Reply to : gask alice
What s/he said is right, we can't "take control" of the call.
I can't how many times someone has asked, even politely "can you get a rep?"
and since it does not list that option -on the FIRST tree- I have to tell them "no, list options?"
..even though I know, that if I wait past the first recording tree, maybe another, it will transfer me to a rep, I -still- can't do it because NQA says "it's taking control of the call" and would result in us getting in big trouble... even though the caller was LOOKING FOR A REP IN THE FIRST PLACE... it's so frustrating.
Here is some tips for getting a representative, feel free to spread this around to friends:
1) If you ask for a rep, say "get rep pls" or similar, and the operator says "choice not available" etc.. try saying "can you hold on the line to see if a rep is available after a short wait.." or something similar. Make it so that, if you really want to try for a rep, you can allow the operator some lee-way to find one. The only way we can "take control" so to speak of the call is if YOU let us.
2) If it is a VOICE activated IVRU, IE: T-Mobile, you can say "Representative" OR "Agent" and it'll more then likely transfer you to one. It may ask a question or two before hand, like "what would u like to speak to an agent about?" or etc... but most of the time it will transfer u to one.
NOTE: Only say "rep" or "agent" ...do not try to give your life story, the voice activated recording will not understand you and it will freak out.
3) If in the case that NO REP is available either by main menu, or by a wait or hold, pls don't get upset if we tell you so and ask you if you'de like to hear the main menu options.
Sometimes there are cases where if you press an option on the main menu the NEXT menu will give an option or a rep. Try it
4) SOMETIMES pressing 0 will work. Sometimes. Even if it isn't a listed option, you could TRY pressing 0 and see what happens. If you'd like even, tell the operator to press 0 several times and relay the recording from there. It could get you to a rep, it could not.. but sometimes it does work.
5) If in the case that you ask for a rep, and the option IS available on the main menu and we press it, and there is a second recording asking which department or type of rep you need... pls don't say "live rep" again because we will tell you "choice not available" because you HAVE to choose what KIND of rep or what DEPT you need!
Example:
after pressing the option for a live rep, recording goes-
for billing press 1 for sales press 2 for technical assistance press 3
Do NOT say "live rep" use your judgment on which department you need. If you need to pay or dispute a bill, choose billing. If you need to buy something, that would be sales. If you can't figure out why something isn't working, that would be technical assistance.
Keep in mind we're talking about FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCY. We as hearing people have to go through the same menu options to get where we'd like in the phone call. We have to make the same selections, hear the same recordings, and try to figure out how to get a live person if we need one. We don't have magical button pressers that get us a "LIVE REP NOOWWWWW".
Thank you, I think I've told my peace on the issue. Feel free to add as needed.
