Can I just talk to a person? PLEASE?!?

Today I put in a call to AT&T.

In the end I finally got through to a technician who walked me through a new process and we got everything back up and running like it should. However, that was not before I had more than enough contact with the computerized voice recognition call director.

You know what I mean.

When you call in and a prerecorded voice welcomes you and asks how it can help you.

On my agenda were two tasks: 1) get our DSL back up and running 2) downgrade our service plan and cancel the phone line. The problem was that all the system wanted to do was direct me to someone that would help me pay my bill.

The voice would say, "You have a current balance. Would you like to pay your bill now?"

The first couple times I was cool, but by the fourth time you hear the same recording a little frustration started to seep into my voice.

I realized just how heated I got on the phone a few hours later when my two-year-old picked up my cell phone and started shouting, "No!... No!... NO!" into the mouthpiece.

After spending over an hour on hold I finally remembered that the last time I had problems with the DSL I was given a direct line to tech support that bypassed the rest of the system. Once I called the new number I was greeted by "Zach" who walked me through a hard reset of my modem.

What I question is whether or not automatic answering systems are really a good way to deal with customers.

I understand that automatic systems are a good way to save money. After all, how many people would have to be hired to answer all the phone calls that go in to a big company like AT&T and how much would they have to pay these people just to direct customer calls?

The most frustrating thing about being on the phone with the computer was feeling like I was not being heard; like my problems were somehow considered unimportant to leave me languishing in the wilderness of the answering system.

All I really wanted was to know that SOMEONE, anyone, actually cared that I was having problems with my DSL.

Interestingly enough, I was not even bothered by the fact that I knew "Zach" was probably really Singh or Bijay. I was not upset that my call was being answered by someone half a world away. I was just relieved to not have to talk to that darn computer anymore.