Conversation with an Automated Attendant

Did you ever feel like you were talking to a tree – a phone tree?? Here’s the way it went for me this morning.

Attendant: Thank you for calling Bob’s Big Tents. This call may be recorded for quality assurance. You can say place order, check status, returns, or request catalogue. If none of these apply, say more options.
Me: More options
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say place order, check status, returns, or request catalogue. If none of these apply, say more options.
Me: M-o-r-e O-p-t-i-o-n-s (Maybe saying it slower would help.)
Attendant: Okay, here are some more options. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: Agent
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: AGENT (Maybe saying it louder would help.)
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: A-G-E-N-T (Maybe screaming it slowly would work.)
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: HELP
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. I will transfer your call for assistance.
Click….followed by dial tone.
Me: #$%?*@!!!

Now - I understand the need for businesses to streamline their customer service to better direct incoming calls, but at the cost of customer dissatisfaction?

In fact, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_attendant states:

Many auto-attendants are programmed very poorly by their owners, leading to what has frequently been called "voicemail hell" (though the name is a misnomer). Large companies often try to force callers through a seemingly endless series of questions and menus before anyone will actually answer the phone to give a simple answer. Some are even recursive leaving users stuck in an infinite loop. This is now a major source of frustration for many consumers, who have also felt a decline in customer service in general.

Go figure. One thing you can count on, if you call us here at Prepress Training Solution, you get to speak to a REAL PERSON without doing or saying anything. Oh yeah, and there’s no reason to scream.