How Much Do I HATE Automated Phone Systems

I want to let out a primal scream each and every time I get one. It seems everyone has one, and the menus are long, annoying and tedious. They don't always give you the right options for what you want to do, and often you're left going through 15 different ones only to find out that the person you want to speak to isn't available, please try your call again later. Ok, fuck off then.

Then when you FINALLY get through the series of menus, the voice tells you something so stupid I don't believe it anymore..."we are experiencing a higher than normal volume of calls, please hold the line". What they really mean is that they are TOO CHEAP to hire enough people to answer the phone.

Then you get to speak to someone who asks you a barrage of personal questions, stating they have to ask due to privacy laws...WHATEVER! And my personal favorite is when I ended up on the line with someone who recently immigrated to Canada and have an accent so thick from wherever they hail (usually India, Pakistan, or China) that I have no idea what in the hell they are talking about.

Or how about if you make a mistake in the menus and you just want to speak to someone and can't get to the right menu to do it, so have to hang up and start all over again.

And then there are those newer voice command systems that I FUCKING HATE because they don't give you the options you need, they don't understand plain English, and keep telling you "I'm sorry I did not recognize your answer, please try again" or my personal favorite "I'm sorry you're having difficulty, please try again".

I just want to pick up the phone and speak to someone without all the hassle. They think they are providing better customer service, but they ARE NOT. What they are doing is making me hate call centres all that much more. I end up being the rude bitch they go home and tell their families about when asked how their day went.

I hate automated phone systems...