All too often we have to spend countless minutes, and sometimes hours (or at least it seems that way,) coping with automated voice response systems. How do you feel about that? It drives me crazy!

Luckily, I found some information that is very helpful. To reach a human being instead of tearing out your hair, check out consumer advocate Walter Tetschner and his website, http://www.gethuman.com/ Here are some tips he offers:

• "Interrupt the menu by pressing 0, not once, but repeatedly and rapidly. If this doesn't work--many companies have gotten wise and eliminated this option--try 0# or 0*.
• Speak up, interrupting the menu by raising your voice and saying "agent" or "representative" or "get human." Sometimes just mumbling will bypass the system and get you to a human being.
• Say nothing, but hold on; the system may respond as if you have an old rotary phone and connect you to a live representative.
• Select the menu option for "account collections," "sales," or "account cancellation," then ask the representative who answers to connect you with the department you really want. Ask for the representative's name and ID number, Tetschner suggests, and he or she may be more likely to help.
• Try selecting the option for Spanish; you may find a bilingual human being more quickly than if you wait for an English-only operator.
• To find a toll-free number, call 800-555-1212 (AT&T), 800-GOOG-411 (Google), or 800-CALL-411 (Microsoft). If the waits for a credit card issuer seem endless, though, you may do better--and have a shorter wait--if you're willing to skip the toll-free number and pay for the call." _{fromCreative Living}

To find an extremely helpful list of U.S. companies, along with their toll-free numbers and how to get around using their automated "robots," go to: www.gethuman.com

There is also an additional site that includes a column: Agent Communications. This refers to agents with severe foreign accents who are difficult to understand. Here you can see how many, if any, red flags are listed against the company of your choice. If you wish, you can fill in a brief survey about a company and add a red flag so others can see if a problem exists. click: www.get2human.com