double down and press 0 while shouting "Agent!"

ehPReth 4y ago
there’s a rumour that cursing can also help you get to the operator (faster?). not sure how true that is, though

kloch 4y ago

"Representative! ... Representative! ... Representative!"

amelius 4y ago

You should automate that.

onemoresoop 4y ago

If too many people do that they will turn it off, just a few representatives cannot handle such inflow of requests. The problem is skimping on customer service personnel. I could see it saying "I understand you want to reach customer representative", "Please select from these options while I connect you to a representative" while circling you around a graph of options or just automatically hanging up after 45 minutes to an hour of being on the call.

heavyset_go 4y ago
What you've described is something I've directly experienced. There are phone systems that will do just that when you ask for an operator.

svachalek 4y ago

I think that's old fashioned. Newer systems I've dealt with just say "sorry, I can't understand you, please try again later" and hang up.

JCharante 4y ago
Related to this, I've had to call an airline and get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long.
- nordsieck 4y ago
  > Related to this, I've had to call an airline and get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long. It's 100% internal metrics. When I was in the military, there was some metric that the clinic was graded on - I think it was number of days between when an appointment was made and when the visit happened. So the clinics just didn't allow unimportant people to make appointments more than 2 weeks out.
- ljm 4y ago
  I’m happy enough if they just straight up say you’ll be waiting a while, and to press a button to get a call back when you reach the top of the queue. Can get on with life until they ring you back then.
- hiidrew 4y ago
  the best is when the queue is too long and they let you opt-in to being called back when it's your turn.
- jstarfish 4y ago
  > get told the queue is too long and to try calling back later. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea to implement because the queue will always be super long. A call deferred is a call denied. Convincing the customer to give up is one way to reduce workload. See also: automated systems that play a prerecorded message along the lines of "we're currently experiencing higher than normal call volume" regardless of how long wait times even are.

sally_glance 4y ago

I once heard that in some countries you can just keep repeating "what" and they're legally bound to forward you to a human agent. Something about accessibility laws in case you don't know how to type numbers or can't understand what the voice wants (hearing aids or handicapped people)... Can't find the reference though.

bronikowski 4y ago

Some months ago I was trying to setup a medical appointment for my dad when the robo-voice picked up I got frustrated and shouted "kurwa" (an universal swearword in Polish). The automaton responded "I understand, connecting you to our consultants".

devoutsalsa 4y ago
That is amazing. I'm going to try this.

bitwize 4y ago

Shouting "operator" or "I want to speak to a human" in your loudest, most karen-like voice, also seems to work.

runnerup 4y ago

On the latest systems this often results in the automated system hanging up on you.