Things that irritate you

[Halgar]

Phone lines that give you ...
If you want this press 1
If you want that press 2
Etc
Etc
Never giving you what you want or anybody to speak to .
Web sites/web shops with no company telephone number , and no address , often no idea of the country they are in .

If I could like this post a dozen times, it wouldn't be enough!

Oh, I get the purpose of a phone tree, efficiency to direct callers to the most appropriate resource, but like everything else in life, it's just another tactic by many businesses to annoy you to the point that you give up and go away! And, if that doesn't work, let's put you on hold forever with the most annoying ads or canned music imaginable! Guaranteed that 95% of callers will simply hang up and never call back.

Slight side note, but similar, I called a business today and got an automated message, "leave us your name, number and message and we'll get back to you asap." Not a first, by any means, but this call was made well before noon and I NEVER got a call back. I don't care who you are, you ain't that busy! FWIW, it was a local fence company requesting product information. Rest assured, I will not be calling this company back, nor will I ever call them or visit them again. Am I a big ticket client, no, but if this is the level of customer service that you offer, it is clear that you do not value your customers and I'm more than happy to go somewhere else.

[Halgar]

As someone who designs and builds these IVR systems professionally, I can tell you that their purpose is to automate all the repetitive tasks that keep the operators occupied, and not dealing with REAL customer issues. This leads to two problems:

IMHO, this kinda goes back to drivers who don't know where they're going, what they want, how to get there, or any other data point you might try to find to understand why they are out on the road to begin with.

I fully understand the reason behind a phone tree. In an ideal world it is to efficiently direct you to the best resource possible. Unfortunately, the converse seems to be true for the vast majority of those that employ the use of a phone tree. Now, while you'd expect this to be an issue with the largest of corporations, by and large this is true, the small companies are not without fault either. As an example, I have a local materials supplier, one location, maybe 20 employees. You call after hours or near closing time, the front counter stops answering calls, you just get bounced between the automated system and the phone ringing the counter. And, by after hours, that is 3pm on week days. This is no longer a "stupid caller" problem and absolutely a "stupid phone tree" problem. Set a frigg'n timer on the system to say, "Sorry, we're closed" or "normal store hours are . . ."

I also fully understand the "developers" side, in that you really can only do what the client wants. I have the same limitations as a building contractor, I can only do what the client wants. Yes, I can make suggestions, and there are certain codes and regulations that my work must meet, but beyond that, I can't make the client do anything they don't want to.

[Halgar]

Facebook MP ads that state "make an offer!" FBMP is not an auction site! Figure out what you want for it, and advertise it for that price! It is that simple!

If I were a moderator here, I'd fix your post, technically, it should just be shorten to "F-book "

[R6cowboy]

When the wife is out with her girlfriends celebrating a birthday party on a nice Friday night and I'm home alone shooting darts lone ranger and this sh?z happens. I'm no stranger to triple bullseyes, but this is a first.

[Halgar]

Minecraft and Unspeakable youtube videos on the television. 6 yr old influenced by his 12 yr old nephew problems.

While not a minecraft fan, is this really that big of a deal, it's a video game, general entertainment, whereas the likes of the Krapdashians, Krapye West, Jake Logan, and all the other turd gurgling influencers out there, be it on TV or YouTube, have ZERO relevance or entertainment value.

YT calling ALL of their content creators "influencers" is quite revolting! There is a HUGE difference between the whining gimme gimme gimme turd stains screaming for your views, and those providing educational and entertainment related content.

[R6cowboy]

Minecraft and Unspeakable youtube videos on the television. 6 yr old influenced by his 12 yr old nephew problems.

While not a minecraft fan, is this really that big of a deal, it's a video game, general entertainment, whereas the likes of the Krapdashians, Krapye West, Jake Logan, and all the other turd gurgling influencers out there, be it on TV or YouTube, have ZERO relevance or entertainment value.

YT calling ALL of their content creators "influencers" is quite revolting! There is a HUGE difference between the whining gimme gimme gimme turd stains screaming for your views, and those providing educational and entertainment related content.

To answer your question if it's really that big of a deal.... No. But the annoying background "noise" indeed gets annoying at times, along with many other things a 6 yr old does. But it wasn't meant to be that serious of a post to begin with. It's more of a humorous annoyance because it involves a young child who doesn't know any better. Annoying nonetheless.

[Halgar]

When the wife is out with her girlfriends celebrating a birthday party on a nice Friday night and I'm home alone shooting darts lone ranger and this sh?z happens. I'm no stranger to triple bullseyes, but this is a first.


Resized_20220917_000158_6209.jpeg

If you're no stranger to hat tricks, how is this a first? Not criticizing, just asking.

I used to throw in a local dart league, I was relatively good, could generally hit what I was aiming for, and had the occasional exceptional night. One night I shot against a guy who tossed two into the bull, stepped left, squatted down a bit, and tossed a third into the bull. While I wouldn't say he could hit a bull whenever he wanted, it was darned close! Never was able to beat him!

