AUtomated phone calls...

Okay...so who was it that had the bright idea to have an automated service when you are trying to call a bank to talk to someone? I mean, sure it's great and all, but when it prevents you from talking to someone, it's a bit frustrating.

We got an automated call telling us to call our bank regarding something we got in the mail. I looked through our mail and there is nothing that states that we need to call them about anything. So, I called the bank. Automated service. It informs me that I need to select a topic before I can talk to a representative. I don't know what topic I'm supposed to discuss, but I have to have one. I try to bypass this by pressing "0" (the representative button) and am once again informed that I need to select a topic.

I went to select one and got all the way to "Other" when I had to select a banking topic that the "Other" stood for...in which case it went through all the options I had bypassed to get to "Other"! I JUST WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE!!! Why can't I just speak with someone without having the topic selected...especially since I have no clue what the topic is about! What happened to the days when you make a phone call to talk to a representative and you were able to talk to one?!?!?! They called me and informed me that I must call about something in the mail (computer informed this) and when I call (having no clue what I'm calling about), I get the run-around by a computer.

I'm not some old person who is not computer savvy. I grew up around computers, but this is ridiculous! I, then, decided to go to the "Contact Us" selection on my online account and I had to have a topic there, too!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY TOPIC IS SUPPOSED TO BE BECAUSE YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHAT IT WAS!!!! I'm starting to see why many people are so frustrated with automated systems...when you want to talk with someone, it can be difficult!

Grrr....