# I hate using the phone to contact businesses. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885 "2017-12-08T06:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/21 "2017-12-09T15:04:36Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > My previous car insurer had the worst one; not only did it have a stupidly long phone tree, but, if you called after 6pm or on a weekend, regardless of which combo you selected, you -eventually- got through to the claims department. > > The claims department only dealt with _new_ claims, _existing_ claims were a whole different department, and the claims department had no access to their system. The _existing_ claims department had all gone home. It took about 15 minutes of selecting options, crackly hold music, typing in my account number and repeatedly being subjected to a chirpy recorded message about how marvellous their website was to find that out. I can explain this. Taking a “first notice of loss” (the retort of a new claim) is a relatively low-skill job that can be handled by call center employees. Actually handling the claim, which includes answering your questions about an existing claim, is a high-skill job that requires certification. So the people are different, and it’s not surprising they work different hours. There was probably a particular claims adjuster assigned to your claim, and you probably needed to talk to that person, during the particular hours that person worked. Not that this helps at all, but I like to understand why I’ve been annoyed. > [@erysichthon](#): > > If a chat option is available, I generally use that instead of the phone. The problem of things being misheard is eliminated, and (usually) you can save a transcript of the session. I hate “chat”. I feel like I usually reach a bot that doesn’t know how to answer my questions but keeps saying stuff that’s plausible enough to keep me on the line much too long. If I’m lucky enough to reach a human, he’s probably handling 8 chats simultaneously, and doesn’t remember anything I said. I find I need to repeat myself over and over, and often never get a useful answer. When I finally get through the phone tree to a human, it’s usually a real person who listens to what I say, and who can remember more than a single sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/22 "2017-12-10T12:06:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I can explain this. Taking a “first notice of loss” (the retort of a new claim) is a relatively low-skill job that can be handled by call center employees. Actually handling the claim, which includes answering your questions about an existing claim, is a high-skill job that requires certification. So the people are different, and it’s not surprising they work different hours. > > There was probably a particular claims adjuster assigned to your claim, and you probably needed to talk to that person, during the particular hours that person worked. > > Not that this helps at all, but I like to understand why I’ve been annoyed. After it me took 4 hours on the phone (no exaggeration, I timed it) to register the initial claim due to a system error, I already had a fair grasp of what department could do what. I was fully aware of the limitations of the ‘new claims’ department, in fact. The thing that really annoyed me was that I had a 15 minute sit through a tree that claimed it was directing me to the existing claims department when it wasn’t. If only one department is 24hr, and all the other ones are closed, you shouldn’t have to work through the whole system to find that out. The whole elaborate phone tree could have been cut down to ‘We’re sorry, but the main office is currently closed, for existing claims and questions regarding existing policies, please call between [hours]. For new claims, please hold (or press 1)’. Redirecting all calls, eventually, to someone who can’t help, and making customers sit through all the options in order to talk to the person who can’t help is… well… not helpful. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/23 "2017-12-10T15:46:00Z")
That sounds horrible, and I agree, that company had a badly broken phone tree. I just hope it’s not a company I’ve ever worked for. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/24 "2017-12-10T16:08:30Z")
…when you wade through the morass of the phone tree only to be dumped into someone’s phone mail (“Hello, this is Sherry, the scheduler. I am currently not in the office but…”) …when they play their “your call is very important to us” message on a tight loop…every thirty seconds. …when they play commercials the whole time you are waiting …when they keep telling you how useful their website is, but if it were so useful then I wouldn’t have gone there to get the phone number to call. I used to swear by “[gethuman.com](http://gethuman.com)” when they were a fairly humble grass roots attempt at bypassing the phone tree jungle, but they seem to have filled it with monetization and corporate suck. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/25 "2017-12-10T16:57:42Z")
