to be utterly fed with computerised telephone systems at large companies like DVLA, Insurance etc?

[fiveisanawfullybignumber]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!! I just want to speak to a human beeing at DVLA! Not press beeping buttons and go all around their computerised voice system!
And why don't 8yr old boys understand that I'm on the phone means don't keep talking so I miss the next option and get kicked off the bloody system and have to start again, 5 times!
Yes I'm also pregnant and hormonal so may well be U.

YANBU.

I spent 15 minutes on the phone to the council yesterday just going through options, all I needed to do was talk to someone. It's the same with BT, it's a PITA to be honest. I've tried pressing nothing to see if it will put me through to a human, some actually cut me off! What do people without modern phones do??

Has anyone EVER got straight through to an operator in these places? No matter what time of the day or night you ring

"We're sorry...all of our operators are busy at the moment...please hold and we will answer your call as soon as spossible"

Its all a money making scam, non?

Cyb, I wouldn't have minded if I'd made it through to a queue, but I had to go through about 15 different options before I got to that point, and that was on the 5th attempt. Even their customer service survey was press 1 for yes 2 for no. So you don't even get the chance to say "I hate pressing your stupid number responses." Surely 1 person can deal with more than 1 type of issue??

YANBU. I usually just keep pressing zero until I get to speak to a real person. I don't understand the point of listening to all the options (which takes forever) and then picking one that vaguely relates to your query when the first thing the operator asks is how they can help

Use this website

gethuman.com/

It has special phone numbers and the codes you need to get through to a human as fast as possible.

Has a US bias but lots of UK companies on there too. Has saved many valuable minutes!

Yes it is frustrating when you actually want to talk to a person. But when what you want to do exactly coincides with the menu system then it is quite efficient.

I just renewed my car tax over the phone. It took between 5 and 10 minutes and I didn't have to queue up in the post office, dig out my MOT and insurance certificate or anything.