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Are you fed up with companies that send you into a voice mail circle? By the time you get to option 99, you have forgotten the one you really need, and have to start all over.

WTOP Call For Action Director Shirley Rooker is here to give us the info. we need to connect with a human.

Why do some companies make it so difficult to reach a real person when the consumer calls for help? Don't they realize that this just adds to the frustration a customer is feeling?

Unfortunately, companies think this is a way to save money. Consequently, consumers find themselves in need of assistance and faced with a confusing array of voice menu choices, none of which really meets their needs. Well, help has arrived! It is in the form of a Web site. Gethuman.com provides the information you need to connect with a real human

What may surprise many people is the wide array of options for reaching a person. In some cases you press "0" at each prompt, for others you say a word, such as "agent." But the real challenge is finding the right combination of words and/or actions to get to a company representative. That's why Get Human is so helpful.

What do consumers think when they get a recorded menu in response to a call for help to a company? Are they angry, do they think the company doesn't care?

Get Human has come up with a translation list of what it believes customers think about these messages. For example, the message states, "Your call is important to us." To a consumer this message means, "You are not important enough for us to have a person answer your call, and we think you are stupid enough to feel good when we say you are important."

Does the Web site allow consumers to rate companies?

It sure does, and a lot of the 1,000 companies listed get failing marks. In addition to info on companies, it also provides tips for reaching businesses not listed on the site. My personal preference for getting through a menu maze is to choose the option for the sales department. They always answer the phone. Why can companies find people to answer the calls for sales, but not respond when the customer tries to find help? If all else fails, choose the sales or marketing option on the menu.

 

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