I played for fun, even during competitions. If I'm not having fun, what's the point? One night, in all the excitement, I accidentally threw out of turn for a guy on the opposing team. He thought it would be a good idea to hit my team for points rather than just close out and win the game. HIS MISTAKE! He tried to take advantage of an innocent mistake, my next time at the line I threw three triple 17's, one of his teams open numbers. That set them back on their heels and they never recovered. While I like to play nice, you wanna get dirty, be careful what you ask for!

While I don't miss the atmosphere and most of the people, I do miss the darts on occasion.

[R6cowboy]

When the wife is out with her girlfriends celebrating a birthday party on a nice Friday night and I'm home alone shooting darts lone ranger and this sh?z happens. I'm no stranger to triple bullseyes, but this is a first.


Resized_20220917_000158_6209.jpeg

If you're no stranger to hat tricks, how is this a first? Not criticizing, just asking.

I used to throw in a local dart league, I was relatively good, could generally hit what I was aiming for, and had the occasional exceptional night. One night I shot against a guy who tossed two into the bull, stepped left, squatted down a bit, and tossed a third into the bull. While I wouldn't say he could hit a bull whenever he wanted, it was darned close! Never was able to beat him!

I played for fun, even during competitions. If I'm not having fun, what's the point? One night, in all the excitement, I accidentally threw out of turn for a guy on the opposing team. He thought it would be a good idea to hit my team for points rather than just close out and win the game. HIS MISTAKE! He tried to take advantage of an innocent mistake, my next time at the line I threw three triple 17's, one of his teams open numbers. That set them back on their heels and they never recovered. While I like to play nice, you wanna get dirty, be careful what you ask for!

While I don't miss the atmosphere and most of the people, I do miss the darts on occasion.

Simple, I've hit triple bulleyes a couple handful of times, but never triple double bulleyes. See?
I've never been in a league, only thrown darts in the garage, typically drinking.

[Halgar]

To answer your question if it's really that big of a deal.... No. But the annoying background "noise" indeed gets annoying at times, along with many other things a 6 yr old does. But it wasn't meant to be that serious of a post to begin with. It's more of a humorous annoyance because it involves a young child who doesn't know any better. Annoying nonetheless.

No offense meant. On the rare occasion that I can find a video game I like, I very much enjoy watching the no commentary game play that includes all the cut scenes. Essentially, it's like watching a movie. Early on I was watching vids WITH commentary, and I agree with you, it just got annoying, very quickly!! I'm here for the game, not the drama, not the stupidity, I want to see the game.

A good example is GTA V, first time I watched it was with commentary, fine, not too bad, but the senseless chatter got in the way of the game, or "movie" as it were. Similarly, even with no commentary, the players who have to mod the characters is equally annoying. It's like watching the Terminator series with PeeWee Hermin as the lead instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Halgar]

Simple, I've hit triple bulleyes a couple handful of times, but never triple double bulleyes. See?
I've never been in a league, only thrown darts in the garage, typically drinking.

Ah, gotcha! That's what we always called a "hat trick", three double bulls.

Anybody can hit three single bulls, or a combination of singles and doubles!

FWIW, the guy in my earlier story, hat trick, all doubles! Heck, I've seen a few "Robin Hood splitting the arrow" doubles, even thrown a couple myself, though I don't recall if I got a hat trick out of the deal.

[R6cowboy]

Ah, gotcha! That's what we always called a "hat trick", three double bulls.

Anybody can hit three single bulls, or a combination of singles and doubles!

FWIW, the guy in my earlier story, hat trick, all doubles! Heck, I've seen a few "Robin Hood splitting the arrow" doubles, even thrown a couple myself, though I don't recall if I got a hat trick out of the deal.

Never knew the hat trick term applied to darts. That's cool though. I'll hit three bullseyes about once every 100 games it seems, it's just not often at all.

[Halgar]

It's been 20 years since I've thrown a dart, you're making me wanna pick up a set and go have some fun!

[R6cowboy]

It's been 20 years since I've thrown a dart, you're making me wanna pick up a set and go have some fun!

Heck yeah. The wife and I have a board in the garage and we throw with family and friends often.

[juicedcoupe]

It's been 20 years since I've thrown a dart

It's probably been 20 years for me as well. Much longer since I actually hit something with one.

[Incredible_Serious]

What about the repetative pressing of "0" trick to skip all the crap and get an operator?

I can build a system that doesn't allow that, if necessary.

Recently had a client that decided they wanted to put a "To speak with an operator, press 1" option at the START of their Automated system..... and then complained that the same Automated system was not handling as many transactions automatically, and that Operators were getting more calls! Well, DUH.

Sadly, the use of quality, flexible, configurable systems is on the wane... our company has been doing this stuff for almost 30 years (I've been there 22), but we're losing customers to the one-size-fits-all off-the-shelf products of our competitors. It's a bit sad, especially when you compare your own work with that of your competitors, and theirs sounds so..... amateurish.

Oh well, guess I'll be looking for something else to do soon enough....

Rant over. Maybe...

Alex