I remember the good old days when you called for a medical appointment and a human answered. Within minutes, the call completed, and you were free to live the rest of your days. The same was true if you called a utility company or any store for service.
Just another way the universe is trying to teach me patience, hasn't worked and probably never will. Thank goodness for Sudoku and other games to numb me while I wait!
Haha! This is so true. I always seem to get disconnected when they’re transferring me to someone else. I imagine they are just sadistically hanging up!
I live in Los Angeles. I practice waiting on a daily basis especially on the freeway. I always leave at least 15 minutes earlier than I think is necessary to factor in a traffic jam. I listen to my favorite music and sing along. We all develop strategies to navigate in the environments we live in. I am lucky to be able to market in the early mornings. If it’s passed noon forget trying to find parking at Trader Joe’s. When I’m on hold I do a household chore, pay a bill or play a game on my iPad. When I make a call and expect a long long long process I know what to expect. I put my phone on speaker so I don’t need to hold it or sit looking at it. Being cut off is the worst. It tries my patience and I am often unpleasant when the long awaited live person finally appears. Strategies can only go so far. 😬
How timely is this message from you, even though you sent it yesterday (I do not open my computer on Sundays anymore).
I had to call Kaiser this morning and first, I had to guess which of the many Kaiser numbers listed in my phone book I should call. I picked the wrong number. I had to listen to recorded messages for a few minutes, then had to input my I.D. number (not names, to Kaiser, we are numbers!), then pick the right number to press, is it 1? or 2? a prior computer told me to press 3, but there WAS no 3. This went on and on! It took me almost an hour to get the right department--problem resolved thankfully!
And Ginni, get this: I was on the phone with Xfinity for TWO HOURS on Friday trying to access my e-mail which they said "in order to make your e-mail secure, we need another e-mail to reach in case we can't reach you." Seriously? OMG, did that throw me into a tizzy! The fellow I talked to was on the other side of the planet! I eventually went into the local Xfinity office, and they said, "We can't help you with your e-mail issues, you have to access the correct department using our phone number....."
I absolutely despise this about our society today! It makes me so glad I'm almost outta here at age 83! It's really all about MONEY. These companies do not want to pay for service reps here in the United States, let alone the state we live in! Our local supermarkets urge us to use "self check-out." One store (Walmart) has ONLY self-service check-out! And that company is owned by ONE FAMILY that is worth billions if not trillions of dollars! Sorry for this long diatribe, but thank you Ginni, as I really did need to VENT about this and your post just made my day, to know that I'm not the only one who is exasperated beyond imagination with these scenarios. (I think there are billions of us!) THANKS again!!!
Just another way the universe is trying to teach me patience, hasn't worked and probably never will. Thank goodness for Sudoku and other games to numb me while I wait!
I put off. Making a lot of calls, because I do t want the aggravation of dealing with a broken communication system. Please bring back the humans.
Haha! This is so true. I always seem to get disconnected when they’re transferring me to someone else. I imagine they are just sadistically hanging up!
I live in Los Angeles. I practice waiting on a daily basis especially on the freeway. I always leave at least 15 minutes earlier than I think is necessary to factor in a traffic jam. I listen to my favorite music and sing along. We all develop strategies to navigate in the environments we live in. I am lucky to be able to market in the early mornings. If it’s passed noon forget trying to find parking at Trader Joe’s. When I’m on hold I do a household chore, pay a bill or play a game on my iPad. When I make a call and expect a long long long process I know what to expect. I put my phone on speaker so I don’t need to hold it or sit looking at it. Being cut off is the worst. It tries my patience and I am often unpleasant when the long awaited live person finally appears. Strategies can only go so far. 😬
You are right on. It can be so frustrating at times. Enjoyed your humor, too. 😂
How timely is this message from you, even though you sent it yesterday (I do not open my computer on Sundays anymore).
I had to call Kaiser this morning and first, I had to guess which of the many Kaiser numbers listed in my phone book I should call. I picked the wrong number. I had to listen to recorded messages for a few minutes, then had to input my I.D. number (not names, to Kaiser, we are numbers!), then pick the right number to press, is it 1? or 2? a prior computer told me to press 3, but there WAS no 3. This went on and on! It took me almost an hour to get the right department--problem resolved thankfully!
And Ginni, get this: I was on the phone with Xfinity for TWO HOURS on Friday trying to access my e-mail which they said "in order to make your e-mail secure, we need another e-mail to reach in case we can't reach you." Seriously? OMG, did that throw me into a tizzy! The fellow I talked to was on the other side of the planet! I eventually went into the local Xfinity office, and they said, "We can't help you with your e-mail issues, you have to access the correct department using our phone number....."
I absolutely despise this about our society today! It makes me so glad I'm almost outta here at age 83! It's really all about MONEY. These companies do not want to pay for service reps here in the United States, let alone the state we live in! Our local supermarkets urge us to use "self check-out." One store (Walmart) has ONLY self-service check-out! And that company is owned by ONE FAMILY that is worth billions if not trillions of dollars! Sorry for this long diatribe, but thank you Ginni, as I really did need to VENT about this and your post just made my day, to know that I'm not the only one who is exasperated beyond imagination with these scenarios. (I think there are billions of us!) THANKS again!!!