Probably a timely article to read in this day and age, especially for those of you still playing MMOG's. :D

http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2005/05/16/cx_jw_0517complaint.html

Rule No. 3: Sneaky Ways To Contact A Company

Customer service representatives are much more expensive than Web sites. That's why companies intentionally make their phone numbers difficult to find. You could get lost in the jungle of information on Amazon.com's (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) Web site while looking for its phone number. A better idea is to look up its profile on Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) Finance and, sure enough, along with an address is listed a phone number.

Gross suggests finding the company's latest press release on the pressroom of its Web site, calling the contact person and asking them who to speak with. (Sorry PR folks, but it's called public relations for a reason.)

Bailey also has a few tricks up his sleeve. If you call a company's main number and get a recorded greeting, you can sometimes bypass it by dialing another extension. If the last four digits of the company's main number are 2700, try 2701 or 2705. More than likely, you'll get a live body to speak to, and they can transfer you to the department you need.

Another sly tactic companies are using on their telephone systems is not offering the option of talking to an operator until the very last moment--those final seconds when most people have already given up. Bailey explains that the caller thinks the recording is about to hang up on them, then there's a short pause and, finally, the recording suggests dialing zero for an operator. Think you can outsmart the company's computerized phone system by just dialing zero at any time? Guess again. Bailey says that many times the system is programmed not to recognize the zero key until the very end of the message.

Another sly tactic companies are using on their telephone systems is not offering the option of talking to an operator until the very last moment--those final seconds when most people have already given up. Bailey explains that the caller thinks the recording is about to hang up on them, then there's a short pause and, finally, the recording suggests dialing zero for an operator. Think you can outsmart the company's computerized phone system by just dialing zero at any time? Guess again. Bailey says that many times the system is programmed not to recognize the zero key until the very end of the message.

This is the worst. Nothing is more fun than having to call someone to get some small piece of information and having to wait for the whole schpiel before you can press 0 because you don't know their extension number. It gets even more fun if you can't reach them and have to call back later to go through the same process. Argh!

Well I prefer the internet anyway, except with my ISP who recommends troubleshooting internet problems with ..... their website and email.

I hate menu systems with a passion. I'm in charge of speccing a telephone system along with operating procedures etc, for our new headquarters at work, and so far everything is going to go either direct to an extension or to the receptionists. Straight to a human being, always, no menus ever. Receptionists' time is more expensive than a menu of course, but I don't know anyone who likes telephone menu systems. More happy customers = more return customers = return on investment. Receptionists good. Menus and Indian call centres bad.

I don't know anyone who likes telephone menu systems

For me, it depends. If I am just calling my bank to get an account balance, I prefer to do the menu thing. Especially since I already know which keys to press. I don't have to wait on hold for something a machine can tell me much faster, and I can repeat again, if necessary, without sounding like a pain.

But, when I know ahead of time that I need a live person, I want that choice up front. Give me that "0" key from the get-go.