[Via – ConsumerReports]

High on the list of consumer annoyances these days, according to a recent poll of ours, is the near-impossibility of getting a human being on the phone when you call a big company’s 800 number with a question.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I had to call a mail-order pharmacy. After a perky robotic voice ran through a series of questions irrelevant to my situation (complete with faux-sympathetic sighs when it became clear even to the robot that things weren’t going well), I tried the familiar trick of requesting an operator.

The perky robot just kept going.

Then I asked if I could please speak to a real human being, please.

Nothing.

So I asked for an operator again, speaking as clearly and slowly as I know how, just in case I had mumbled the word earlier.

Still no sign of intelligent life.

Finally, as the robotic voice continued, I gave it one last, desperate try.