A few weeks ago, Amazon delivered my order but it was completely wrong. I sighed and shuddered knowing I would have to call customer service and talk to a bot for at least ten minutes before getting to a real person.
Despite talking to and testing AI all day, when faced with the wrong package and an AI customer service agent, I usually hang up. I'd rather give up and let the broken thing stay broken or the wrong package stay wrong rather than shout "AGENT! HUMAN!" into my phone or chat box. Maybe you know the feeling?
But recently, I decided to stop surrendering and start testing. Over the last week, I threw every supposed "secret trick" at the bots guarding Amazon, Optimum, Walmart, AT&T and my local electric company. Some of the famous hacks are nonsense. A few work almost every time. Here's what worked best when trying to contact someone with a pulse.
