Refusing to climb the phone tree

[bhskittykatt]

When you call the Resort, you're greeted with a standard automated greeting: "Thank you for calling The Resort. You may reach the front desk at any time by dialing '0'. For directions, press '1'. For reservations, press '2'. For conference services, press '3'..." etc. Now, I get some phone trees can be frustrating, but this one is just one tier; it's pretty damn simple. It's fine to just go with it.

Unfortunately, a lot of people refuse to go through it and just mash "0" at the first opportunity. This takes them to the front desk, where we might have a line of people waiting to check in, so people on the phone have to hold.

Friday at 4pm, one of our busiest times, my coworker called in sick and management was at an off-site meeting, so it was literally just me. I had no fewer than three calls on hold at any given time. I also had a sizeable group that was arriving in carpools of three to four at a time...they were easy check-ins that I could do in under two minutes per carpool, and most of the calls were either general inquiry questions or wanting connected to other departments, so I was busy but moving things along at a decent pace.

Well, it wasn't so decent for one woman. She kept getting put on hold, but then she'd hang up and call back after less than a minute so of course she would get pushed to the back of the queue. After hanging up and calling back about three times, she snapped.

Me: "Thank you for calling The Resort. May I place you on hold for a minute?"
SC: "No! I'm calling long distance and you've put me on hold three times already!"
Me: "I'm very sorry. If you like I can take your name and number and call you back later after I finish checking in my guests."
SC: "I just want to make a reservation! Why is this so hard?!?"
Me: *facepalm* "One moment while I connect you to our reservationist..."

If she'd bothered to listen, it's literally the second option after the front office on our phone tree. She could have saved herself all that time and effort if she just listed for 15 more seconds to our automated message!

Also, we have a toll-free number. She didn't have to call the local one if she's long-distance. They both go to the same place.

[Golden Phoenix]

This is when having the "or press 0 to reach main reception" message would be best *after* the phone tree options.

I admit to ignoring other options and going straight for the "or press x to speak to a person" but usually that's if i've already gone through the damn tree twice and still get automated messages and no help, or if i know the phone tree and know where I need to be. (For example, my banks' telephone helpline, all of the other options are automated services so if i have a query i know to press 4 as soon as the options start)

[EricKei]

Most people these days have figured out that phone trees generally use 0 as the "bypass" button anyway I doubt this woman even listened long enough to hear the system mention what 0 does.

[Shangri-laschild]

On our phone tree, 0 for the operator is the last option. Admissions is the first option. And yet I still get a lot of calls for Admissions because people didn't feel like listening.

[Ophbalance]

I've not had to deal with hotels, just HR and Credit Card trees. And really the CC one's can just go die in a fire. No, I don't want my account balance. No, I don't want to make payment. I need to talk to a #@$@#$@#$@#$#@$ human so I can get my stupid full account number stupid phone tree! Which, by the way, I was denied access to anyway.

[sirwired]

I'm of mixed feeling about Phone Trees.

Some are good: i.e. connecting me to the right department at a business so I can talk to the correct human. Also nice are the ones that offer to save your place in line, and call you back when a rep is available; every airline should have one of those.

Some are *sigh*, like the ones for banks, that assume I am computer-illiterate and don't know how to check my balance, payment status, etc., online. and list out all that before they'll even start with the phone-tree.

Some are *aaarrrrgggghhh!!!!!* like the ones with voice recognition systems that you must use and don't work, or ones that make you enter (and verify) your account number, only to not actually give it to the phone rep.

The ones I find hilarious are those that give the beepity-blippity-boop! "computer thinking" noises while looking stuff up that I might have expected on the original Star Trek. I know why they use them (so there is not "dead air" and I end up thinking I've been disconnected.)

My favorite phone tree ever was the one for WordPerfect corp. many years ago. They had a live "queue jockey" that would read out the length of each queue in real time... "Okay, if you are waiting on printing, there's only three of you in line, but it's a bad day for fonts and formatting, because there are eight of you waiting. Macros are looking fine with only two people wanting support on our fiendishly complex programming system, but poor sots with trouble installing our software are going to have to wait a bit with five.

[Aragarthiel]

There's one phone tree I'm forced to use on a regular basis, you have NO IDEA what any of the options on the first tier mean, so you start by pressing 1 and listening for something that might be what you want, hang up, press 2 and listen for what you want, rinse and repeat until you finally just give up and hit anything that might connect you to an actual person. Then they change it up three months later so the next time you call, you have to do it all over again.

[KuariKaydrith]

Part of my job has me calling to various medical administrators, partner banks, and Medicare...and each of them has their own problems that make me want to pull out my hair. I can only imagine what the employees I assist go through when they call those same numbers. Or even our number - our phone tree is broken so it's a crap shoot whenever a person calls in. We have brought it up several times with the powers that be when the phone tree got borked a couple of years ago after an 'update', and they so not seem to believe us when we tell them that there is something wrong. And this is after them listening to multiple calls where callers are complaining about not getting the right department despite them pressing all the correct options, causing us to do an internal transfer to the right department...which only serves to piss the callers even more.

Our system is set up to provide the agents with the caller's account number but that is only if the particular tool is actually working on our individual work stations. I once went three months without that tool working, several tickets sent off to IT only to have them randomly closed without anything being done. I still verify all that information though because with my luck the caller would have put a number in wrong or something...ugh.

[Seanette]

My favorite phone tree ever was the one for WordPerfect corp. many years ago. They had a live "queue jockey" that would read out the length of each queue in real time... "Okay, if you are waiting on printing, there's only three of you in line, but it's a bad day for fonts and formatting, because there are eight of you waiting. Macros are looking fine with only two people wanting support on our fiendishly complex programming system, but poor sots with trouble installing our software are going to have to wait a bit with five.

Now that sounds like a phone tree that would qualify as less unpleasant than mashing fingers in a door.

Second the hate for the ones that list a zillion options, none of which apply to the caller's situation, then make it nearly impossible to reach a human. Gethuman.com is very helpful.

[roxtar]

the ones that try to get me to talk to the machine can all die in a fire.
no, robot... I am not the one having trouble... you are the one who cannot comprehend my simple inquiry. give me a human being or a list of clear options with buttons to press.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I can sort of feel your pain.

At The Client, they revamped the phone tree for the number that ITSD calls come through. It used to be pressing 1 would connect them to ITSD, but for reasons unfathomable to the end user, it was changed so that 1 actually is for a specific issue, namely issues related to assistive technologies. (Tech and apps to aid "differently abled" users in performing their duties.)

Now, ITSD can still help these fully able users who pressed the wrong option, but we have to advise them "don't just mash 1 until you get to somebody."

[Dark Psion]

Most people these days have figured out that phone trees generally use 0 as the "bypass" button anyway I doubt this woman even listened long enough to hear the system mention what 0 does.

Unless it is one of those that you have to "say" what you want. I usually just say "Bananas" till I get an operator.

[fireheart]

I had one of these yesterday for a SCHOOL.

Now, you would think that it's a massive school with several hundred students right? Bzzt. Wrong answer.
There are around 200 students max (it's a high school, so 7-12) and their phone tree related to the front desk, enrolments and fees. They were smart though and put the operator in the "middle."

[EricKei]

I've actually encountered one or two places that thought of the "0 to bypass" thing -- if you press it, it'll either start the menu listing over, or say "Invalid input"

[MoonCat]

I once had to call a psychiatric hospital regarding an employment ad they were placing. I got their voicemail system and the THIRD choice was "If you are having a psychiatric emergency please dial blah blah blah..." Shouldn't that be the FIRST option you hear?!