Recently I tried calling my health care provider and was put on hold. What should have been a quick question about my coverage turned into an Olympic-level test of patience. The robotic voice cheerfully greeted me with, “Please listen carefully, our menu options have changed.” Translation: prepare to enter a maze of 47 submenus with each choice responding with “We’re sorry, that option is not available.”
Then came the hold music.
Every few minutes a recorded voice chimed in with “Your call is very important to us.” Surely this must be one of the circles in Dante’s Inferno.
By the time a human picked up, I had watched three reruns of Seinfeld.
When I finally escaped customer service purgatory, I asked AI if there was a quicker way to reach a live person. The answer? Forget the menu. When the robot says, “Press 1 for this, 2 for that,” just hammer the # or 0 button like your sanity depends on it. The system often short-circuits and kicks you straight to a human. It feels a little like breaking the rules, but let’s be honest—the only real crime here is how long they expect you to wait on hold.
