Recent comments in /f/LifeProTips

Cetun t1_jdrqlzm wrote

Reply to comment by wildadragon in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

Ive used ones that will hang up on you if you do that. Or if it can't understand what you're saying, it just hangs up on you .

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BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdrpfd9 wrote

Reply to comment by UmbraNight in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

>if the company isn’t complete shiza, one of these should work

I've actually found that the biggest companies are the ones who make it hardest to reach a live person. They've done the math and have figured out how to extract as much money from customers as possible with as little human effort as required.

If you can actually get routed to someone with the authority to process a refund, they know giving you what you want is cheaper than arguing with you for 20 minutes.

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BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdrp568 wrote

Reply to comment by UmbraNight in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

Talking to the right person for 2 minutes will usually get you what you need if you have good people skills on the phone.

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UmbraNight t1_jdrn8ca wrote

Reply to comment by BigSpoonFullOfSnark in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

ah do you use your force call powers to get to the mananger every time icic

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UmbraNight t1_jdrn1pb wrote

Reply to LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

if you can’t get to a real person you can try a) cursing like a sailor b) outbotting the bot by saying representative over and over. if the company isn’t complete shiza, one of these should work

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BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdrklk6 wrote

Reply to comment by lock_ed in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

The trick is not to talk to the lowest ranking person in the call center. They don't have the authority to help you, so they waste your time and try to send you back to the queue.

If you know how to get past them and through to their boss, they'll get it done in 2 minutes. I've gotten refunds, discounted monthly rate, reversals of charges, etc from banks cell phone companies, gyms by just knowing how to get someone on the phone who has the authority to process such a request.

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xMCioffi1986x t1_jdrixa7 wrote

Reply to comment by Registeredfor in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

"You have made an invalid selection. Please call again later. Goodbye."

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toejamandtoast t1_jdri88g wrote

Reply to LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

For any call to an automated system I usually throw a huge run-on sentence at them when it says “in a few words tell me how I can help you.”

“I’m calling because I need help with my internet and I just don’t know why it won’t connect and I called last week but no one helped and please help me I just don’t know what to do and I need a representative to help because my internet won’t work.” You have to overwhelm the AI. It will prompt you to try a couple more times (“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that”) so do it again. After a few times it will transfer you to a person.

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toejamandtoast t1_jdrhts7 wrote

Reply to comment by raquetracket in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

Yep have had this happen multiple times. Also happens if you say operator or representative too many times.

They know.

11

keepthetips t1_jdrhfnh wrote

Reply to LPT Request: What is the best order to brush your teeth? by ecb3br

Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips!

Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment.

If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.

1

PrincessKatyusha t1_jdrgsug wrote

Reply to comment by raquetracket in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

I have to schedule medical transportation (rides to doctor appointments paid for by insurance) a lot and maybe a year ago they added an automated system. Half the time it can't understand me, the other half I go through the whole process of giving it the info to schedule the ride and at the end (a whole half hour of progress) it goes, without fail, "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble processing this. Let me get you someone who can help." And I have to give all the info AGAIN to a damn live agent! It's so aggravating! I make a complaint to the agent every time because I've asked and they said they do make a report to their management when people do. They hate it too.

Oh and if you don't say anything it just hangs up, no words.

There used to be a way to skip the automated stuff by saying "other" when it asked why you were calling but they patched that out I guess because now it just doesn't do anything other than give a tiny bit of info and send you back.

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