Does this happen to you? Frustration wtih Auto-Attendant Systems

[Healing Finally]

Hi all, 

I am feeling very frustrated right now. I am dealing with credit issues with PayPal, and the anguish of going through the automatic phone system is truly painful!  I can't believe how many hoops I have to jump through just to get a live person on the phone; and....it's so hard not to take it all personally!! Does this happen to you too?

I've had to call them back over and over; once got hung up on and another put on terminal hold.  This is after mandatory listening to the auto attendant telling me stuff I don't care about over and over.  Not only is it plain frustrating, it's majorly triggering. 

My credit problem is due to something they did, not me, and I can't even talk to someone about it.

Now I'm dealing with being triggered; feeling they don't care, they don't want to take accountability, they just want me to just roll over and deal with the negative consequences on my own.  Triggers my usual theme of "It's Not Fair!!"

Just makes me want to throw in the towel.  - I hate how my CPTSD works so against me. 
 

[Kizzie]

Honestly, I don't think we're alone in being frustrated and angry by these awful systems, but I agree they likely take more out of us because we feel powerless and targeted and a lot of other things that are abusive.  I truly think they are meant to make people roll over and take it and they do nothing unless clients rise up and push back and even then....

We just had a changeover from one health insurance provider to a new one and their service and automated system were just horrible, so much so that people across the country complained loudly and the CEO apologized and got on it.  The company serves all public servants so there are a lot of us, still working and retired, and we spoke up individually not knowing a lot of others were doing so. It was a great win against the auto bots

One thing I did recently with eBay was to demand I talk to a live person and finally resolved issues I had been going around and around in circles with a chat bot. If you can talk to a person it might do the trick. If you Google "How do I talk to a live person at PayPal" sometimes you'll get a different number than the one on their site.

Anyway, I know how frustrating it is

[Bermuda]

How I feel is that it takes me so much energy. I have to save spoons for days to make a call, and that will suck the life out of me and put me at a deficit, and every additional hoop I have to jump through after that is just unplanned spoons. There is no backup stash. The courage to place the call was a facade and it is now storming. I have to carefully plan out my words, my actions, have everything on standby encase they ask me a question and I lose my train of thought... So, my struggle is the unforseeable, unaccounted for energy of anything more than taking a ticket and standing in a queue. I have to plan everything through.

[Blueberry]

Oh Healing Finally, I'm sorry you're so annoyed AND triggered     It's totally understandable.

My experience with this kind of stuff is similar to Bermuda's. Especially the energy-drain and then there's no back-up energy - nothing left in the store-room.

I have to really psych myself up to make admin calls of any kind.  I'm lucky in that there aren't yet so many auto-attendant systems here.

It does help me after the fact if I celebrate a successful call or even celebrate that I tried. Celebrating can simply mean noting it on either I Achieved  or  Three Good Things Today.

[Armee]

Oh boy yeah. I end up feeling like a crazy person by the end of it all. Similar experience to Kizzie too with switching to a new insurance Co that was highly automated and useless and massively triggering. It was absolutely awful.

For speaking to a live person my sister uses a trick that works on some automated systems. She just starts making nonsense sounds and the automated system gets flustered and says "sorry we are having trouble understanding you right now. Standby to be transferred to the next operator." It was hilarious to see her do it and see that it works.

[Healing Finally]

Thank you all for your responses and confirming my anguish (sometimes that's all one needs right?) 

I appreciate some of you pointing out that it's a matter of draining the battery, and that is definitely what happens.  After a few tries and fails, I get so depleted, and so fed up.  I wish I could be like other people who can sail through this stuff.  But I just get so triggered, taking it all personally.

But I do agree Kizzie that it's frustrating for most people, and being a techie (I did computer support for 30 years) I think I know it all with the little tricks to get through the system, but they just don't work anymore!  Like hitting the 0 button for Operator...NOPE.  I actually worked for the software company that created the first phone auto attendant system and that's where I learned the tricks!

I'm glad to hear some positive news that people complaining about a system actually made a difference! thx Kizzie.

Meanwhile yesterday I sent an email within their secure email system, hope to hear back from them soon...thanks all 

[Kizzie]

Crikey, if you were in the biz and all the little tricks you know don't work anymore I guess we're all doomed to remain at the mercy of the chat bots.

I hope you get a reply 

[Healing Finally]

Hi all, just an update, Synchrony bank responded via the secure email with the same "canned" response from before (my fault, nothing they can do), so I am now composing a letter explaining the whole situation which in itself is totally triggering...but if I don't do it, they will WIN and my credit took a big hit. I cannot help but believing the system is set up this way, it's just so plain obvious.  I wish I knew who I could call them out on, "the papers"?  Do they even do this anymore?
HUGS
 

[Kizzie]

Can you make an appointment with someone up the food chain and go in in person perhaps?

Also, I don't know where you live but there may be a consumer protection agency you can get some help from.  It's not small thing your credit took a hit. A lawyer might be an avenue but there's a cost to that of course.  Maybe legal aid is an option? 

I hate that companies/institutions get away with things like this too