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For whatever reason, the links to those 2 will not appear here at 3T no matter what I try.
But, PLEASE try them after useing the link below.........the second one, especially, will blow your mind!
T
tny795 wrote:
Call a company these days and your fingers are likely to be worn to nothing before you ever reach a live human being.
Worse, some companies hide their phone numbers, forcing you to go exclusively through email--which is only OK if they bother to respond.
So how do you stalk that elusive creature known as a CS rep? A great place to start is http://www.gethuman.com . Nearly 400 are listed on the site.
It not only reveals hundreds of hard-to-find CS numbers, it gives you instructions on how to defeat the automated voice-response system to get to a living being.
This is no small trick. Once most of us figured out we could push "0" to get to an operator, companies scrambled to find new ways to shut us out.
For example, http://www.gethuman.com says that if you're tired of wasting cell phone time calling AAA's 800 number, you should repeatedly punch 0 when you hear the intro. At e-trade, the trick is to hit the # key four times.
But, to get a person at Amazon.com , once you dial the 800 number, you don't say or punch anything else! If companies really wanted to talk to their customers, would they make it this hard?
Kayak.com founder's frustration in getting CS numbers led him to post a few on his blog. Before you know it, he had people sending him secret numbers, customers emailed numbers, and employees mailed secret numbers.
The outpouring convinced him to found the Web site. It now lists shortcuts for getting to CS at several hundred large companies that either hide their phone numbers or force consumers to sit through an endless series of prompts to get to a human being.
Another valuable but underused source of CS numbers is the BBB which keeps tabs on all companies, near or far, big or small. BBB reports contain the name of a CS manager so you don't have to waste time.
If the number at the tope of the BBB report doesn't get you past basic CS, look at the bottom of the report for additional company numbers. Call the BBB's list of related 800-numbers until you find someone willing to give you a number for a company's headquarters.
Reports are available through the BBB's Web site at http://www.bbb.org or by calling your local BBB.
If you get stuck in telephone purgatory, the best all-purpose fallbacks are to repeatedly press either 0 or #, or to say "agent" or mumble at voice prompts.
http://www.gethuman.com suggests you push the numbers for billing or for a Spanish-language line, because both tend to be answered more rapidly than the standard CS line.
When you do get a rep, ask right away for a the rep's name, employee number and a number to call him or her back directly. Sometimes you'll get it.
And, if you get a foreign rep who doesn't understand what you need, ask for a supervisor. Managers are often based in the United States.
A last word of warning about Internet-based businesses. Unless you're dealing with a very well-known company, steer clear of Web sites that don't list street addressses or phone numbers. Anyone can create a convincing Web site--but that doesn't mean there's a legitimate company behind it. You can head off a lot of frustration by checking the company's report with the BBB first.
Here, thanks to http://www.gethuman.com , are just a few of their 400+ customer service numbers that are either hard to find or that make it hard to speak to a person.
1. AAA Emergency Road Service, 1-800-222-4357 (Press 0 repeatedly after initial introduction)
2. Amazon, 1-800-201-7575 (Don't press or say anything)!!!!
3. Dell, 1-800-999-3355 (Press 0 repeatedly)
4. eBay, 1-800-322-9266 (Press 00, or try 1-888-749-3229)
5. eTrade, 1-800-786-2575 (Press # # # #)
6. FirstEnergy, 1-800-633-4766 (Say "representative" repeatedly)
7. Medicare, 1-800-633-4227 (Say "agent")
8. PayPal, 1-888-221-1161
9. Sears Credit Card, 1-800-917-7700 (Press 0000000; press 0 at subsequent prompts)
10. Postal Service, 1-800-275-8777 (Press 5 4 2 2 at each prompt)
11. Western Union, 1-800-325-6000 (Press * # #)
(taken from article in local newspaper)
Last edited on Sat May 13th, 2006 11:26 am by tny795