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Print this chart
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Company/
Company Web site |
Phone number |
How to reach a human |
Minutes to reach a human |
Notes |
|
Banks
|
Bank of America
www.bankofamerica.com
|
206-461-0800 or
800-442-6680 |
Press 0 immediately. |
1.5 |
|
KeyBank
www.key.com |
800-539-2968 |
Remain on the line, press nothing. |
1.5 |
|
US Bank
www.usbank.com |
800-872-2657 |
Press 0. Ignore prompts through short menu of choices, then you're
transferred to a representative. |
2 |
|
Washington Mutual
www.wamu.com
|
800-788-7000 |
Press 0 immediately, then press 0 again. |
1 |
|
Wells Fargo
www.wellsfargo.com
|
800-869-3557 |
Press 0 immediately. Wait through prompt for account number. |
1 |
|
|
Cell phone companies
|
Cingular
www.cingular.com |
866-246-4852 |
Press 1, enter cellphone number or press 0 three times to be transferred
to a representative. |
2.5 |
|
Sprint Nextel
www.sprint.com |
800-480-4727 |
After brief announcement in Spanish, press 1, then 2. Press 0 twice,
then say "agent." |
3 |
System warned that "time to reach a representative might be longer than
usual" due to high call volumes. Predicted wait: Less than three minutes.
Actual wait: one minute. |
T-Mobile
www.t-mobile.com |
800-866-2453 |
After announcements, press 2 for existing customers. Then say
"representative." |
4.5 |
|
Verizon Wireless
www.verizonwireless.com |
800-922-0204 |
Press 0 a total of four times, once after each prompt. |
2 |
|
|
Credit/Financial Services
|
American Express
www.americanexpress.com |
800-528-4800 |
Press 0 a total of four times, once after each prompt. Ignore the
"invalid entry" prompt. |
2 |
|
Capital One
www.capitalone.com |
800-955-7070 |
Press 0 a total of three times, once after each prompt. Or simply wait
through all the menu choices and press 0 at the end. |
2 |
|
MasterCard
www.mastercard.com |
800-622-7747 |
Press 1 for English, then press 0. |
3.5 |
|
Safeco Insurance
www.safeco.com |
800-332-3226 |
Press 1, press 1, press 0#. Pressing 0 alone automatically disconnects
you. |
2 |
|
Visa
www.visa.com |
800-847-2911 |
Press 0 three times, ignoring prompts that say it's an invalid option. |
1 |
System warned of a high volume of calls, but a human answered in about a
minute. |
|
Government
|
King County District Court
www.metrokc.gov/kcdc |
206-205-9200 |
Press 6. |
6.5 |
The county gets extra credit for publishing the phone shortcut on its
Web site and apologizing in advance for the wait time. |
State Department of Licensing
www.wa.gov/dol
|
Call your local DOL office. |
Press 1 after the announcement about the Web site, then stay on the line
through a long menu to be transferred to a representative. |
2 |
|
State Department of Labor and Industries
www.wa.gov/lni |
Call your local office. |
Press 1, then 0. |
0.5 |
|
Seattle Municipal Court
www.seattle.gov/courts |
206-684-5600 |
Press 1, then 0. |
0.5 |
|
U.S. Passport Services Office
travel.state.gov |
877-487-2778 |
When prompted to select English or another language, press nothing. The
system assumes you have a rotary-dial phone and transfers you immediately to
a representative. |
1 |
|
|
Internet Service Providers
|
AOL
www.aol.com |
800-827-6364 |
Press 0 a total of three times, once after each prompt, ignoring the
automated voice promising that "it will be a lot faster if I can just keep
asking you questions." |
1.5 |
Points off for making it hard to find the customer-service phone number
on the Web site. |
Comcast
www.comcast.net |
888-266-2278 |
Press 0 twice, after each time the system asks for your phone number.
Press 1 for English. Then press 1 for English again. Press 1 again for
existing customers. Press # twice when asked for your phone number. |
2.5 |
Points off for not listing customer-service phone number on Web site. |
EarthLink
www.earthlink.net |
888-327-8454 |
No easy escape from endless menu choices. It may be fastest to answer
the annoying list of automated questions. For billing questions, press 2.
