Dial-a-human shortcutsHow to escape from automated phone-system hell | ||||||
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| Company/ Web site |
Phone number | How to reach a human | Minutes to a human | Notes | ||
| Banks | ||||||
| Bank of America www.bankofamerica.com |
206-461-0800 or |
Press 0 immediately. | 1.5 | |||
| KeyBank www.key.com |
800-539-2968 | Remain on the line, press nothing. | 1.5 | |||
| US Bank www.usbank.com |
800-872-2657 | Press 0. Ignore prompts through short menu of choices, then you're transferred to a representative. | 2 | |||
| Washington Mutual www.wamu.com |
800-788-7000 | Press 0 immediately, then press 0 again. | 1 | |||
| Wells Fargo www.wellsfargo.com |
800-869-3557 | Press 0 immediately. Wait through prompt for account number. | 1 | |||
| Cellphone companies | ||||||
| Cingular www.cingular.com |
866-246-4852 | Press 1, enter cellphone number or press 0 three times to be transferred to a representative. | 2.5 | |||
| Sprint Nextel www.sprint.com |
800-480-4727 | After brief announcement in Spanish, press 1, then 2. Press 0 twice, then say "agent." | 3 | System warned that "time to reach a representative might be longer than usual" due to high call volumes. Predicted wait: Less than three minutes. Actual wait: one minute. | ||
| T-Mobile www.t-mobile.com |
800-866-2453 | After announcements, press 2 for existing customers. Then say "representative." | 4.5 | |||
| Verizon Wireless www.verizonwireless.com |
800-922-0204 | Press 0 a total of four times, once after each prompt. | 2 | |||
| Credit/Financial Services | ||||||
| American Express www.americanexpress.com |
800-528-4800 | Press 0 a total of four times, once after each prompt. Ignore the "invalid entry" prompt. | 2 | |||
| Capital One www.capitalone.com |
800-955-7070 | Press 0 a total of three times, once after each prompt. Or simply wait through all the menu choices and press 0 at the end. | 2 | |||
| MasterCard www.mastercard.com |
800-622-7747 | Press 1 for English, then press 0. | 3.5 | |||
| Safeco Insurance www.safeco.com |
800-332-3226 | Press 1, press 1, press 0#. Pressing 0 alone automatically disconnects you. | 2 | |||
| Visa www.visa.com |
800-847-2911 | Press 0 three times, ignoring prompts that say it's an invalid option. | 1 | System warned of a high volume of calls, but a human answered in about a minute. | ||
| Government | ||||||
| King County District Court www.metrokc.gov/kcdc |
206-205-9200 | Press 6. | 6.5 | The county gets extra credit for publishing the phone shortcut on its Web site and apologizing in advance for the wait time. | ||
| State Department of Licensing www.wa.gov/dol |
Call your local DOL office. | Press 1 after the announcement about the Web site, then stay on the line through a long menu to be transferred to a representative. | 2 | |||
| State Department of Labor and
Industries www.wa.gov/lni |
Call your local office. | Press 1, then 0. | 0.5 | |||
| Seattle Municipal Court www.seattle.gov/courts |
206-684-5600 | Press 1, then 0. | 0.5 | |||
| U.S. Passport Services Office travel.state.gov |
877-487-2778 | When prompted to select English or another language, press nothing. The system assumes you have a rotary-dial phone and transfers you immediately to a representative. | 1 | |||
| Internet Service Providers | ||||||
| AOL www.aol.com |
800-827-6364 | Press 0 a total of three times, once after each prompt, ignoring the automated voice promising that "it will be a lot faster if I can just keep asking you questions." | 1.5 | Points off for making it hard to find the customer-service phone number on the Web site. | ||
| Comcast www.comcast.net |
888-266-2278 | Press 0 twice, after each time the system asks for your phone number. Press 1 for English. Then press 1 for English again. Press 1 again for existing customers. Press # twice when asked for your phone number. | 2.5 | Points off for not listing customer-service phone number on Web site. | ||
| EarthLink www.earthlink.net |
888-327-8454 | No easy escape from endless menu choices. It may be fastest to answer the annoying list of automated questions. For billing questions, press 2. For technical issues, press 4 and follow the prompts. | 7 | We were transferred to a system dead-end on the first attempt, cut off on the second attempt. | ||
| Phone | ||||||
| AT&T www.consumer.att.com |
800-222-0300 | Press 1 for English, 0 each time you are prompted for your phone number, then say "agent" twice. | 2 | |||
| Qwest www.qwest.com |
800-244-1111 | Say "representative" a total of five times, once after each prompt, or press # four times. | 1.5 | |||
| Retail products/services | ||||||
| Amazon.com www.amazon.com |
206-266-2992; 800-201-7575 | Press 0, then stay on the line through the menu listings. | 0.5 | |||
| Best Buy www.bestbuy.com |
888-237-8289 | Press 1 a total of three times, once after each menu prompt, then press # six times, ignoring prompts for your order number and telephone number. | 2.5 | Press 0 twice, and the system hangs up on you after saying, "I'm sorry you're having problems." | ||
| Circuit City www.circuitcity.com |
800-843-2489 | Press 0. | 1.5 | |||
