Friday, February 15, 2008

Get human

This could be the first genuinely helpful post I've ever done here.

And it's a doozy!

Don't you hate calling companies and navigating their byzantine, often circular answering systems? It's really technology at its worst. You spend ten minutes listening to a recording of menu options, pressing buttons like a monkey, just trying to get to a real person. And if you hit the wrong button it's a total do over.

So now there's Get Human, a very old-school looking Web site that does something beautiful: It lists a whole shit load of companies and tells you how to circumvent their systems to quickly get a real person on the line.

Did you go there? Great, right? Because when you have a problem, you don't want to deal with technology--you want a person.

On the other hand, there are times when technology is preferable over human contact. Like a brilliant site called Open Table, which not only offers a searchable database of area restaurants (including menus and reviews), but also awesomely lets you make a reservation without having to talk to some snooty restaurant host.

So you can avoid that uncomfortable American Psycho moment when Patrick Bateman calls for a reservation at Dorsia and is greeted only by sneering, incredulous laughter. No wonder he went on a killing spree. Imagine if he had to navigate an answering system.

3 comments:

the feeb said...

i couldn't get the gethuman site to work. but, i must say, i've really become one of those people who avoid talking to other people as much as possible. like when i fill my perscrips, i just punch in a bunch of numbers. then, i assume, some robot drops the pills in a bottle. then that android transvestite hands them to me.
i guess you have to be there.

Anonymous said...

I am going to send this link to everyone...we are now being hit at the office with some fake auto-insurance scan message...no way out of that loop too!

Anyway, you are going to have to update your photo now that you are a healthy-running machine! :)

It was great to see you!! And have you meet our offspring! Now that you are doing commericals; you need to hook our adorable baby up with modeling gigs!

Mark Feigenson said...

Yes, Chase Manhattan Bank is among the worst, followed closely by Country Wide Home Loans. If you get a chance, kill yourself before calling either of them. Believe me, you'll come out ahead. Getting rid of Chase was like getting gum out of my hair. And I'm still trying to rid myself of Country Wide. Hopefully now that BA bought them, they'll begin to suck less. Because frankly, they couldn't suck more. But I'm not bitter or frustrated about any of this, I assure you.