For technical issues, press 4 and follow the prompts. |
7 |
We were transferred to a system dead-end on the first attempt, cut off
on the second attempt. |
|
Phone
|
AT&T
www.consumer.att.com |
800-222-0300 |
Press 1 for English, 0 each time you are prompted for your phone number,
then say "agent" twice. |
2 |
|
Qwest
www.qwest.com |
800-244-1111 |
Say "representative" a total of five times, once after each prompt, or
press # four times. |
1.5 |
|
|
Retail products/services
|
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com |
206-266-2992; 800-201-7575 |
Press 0, then stay on the line through the menu listings. |
0.5 |
|
Best Buy
www.bestbuy.com |
888-237-8289 |
Press 1 a total of three times, once after each menu prompt, then press
# six times, ignoring prompts for your order number and telephone number. |
2.5 |
Press 0 twice, and the system hangs up on you after saying, "I'm sorry
you're having problems." |
Circuit City
www.circuitcity.com |
800-843-2489 |
Press 0. |
1.5 |
|
Costco
www.costco.com |
800-220-6000 |
Press 0 twice, ignoring prompts that say it's an invalid option. |
0.75 |
|
eBay
www.ebay.com |
800-322-9266 |
Press 0 twice. |
0.5 |
|
Macy's
www.macys.com |
206-506-6000 |
Press 0 three times, ignoring prompts and the automated voice telling
you it can't understand you. |
0.5 |
|
Nordstrom
www.nordstrom.com |
888-282-6060 |
Direct to human. |
0 |
Representative answered so fast the phone hadn't even rung yet. |
The Seattle Times
www.seattletimes.com |
206-464-2121 |
Press 0. |
1.5 |
|
Starbucks
www.starbucks.com |
800-782-7282 (card services); 800-235-2883 (retail) |
Press 0 (either phone number). |
16.5 |
Cool hold music. They warn that they're experiencing a high volume of
calls and encourage you to go to their Web site instead. |
Ticketmaster
www.ticketmaster.com |
206-628-0888 |
Press 2, then 6, then 2. |
3.5 |
Ads and announcements can't be bypassed. Ticketmaster wins the "most
annoying computer voice" award for the nasal fake-female who greets callers. |
|
Technology
|
Apple
www.apple.com |
800-676-2775 |
Press 1 for English, 2 if you're an existing customer. Wait for the next
menu to start, then choose 3, then 2 to talk to an agent. |
6 |
Automated voice blames long hold times on the new iPod Nano. |
Compaq
www.hp.com
|
800-752-0900 (general questions) |
Say "connect." |
1.5 |
|
Dell
www.dell.com |
800-999-3355 |
To bypass each of five menus you have to get through to reach an agent,
press 0 twice after each begins, then ask to be transferred to customer
service. |
1 if you skip the menus. |
|
Microsoft
www.microsoft.com |
800-642-7676 |
Press 0 five times and ignore the automated warnings that your option is
incorrect. |
0.5 |
|
|
Travel
|
Alaska Air
www.alaskaair.com |
800-252-7522 |
Press 3. |
8 |
Pressing 0 reroutes you to the beginning of the menu. |
America West
www.americawest.com |
800-363-2542 |
Press 2 for America West, then 2. Then press 0. |
2.5 |
You start with US Airways system. |
American Airlines
www.aa.com |
800-433-7300 |
Press 0 twice. When the automated voice comes on, say "agent." |
2.75 |
Before transferring you to an agent, they warn that they'll charge you
an extra $8 service fee if you buy a ticket over the phone. |
Amtrak
www.amtrak.com |
800-872-7245 |
Don't try to outsmart the automated voice by staying silent. It's
quicker to say "agent," then confirm by saying "yes." |
1.5 |
|
Continental
www.continental.com |
800-523-3273 |
Press 0 two times. |
12 |
|
Delta
www.delta.com |
800-221-1212 |
Say "agent" twice after the introductory menu. |
4 |
|
Expedia
www.expedia.com |
800-397-3342 |
Say "agent" twice. |
0.5 |
|
Northwest
www.nwa.com |
800-225-2525 |
Press 0. |
2 |
|
Sea-Tac Airport
www.portseattle.org/seatac/ |
206-433-5388 |
Press 9. |
1.5 |
|
Southwest
www.southwest.com |
800-435-9792 |
Direct to agent. |
0.25 |
|
United
www.united.com |
800-864-8331 |
Stay on the line to get the automated system. Say "agent," and then
"yes." They'll ask you what kind of agent you want, and if you say "agent"
again, you'll end up with a reservations agent. |
16.5 |
|
US Airways
www.usairways.com |
800-363-2542 |
Press 1 for US Airways, then 2, then 0. |
0.5 |
|
|
TV
|
Comcast
www.comcast.com |
800-266-2278 |
Ignore requests to enter your phone number. Press 1 for English, then 1
for current customer. Ignore requests for your phone number again, and
they'll transfer you to an agent. If you plug in your phone number, you'll
end up at another menu. |
2 |
Points off for not listing phone number on Web site. |
DirecTV
www.directv.com |
800-494-4388 |
Press 1 for English, 1 for existing customers. Ignore requests for your
phone number. Press 0, then either press 3 twice or 4, 0, to get an agent.
|
2 |
If you don't choose a reason for your call, it hangs up on you. |
Dish Network
www.dishnetwork.com |
888-284-7116 |
Press 1 for existing customers, then press 0 when prompted for your
account or phone number. |
1.75 |
It said the wait would be two minutes, but an agent picked up in about
30 seconds. |
TiVo
www.tivo.com |
877-367-8486 |
Instead of choosing from the menu, say "agent." When the automated voice
repeats the menu, say "agent" again and the voice will relent, saying, "OK,
agent." |
6 |
While you're waiting, recorded voices try to talk you out of it, telling
you it would be "much faster" and "faster and more convenient" to go online. |
|
Utilities
|
City of Seattle garbage
www.seattle.gov/util/
services/garbage/ |
206-684-3000 |
Press 3, then 0. |
0.75 |
|
Puget Sound Energy
www.pse.com |
888-225-5773 |
Press 0. |
0.5 |
|
Rabanco
www.rabanco.com |
206-332-7777 |
Press 1. |
13.5 |
That's the phone number for Seattle. Other numbers are on their Web
site. |
Seattle City Light
www.cityofseattle.net/light |
206-684-3000 |
Press 0 four times. |
0.75 |
|
Snohomish Co. PUD
www.snopud.com |
425-783-1000 |
Press nothing. The system assumes you're using a rotary-dial phone and
transfers you to an operator. |
0.75 |
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