May 30, 2008
For those frustrated with the process of automated attendants and talking with people who have a screen in front of them with a script written for them (and where they will be fired if they don’t use it), we offer the following:
- To get to a live operator
- Push zero repeatedly or say “operator” or “agent”
- Stay on the line until the automated attendant hangs up or it pus you through to a live attendant. Keep waiting until you are sure it hung up on you — an operator will come on the line and tell you “if you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again.”
- www.gethuman.com lists hundreds of companies and phone shortcuts.
- Try the back door — a favorite of mine. Call or fax corporate headquarters and shotgun it to a number of high level execs. Try sales or investor relations.
- Select Spanish-only option. They speak both and you’ll usually get through faster.
- Call from a friend’s phone or a phone they don’t have on file. Their automated system might be queued up to put new customers to the front of the line.
- Call the company’s international customer-service number COLLECT. Its incentive for keeping you on hold will drop because of the cost.
- Once you get to a live person, you ask for a supervisor.
- ALways threaten rescission or cancellation of the loan or transaction you are calling about.
- Always threaten to write to the Attorney general’s Department of consumer affairs
- 5. Don’t be afraid to write to consumer help lines in news media and fill out the form on the Attorney General’s Consumer Affairs website.


