Want to Speak to a Person Instead of a Machine?

Web Sites That Help People Speak Directly with a Human

Oct 16, 2009 Katrena Wells

Find online resources that list specific & general information about how to avoid a phone tree queue when calling businesses & look at limitations of these web sites.

Many people who wish to speak directly with a service representative may not want to go through an endless array of prompts on an automated phone system before getting a human on the line. These web resources offer general and specific strategies that have worked for people in the past as well as providing other helpful customer service information for customers and businesses.

Get2Human May Help Customers Avoid Long Phone Wait Times

Get2Human is a free web site designed by Walt Tetschner in 2008 that offers a large list of companies arranged alphabetically in an easy to access chart format. Information on the Get2Human web site lists:

Consumer star rating
Specific directions for getting past the phone tree that have worked for customers in the past – some numbers list “just wait,” indicating that these companies do not offer a faster option to speak with a representative.
Customer service phone number
Information regarding companies with representatives that customers frequently report are hard to understand

Get2Human gives general advice for attempting to avoid long wait times when contacting companies not in their data base. This site invites readers to add companies, post comments or complaints, and offers a printable version. The web site offers suggestions for businesses interested in improving customer service and a list of businesses rated in their top 10%. They provide standards that they feel encourage excellent customer support, and common irritating messages and suggestions for changes as well as an ongoing blog. This site offers an email address and an email sent on October 16, 2009 was answered the same day.

Get2Human lists companies such as American Express, BellSouth, Chase Home Finance, Dell Technical Support, Humana, Lowe's, UPS, and many more.

GetHuman Provides Links to Help Customers Connect With a Live Person

GetHuman is a free web site that lists a large number of businesses arranged alphabetically. Information on the GetHuman web site includes:

Business telephone number
Steps to talk with a live person (may have to click on that area to see complete information)
Average wait time in minutes
Applicable links for companies, including online customer support, email, help pages, and live chat support
Customer reviews with quotes from customers regarding phone support
User rating, including excellent to horrible or “tell us” if no user rating is available

This site encourages viewers to report their own experiences and is easy to navigate by using links at the top of the web site. GetHuman also lists multiple companies, including, T-Mobile, Amazon, Citi Mortgage, Kaiser Permanente, Facebook, Apple, Visa, and much more.

Limitations of Web Sites Designed to Rate and Help Customers

GetHuman and Get2Human web sites have loads of helpful information, but contact information can change quickly, and these web sites must depend on customers to provide updated information. Some companies may try to inflate their own ratings, and competitors may attempt to inaccurately harm another company’s reputation, but a webmaster that carefully watches activity on a web site will probably be able to identify these trends pretty easily. Savvy customers will carefully review information on web sites such as these to determine which information is most helpful to them.

Web Sites That Help Customers Get a Human on the Telephone

People who are searching for ways to get around a phone tree may be able to find a wealth of helpful information on the Get2Human and GetHuman web sites. Web sites like these may save customers valuable time by listing information such as phone numbers, alternatives to using phone resources, and shortcuts that have worked or not worked for others but should carefully review information since information has the potential to be inaccurate.

Those looking for helpful tips on voice-activated systems may find the articles How to Get a Human on a Voice Activated System and How to Get a Human on the Telephone to be helpful. Readers are welcome to provide their own stories or other resources that have worked or not worked for them in the past.

The copyright of the article Want to Speak to a Person Instead of a Machine? in Consumer Education is owned by Katrena Wells. Permission to republish Want to Speak to a Person Instead of a Machine? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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