What is the record for times you have to enter personal information over again when using an automated telephone assistant?
Asked by
ETpro (
34605
)
June 29th, 2010
Automated customer service is here to stay, I guess. But it sure can get annoying. I just called Verizon and had to enter my 10 digit phone number 2 times, then confirm it a third when I finally cut through the BS and got to talk to a human. I think with Comcast I have been bounced around from one service center to another and had to punch in my account number 6 times in a single call. Does such needless repetition bug you? It irritates me. Sure it would cost a bit more to build an integrated system that passes the previously captured ID information from automated agent to automated agent, and on to the human operator when your call comes up on their screen. But wouldn’t it be worth it for the improved customer experience?
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5 Answers
I don’t know what the record was, but it was extremely annoying, especially when I was doing it many times each day.
I don’t think that these companies are too concerned about the customer service experience, their primary interest seems to be in cutting their costs. I’d posit that one reason they do that might be so that only the customers with the most critical issues will end up in the queue. There would be a certain level of drop off among the less motivated people
If you do a search on the internet, you can find the ways to bypass the automation and get right to a live operator. Every company is different, but there is usually a way around it. I learned all about that when I worked for an IP Relay company that provided telephone communication for deaf or hard of hearing users.
I think it’s odd that when these things start off they usually say something to the effect of, “To speed up your experience please enter your information now.” Yet, when you get to a representative they ask you the same information. What’s the point of giving it all to the computer if it never makes it to the human?
My cable company has the most annoying system in the world. It’s a voice activated system, so, it’s even more annoying than pushing buttons. It rarely understands what I say the first time. If someone in the same room with me coughs or farts too loudly it screws the whole thing up and I have to start over. I finally figured out if I cuss right off the bat, it will take me to a representative. So, when it asks for my telephone number to look up my account I just say “shit” and I get a human.
@eden2eve I think your theory about why they design the systems to be obtuse and annoying is spot on.
@mrentropy Humm. I will have to look into how to convince the automated agent I am too weird for machines to deal with.
@knitfroggy That’s certainly worth a try. THe things are enough to make you cuss even if that didn’t help your cause one bit.
@ETpro I’ve tried it with other voice systems and haven’t had the luck. I wish they all worked like that!
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