The first minute of every phone call is torture now • Hacker News Board

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#281

Post by VBprogrammer » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

phone8675309 wrote: post #253

VBprogrammer wrote: post #172

I expected this to be about the now common pattern of subjecting people to some shit version of Alexa for 10 minutes before you eventually crack and allow them to sit on hold for someone who might actually be able to solve their problem. Bonus shit biscuits if you allow them to get to some answer from Brenda (the brainless Alexa clone) where you basically say "great news, you can do this online". As if anyone with ha…

Quick tip - screaming profanities at the voice assistant typically takes you directly to a customer support person. (Obviously, don't scream obscenities at the customer support person)

Not sure if you'll understand all the Scottishness here but I think you'll appreciate the message...

https://youtu.be/TqAu-DDlINs

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#282

Post by floren » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #203

VBprogrammer wrote: post #172

I expected this to be about the now common pattern of subjecting people to some shit version of Alexa for 10 minutes before you eventually crack and allow them to sit on hold for someone who might actually be able to solve their problem. Bonus shit biscuits if you allow them to get to some answer from Brenda (the brainless Alexa clone) where you basically say "great news, you can do this online". As if anyone with ha…

Agreed, the 2 most annoying thing for me when I have to call into a business: 1. "You can find the answers you need online at our website: w w w dot our business name dot com" - First I would never call if I could do what I needed online, second get me to the menu already. I hate waiting 30-60sec+ for a prerecorded message that doesn't tell me anything new. 2. "We are experiencing higher than normal call volume" - Bu…

I had a recent trip to Japan, wanted to exchange some yen before I left, so I called around to a bunch of local banks and got to experience some exquisitely terrible phone systems.

The worst, and this is a new one to me: you get a 30 second message about how you can do everything online (except ask if they sell foreign currency), and how the menu options have changed, and then you finally pick the option to talk to a teller... and after half a dozen rings with nobody answering, it says "sorry, guess nobody's around" and JUST FUCKING HANGS UP ON YOU.

Also, turns out banks no longer keep foreign currency on-site, not even Wells Fargo which was always a go-to for me. Another case of "COVID gave us an excuse to do what we've been wanting to do for a long time"

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#283

Post by LinuxBender » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:48 PM UTC

topspin wrote: post #275

LinuxBender wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even rotary cell phones [1] I'm old but that is too much for me. I just bought my first smart phone and spent a while in developer mode quieting it down to extend battery life so some old people can do this. [1] - https://skysedge.com/unsmartphones/RUSP/index.html

> so old people can do this Some can, many won't. Eye sight and dexterity problems have a lot to do with this. When you can't see and your hands shake it's a lot easier to just "hey google call so-and-so."

Fair point. Edited my comment to include some.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#284

Post by gspencley » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:49 PM UTC

I'm glad I don't have this problem. I hate telephones and everything about them, and try to live my life having as few "telephone conversations" as possible. That life choice long predates the pandemic.

Airpods? Ear buds? WTF. I can't relate to this world at all. Just email me and I'll get back to you if/when I check it at some later date.

Now get off my lawn.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#285

Post by wruza » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

dr_dshiv wrote: post #103

codalan wrote: post #40

The stock Android dialer is a complete UX hellscape. Every other time I need to dial a number, I will be randomly interrupted by some dialogue to enable a feature or to learn about X, when I'm urgently trying to make a call. It's so f-ing rude and intrusive. And it's designed to trick you into enabling shit without giving you time to think it over. It's such a scummy thing to do, but hey, it's Google. Imagine having…

What about iOS where you cant copy in a number and then edit it? Every time I want to call a foreign number and need to add a country code I need to make a new contact and then edit that.

Ohh. And if you think you're so clever and type that prefix before Paste-ing, it doesn't just paste, but replaces all digits you have typed. I also love it when sites omit a country code in their numbers like "(xxx) xxx-xxxx". Well, at least it's not a jpeg.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#286

Post by tiagod » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:52 PM UTC

VBprogrammer wrote: post #172

I expected this to be about the now common pattern of subjecting people to some shit version of Alexa for 10 minutes before you eventually crack and allow them to sit on hold for someone who might actually be able to solve their problem. Bonus shit biscuits if you allow them to get to some answer from Brenda (the brainless Alexa clone) where you basically say "great news, you can do this online". As if anyone with ha…

Add a couple minutes about how the call is being recorded and there's nothing I can do about it

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#287

Post by jobs_throwaway » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:53 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #266

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the disconnect is that you're not able to see outside your bubble. Your average iphone or android user is using the phone function far more than dating apps

How do we know who is in a bubble? :) When I walk around downtown, I see hundreds of people on their phones, and maybe one or two of them is actually using it as a phone. Obviously I don't know if they're on dating apps specifically, but they are enormously popular, so it seems plausible.

A quick google search will show you that you could not be further from the truth :)

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#288

Post by filoleg » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:53 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #225

filoleg wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been all over the world, and it is straight up fucked how bad this issue is in the US and it's not like this elsewhere. Not trying to defend US or its telecoms here, but I think it has more to do with scammers trying to maximize for profit. Just like with malware heavily targeting Windows instead of macOS/Linux, or some apps prioritizing iOS instead of Android (by either launching as iOS-only and then introduc…

Are you implying US is the only non-low-disposable-income country? lol. This isn't a problem in say, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, etc., as it is in the US. Also, the most spammed country appears to be Brazil, and it is far from the top of the disposable income lists. Many among the most spammed countries don't register on the top disposable income lists. There's something else at play here. Likely legislation/regul…

> Are you implying US is the only non-low-disposable-income country?

Not at all. The rest are just not that viable for a multitude of reasons. How many people do Switzerland and Australia have, compared to the US? Much less. And Japan isn't english-speaking, so I dont expect foreign scammers putting effort into learning japanese just for that. They already struggle enough with english.

To be fair, all of that is just me trying to reason through it myself, so there definitely could be other reasons at play here as well.

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#289

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:54 PM UTC

hedora wrote: post #276

aliqot wrote: post #260

I read articles like these and have a melancholy reassurance that these aren't Amish problems, but then I get sad because other people have to put up with it and don't see a way not to.

In my very limited experience with the Amish, I have found they are one of very few groups that can be trusted to build a website.

[deleted]

Re: The first minute of every phone call is torture now

#290

Post by ahelwer » Wed, Nov 02, 2022, 4:56 PM UTC

VBprogrammer wrote: post #172

I expected this to be about the now common pattern of subjecting people to some shit version of Alexa for 10 minutes before you eventually crack and allow them to sit on hold for someone who might actually be able to solve their problem. Bonus shit biscuits if you allow them to get to some answer from Brenda (the brainless Alexa clone) where you basically say "great news, you can do this online". As if anyone with ha…

This has reached new heights when calling USCIS for immigration issues. You have to avoid certain trigger words or the callbot will shunt you into a loop that can only terminate with it sending you an email on how to do something on the website, then hanging up. If you say "operator" it will go on a spiel about how helpful it is and you should ask it a question. If you say "operator" again it will hang up on you. The only way to get to a human is to look in online forums where people share the magic phrases that get it to direct you to an operator. Most of these have followup comments saying "no longer working as of $date". The US government basically hates immigrants or anyone trying to help immigrants and is happy to make things as aggressively unpleasant as possible for them. It isn't a bug, it is intentional.