Tom Says: “I’d like to punch him in the mouth!”
I need a favour from someone who’s reading this blog…
If you know the man or perhaps the woman who invented the automatic telephone answering machines which most offices now have, please supply me with his or her name address and phone number.
If it’s a man, please read the line above after where it reads “Tom Says…”
If it’s a woman, well, I’ll think of an alternative punishment…
I’m not one to say, “remember the good old days,” …But I want to remember the good old days when you could phone a government office, business, commercial outlet, doctor’s office, bank and even the occasional police department where somebody actually answered the phone and could tell you if the person you wanted to contact was in or not. …And, If they were in fact “in” — they could connect you with the required person in ten seconds or less. If not, hang up and go on with your business.
Now the phone gets answered” “If you would like service in English press one, for French press two…”
Then they want to give you their hours of business. I don’t care about their hours of business!
Then they want to give you their store locations. I’m not calling to find out where their stores are…
Then they want to give you a whole bunch of other options, I don’t want a list of “other options…”
I want to talk to a living breathing person with a heartbeat!
Then they say, “All our agents are presently busy, can you hold? Your call will taken by the first available agent when they become available.” Then you’re subjected to the Champaign music of Lawrence Welk. I didn’t like the Champaign music 30 years ago and I don’t like it any better the older I get!
Then some pre-recorded voice comes on the line to reassure me that my call is important to them. Liars! If it’s so important, then why won’t somebody talk to me on the phone!?
Finally, through some miracle and a timeframe that has raised my blood pressure twenty points, I’m connected to the office of the person I was seeking twenty minutes ago. Only to find out, “I’m away from my desk, however if you leave me your name and number, I’ll be glad to return your call.”
So instead of getting all the information I require in the fifteen seconds it used to take, computers and advances in telephone technology have now finally made it a twenty minute odyssey.
Will someone please answer the phone?
I’m Tom Young.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:39 am
One of the worst offenders of this technology which screens call from complaints, service issues, etc, etc, etc. is the very company you work for, Rogers. In fact I have had occasion to call, went through everything you taled about on your blog, sat waiting for the first available agent for minutes upon minutes, finally got to talk to someone who tells me they will transfer me to someone who can deal with my issue, so I should just hang on while they transfer me, and then the next thing I wind up hearing is a dial-tone, as I have been cut off. Now that’s a real piss-off! I wound up sending them an e-mail to cancel my services, all of them. I like you am sick and tired of companies who it seems employ nobody to actually talk to people.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:09 am
Sorry Tom. I used to sell and install these phone systems. I didn’t invent them so no punch in the mouth please. I wanted to mention that the sale of these systems is a multi-billion dollar industry world wide. The reason is companies save money. Here’s an example:
A government office, business, commercial outlet, doctor’s office, bank and even the occasional police department will install this system in order to increase their capacity of calls foremost. A business who handles 100 or more calls per day can bennifit from one of these systems. If you and 5 other people call at the same time, there is no “Hi this is… please hold”, “Hi this is… please hold”, “Hi this is… please hold”… Businesses get to track the number of calls they receive, how long each calls is and the number of calls placed on hold. It’s all about increasing the volume of business calls that can be handled v.s. hiring people and buying extra lines to handle the volume. Businesses and others would rather invest 50 or 100 grand in a system or lease one because it’s cheaper and easier than doing it the “old fashioned way” ,,, And now they can’t turn back because everyone has the advantage.
Tom you may be surprised to know that your call to a local business or government department may be transferred to a completely different city from your own. Even more concerning may be that when your call is answered the person may have to transfer you to yet another system to await the person you wish to reach.
If you want to go back to the old days it would be an uphill battle against statistics, competitive business and a milti-billion dollar industry.
Give us all a punch while we count our money.