Don't you hate it when you are forced to deal with an automated voice? Last January I accidentally left my National City debit card in the ATM machine. Thankfully technology allowed the ATM to swallow the card before some criminal could steal it. Regardless, I proceeded to call the toll free National City phone number to cancel my account and order my new debit card. I listened to an automated voice for over ten minutes and that is no exaggeration. I understand that it might be more fiscally responsible for these companies to use automated voices, but at the same time I am a huge supporter of customer service and the automated voices really irritate me. I consider myself a patient customer and primarily rate a company on the level of customer service it provides. Back to the automated voices. I don't know what bothers me most about the automated voices: the tone, the delay, or the repetitiveness. The tone is barely enough to keep me awake while I'm listening. Sometimes the delay is so long that I think there has been a phone disconnection. I feel like the repetitiveness speaks for itself. If you slip on the keypad and hit the wrong digit, you go through the same three minute introduction that you just experienced. Another thing that bothers me is that the automated voice only offers Spanish as an alternate language. If your company is going to offer Spanish, please offer French, German, Dutch, and every other language that people speak. At this point, I want the people who comment to finish this entry. Finish it how I would, finish it how you would, do what you please. Have fun with it and thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Zac
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I absolutely concur (on all points!) In addition,the aspect of the automated voice menu that bothers me the most is that sometimes there are too many options. You hear an option that may address your issue, question, etc... but feel that perhaps you should what to see if there is another option that is more relevant. In waiting to hear all the options, I forget the number to press of the past option and then have to go through all of them again. As much as the automated voice system may save money for companies.....it WASTES my time! Great post, Zac!
ReplyDeleteDear Zac,
ReplyDeleteHere's a tip to help you through automated voices: put the phone on speaker and do something else. They won't hang up on you- it's THEIR job.
Experiment with this, and let me know how it works out for you. :)
I really enjoyed Barb's comments just as much as this post.
ReplyDeleteIf you stop posting, I'm gonna start a blog about how upset I am that i can't read your posts anymore
Zac, fun fact! I did that same thing with my National City card last year... twice! I also had to go through that automated voice thing... twice!
ReplyDeleteI especially hate when you have to answer the automated voice instead of just pressing a number. My worst experience with this is when calling Fandango to get movie times. I said "Zombieland" at least 7 times before the automated system understood me. Honestly, what other movie could I have been saying. It is a pretty uncommon movie name. I also hate when the automated voice makes that "do, do, do, do" sound between answering you. I could pretend the voice is a real person but the "do, do, do, do" snaps me back to reality and ruins my day but making me completely aware that I am talking to a robot and I do not live in space yet.
ReplyDelete