| Costco www.costco.com |
800-220-6000 | Press 0 twice, ignoring prompts that say it's an invalid option. | 0.75 | |||
| eBay www.ebay.com |
800-322-9266 | Press 0 twice. | 0.5 | |||
| Macy's www.macys.com |
206-506-6000 | Press 0 three times, ignoring prompts and the automated voice telling you it can't understand you. | 0.5 | |||
| Nordstrom www.nordstrom.com |
888-282-6060 | Direct to human. | 0 | Representative answered so fast the phone hadn't even rung yet. | ||
| The Seattle Times www.seattletimes.com |
206-464-2121 | Press 0. | 1.5 | |||
| Starbucks www.starbucks.com |
800-782-7282 (card services); 800-235-2883 (retail) | Press 0 (either phone number). | 16.5 | Cool hold music. They warn that they're experiencing a high volume of calls and encourage you to go to their Web site instead. | ||
| Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com |
206-628-0888 | Press 2, then 6, then 2. | 3.5 | Ads and announcements can't be bypassed. Ticketmaster wins the "most annoying computer voice" award for the nasal fake-female who greets callers. | ||
| Technology | ||||||
| Apple www.apple.com |
800-676-2775 | Press 1 for English, 2 if you're an existing customer. Wait for the next menu to start, then choose 3, then 2 to talk to an agent. | 6 | Automated voice blames long hold times on the new iPod Nano. | ||
| Compaq www.hp.com |
800-752-0900 (general questions) | Say "connect." | 1.5 | |||
| Dell www.dell.com |
800-999-3355 | To bypass each of five menus you have to get through to reach an agent, press 0 twice after each begins, then ask to be transferred to customer service. | 1 if you skip the menus. | |||
| Microsoft www.microsoft.com |
800-642-7676 | Press 0 five times and ignore the automated warnings that your option is incorrect. | 0.5 | |||
| Travel | ||||||
| Alaska Air www.alaskaair.com |
800-252-7522 | Press 3. | 8 | Pressing 0 reroutes you to the beginning of the menu. | ||
| America West www.americawest.com |
800-363-2542 | Press 2 for America West, then 2. Then press 0. | 2.5 | You start with US Airways system. | ||
| American Airlines www.aa.com |
800-433-7300 | Press 0 twice. When the automated voice comes on, say "agent." | 2.75 | Before transferring you to an agent, they warn that they'll charge you an extra $8 service fee if you buy a ticket over the phone. | ||
| Amtrak www.amtrak.com |
800-872-7245 | Don't try to outsmart the automated voice by staying silent. It's quicker to say "agent," then confirm by saying "yes." | 1.5 | |||
| Continental www.continental.com |
800-523-3273 | Press 0 two times. | 12 | |||
| Delta www.delta.com |
800-221-1212 | Say "agent" twice after the introductory menu. | 4 | |||
| Expedia www.expedia.com |
800-397-3342 | Say "agent" twice. | 0.5 | |||
| Northwest www.nwa.com |
800-225-2525 | Press 0. | 2 | |||
| Sea-Tac Airport www.portseattle.org/seatac/ |
206-433-5388 | Press 9. | 1.5 | |||
| Southwest www.southwest.com |
800-435-9792 | Direct to agent. | 0.25 | |||
| United www.united.com |
800-864-8331 | Stay on the line to get the automated system. Say "agent," and then "yes." They'll ask you what kind of agent you want, and if you say "agent" again, you'll end up with a reservations agent. | 16.5 | |||
| US Airways www.usairways.com |
800-363-2542 | Press 1 for US Airways, then 2, then 0. | 0.5 | |||
| TV | ||||||
| Comcast www.comcast.com |
800-266-2278 | Ignore requests to enter your phone number. Press 1 for English, then 1 for current customer. Ignore requests for your phone number again, and they'll transfer you to an agent. If you plug in your phone number, you'll end up at another menu. | 2 | Points off for not listing phone number on Web site. | ||
| DirecTV www.directv.com |
800-494-4388 | Press
1 for English, 1 for existing customers. Ignore requests for your phone
number. Press 0, then either press 3 twice or 4, 0, to get an agent. |
2 | If you don't choose a reason for your call, it hangs up on you. | ||
| Dish Network www.dishnetwork.com |
888-284-7116 | Press 1 for existing customers, then press 0 when prompted for your account or phone number. | 1.75 | It said the wait would be two minutes, but an agent picked up in about 30 seconds. | ||
| TiVo www.tivo.com |
877-367-8486 | Instead of choosing from the menu, say "agent." When the automated voice repeats the menu, say "agent" again and the voice will relent, saying, "OK, agent." | 6 | While you're waiting, recorded voices try to talk you out of it, telling you it would be "much faster" and "faster and more convenient" to go online. | ||
| Utilities | ||||||
| City of Seattle garbage www.seattle.gov/util/ services/garbage/ |
206-684-3000 | Press 3, then 0. | 0.75 | |||
| Puget Sound Energy www.pse.com |
888-225-5773 | Press 0. | 0.5 | |||
| Rabanco www.rabanco.com |
206-332-7777 | Press 1. | 13.5 | That's the phone number for Seattle. Other numbers are on their Web site. | ||
| Seattle City Light www.cityofseattle.net/light |
206-684-3000 | Press 0 four times. | 0.75 | |||
| Snohomish Co. PUD www.snopud.com |
425-783-1000 | Press nothing. The system assumes you're using a rotary-dial phone and transfers you to an operator. | 0.75 | |||