All or most of the above. Added fun: calling MD offices to get clinical information for my pathology cases (that they should have supplied with the specimen requisitions). “Please listen carefully to the following options, as our menu has recently changed. If you have fallen to the floor and are dying, please hang up and dial 911, as we’re not an effing emergency department. All other callers, please pick one of the following 13 options, after which you will all be transferred to Heather or Shaunita, depending on whether they’re on break or out to lunch. Enjoy our wonderful on-hold music and ads while you’re waiting!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/26 "2017-12-10T17:29:27Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > If a chat option is available, I generally use that instead of the phone. The problem of things being misheard is eliminated, and (usually) you can save a transcript of the session. Every time I use a chat option, I get the distinct impression I’m not actually dealign with a real human on the other end. The responses don’t pass my internal Turing Test. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/27 "2017-12-10T17:53:17Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I hate using the phone to contact businesses of any kind. > > I hate voice activated menus. > > I hate the on-hold music, usually crashing with static. > > I hate that while I’m on hold being forced to listen to the on-hold music, crashing with static, I can’t use data when I’m on hold on my Android device. (There are some ways around that, supposedly.) > > I hate spelling my difficult last name every time. > > I hate repeating my perfectly ordinary first name which, despite being a typical and common name in any English-speaking country, is surprisingly difficult for the majority of people I talk to on the phone. (I’ll give you a hint: In French it would be Jacques.) > > I hate the recurrent refrain, “Sir, I can hardly hear you.” > > I hate when I can’t hear them because they aren’t speaking into their handset or their headset mic is too far away from their mouth. > I hate repeating twelve or fifteen figure account numbers over and over–"It’s not four-one-two-nine, it’s FOWER-NIYUN-TWO-FIYIV. > > I hate having to yell and repeat myself. > > I hate using the phone to contact businesses of any kind. > > You? Patronage small businesses then. Any time the phone rings here, a real live person (usually me) answers it. I don’t usually use hold music, but if you forward a playlist, I can see what I can do. 🙂 Don’t know what to do about names, if it’s hard to spell, it’s hard to spell, but then, in my database, once you are in, I only need to type in the first few letters to bring you up. There are hearing issues from time to time. Sometimes it’s hard for me to hear them sometimes it’s hard for them to hear me, it probably has more to do with the connection than the person on the phone. I also have no problem being contacted by email or facebook, and being a small business, can respond to those quickly. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/28 "2017-12-10T18:27:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I hate “chat”. I feel like I usually reach a bot that doesn’t know how to answer my questions but keeps saying stuff that’s plausible enough to keep me on the line much too long. If I’m lucky enough to reach a human, he’s probably handling 8 chats simultaneously, and doesn’t remember anything I said. I find I need to repeat myself over and over, and often never get a useful answer. > > When I finally get through the phone tree to a human, it’s usually a real person who listens to what I say, and who can remember more than a single sentence. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Every time I use a chat option, I get the distinct impression I’m not actually dealign with a real human on the other end. The responses don’t pass my internal Turing Test. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’ve had generally good experiences with the chat option. Recently I was able to cancel a major credit card via chat without any fuss or upselling. A few days ago, I had a problem with a Google ebook download, and a brief chat session got things cleared up. No “I can’t hear you, sir,” no repeating myself or shouting, no impenetrable accents. I’m sure that the first bit of the conversation is certainly a chatbot and a human takes over at some point, but I’ve never had the sense that I was talking to an AI from start to finish. But, again, maybe I’ve just been lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/29 "2017-12-10T20:27:26Z")
I source and purchase spare parts for a manufacturing company. 1000 pieces of manufacturing equipment made up of parts from 1000 other manufacturers. About 200 purchases a month. If I can go to your website, find the part I’m looking for, put in my billing/shipping info and credit card you are gold to me. I can place an order in under a minute, have a record of it, track it, etc. If I have to call you, be placed on hold or get routed to someone’s voicemail, then give you 2 dozen pieces of info, listen to you repeat them all back for accuracy, get a reference number so if I have to check the status ai can call and be placed on hold again, and then call you again 2 weeks later because you never sent an invoice along with the purchase, well… you are a serious waste of my time and I’m probably going to find an alternate source. It’s 2017. Web commerce has been around for decades. Come join us in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885/30 "2017-12-11T00:48:18Z")
Another one that frosts my gourd. Every. Single. Time. immediately after connection is made with the company (via recorded voice, of course). the first thing that the recording says is “Please listen to all the options, as we have made changes to the system”. According to my record keeping, Every. Single. Effing. Company. in the country has recently made changes to their voice menu systems. Do you suppose they’ll ever get it correct? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-using-the-phone-to-contact-businesses/803885.md?page=1)