Help If You Hate Company Telephone Menus--Dial 1, Dial 0, Help!

Here is some great information I found that helps you get "past" that annoying company menu. If you hate to be asked to "press 1 for ..." and "press 2 for ..." and so on, this information is for you!

There are 111 companies listed as of Sun 20-Nov-2005 8:53 PM. To get further updates just go to the web site below.

IVR Cheat Sheet to Find a Human
https://www.quickbase.com/db/bam6rdiey?a=q&qid=5
http://www.paulenglish.com/ivr/

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Here are the secret numbers and tips to bypass IVR phone menus to get to a human. Do you know a new cheat? Suggest it to the above web site so that all can benefit.

The first column is the company, the second column is the phone number you are asked to dial and the 3rd column is what you "punch into the telephone."

Finance Phone Steps to Find a Human

American Express, 800-528-4800, 0

ATT Universal, 800-950-5114, ##

Bank of America, 800-900-9000, 1 loan; 2 account; 3 investing; 4 info; or 00 to human

Bank One, 877-226-5663, 0 thru the options to get a live person

Capital One Visa, 800-867-0904, ignore prompts and invalid entry warnings; press #0 five times

Charles Schwab, 800-435-9050, 3 then 0

Chase, 800-CHASE24, 5 pause 14*0

CitiBank, 800-374-9700, 1 online support; 2 billpay; 3 non-online; 4 credit card; or 0 to human

Discover, 800-347-2683, *****

E-Trade, 800-387-2331, ####

Fidelity, 800-544-6666, ignore prompt for social security number, just enter ###

MasterCard, 800-MC-ASSIST, 000 on each menu

MBNA, 800-421-2110, 00 when menu starts

Paypal, 650 864-8000, cf

Sovereign Bank, 800-SOV-BANK, 1 english; 1 personal; 3 then social#; passcode, #; then 0 (1-3x)

Sun Trust Banks, 404-588-7815, Yes

US Bank, 800-US BANKS, 000(0)

Visa, 800-847-2911, 000 (ignore prompts saying that it's an invalid entry)

Wachovia, 800-922-1800, accounts personal banking

Washington Mutual, 800-756-8000, At any time after the announcement(s) start 'O'

Wells Fargo, 800-869-3557, 0,0,0

Western Union, 800-325-6000, 0


Government Phone steps to Find a Human

INS, 800-375-5283, After selecting English, (with a 2 second delay between) 2 6 2 4

Social Security, 520-364-1241, At prompt 0

Veterans Affairs, 800-827-1000, 1,0


Insurance Phone Steps to Find a Human

Aetna, 800-537-9384, "2, then say ""operator"" (check this)"

Aetna, 800-680-3566, * then 0 anytime

AFLAC, 800-99-AFLAC, ***

Ameritas, 800-745-1112, 00000

BlueCross, 800-800-4298, Press 2

CIGNA, 800-516-2898, REGARDING A BILL

Cigna, 800-849-9000, ##

GEICO, 800-841-3000, Wait for prompt then 6, 1, 5

Humana, 800-4-HUMANA, After entering insurance number and details, 0

Medicare, 800-633-4227, "After the opening prompt say ""agent""."

Principal Life, 800-247-4695, 1 for english, 2, then 0 several times until it redirects you to an operator


Pharmacy Phone Steps to Find a Human

CVS, local listing dial local store, after promt press 6 will connect to store manager

Eckerd, 800-eckerds, 0 for pharmacy, 8* for manager

Rite Aid, Local Store, Press 3 to speak to the pharmacy

Walgreens, local store, 0 for a pharmacy employee


Products Phone Steps to Find a Human

Bose, 800-444-2673, Direct to human!

Sonos, 800-680-2345, 1 sales; 2 support

Sony, 800-222-7669, "When prompted by the automated voice system to answer ANY questions, just say ""Agent"""


Retail Phone Steps to Find a Human

Advance Auto, 800-314-4243, 0 when the automated message begins

Amazon.com, 800-201-7575, Direct to human!

Best Buy, 800-365-0292, 00

Best Buy, local store, wait for extension prompt (sometimes must 4), then ext. 2021

Circuit City, local store, 0 for customer service or 218 for store manager

eBay, 800-322-9266, 0

Home Depot, 800 677-0232, "When asked for account number, keep hitting ""#"". After 5 or 6 times, a human appears!"

Home Shopping Net, 800-284-3100, 0

Ikea, 800 434-IKEA, "0000000 (hit ""0"" many times fast, if you do it once, or too slow, it will merely repeat the menu)"

K-Mart, local store, 0

Kohl's, 800 564-5740, After providing account info, press 0 three times

Lowes, local store, 0 for customer service or #450 for commercial sales

Old Navy, 800-OLD-NAVY, 0

Overstock.com, 800-843-2446, At the main menu, 0 three to four times to bypass the menu

QVC, 800-367-9444, 0

Safeway, local store, As soon as voice prompt starts type 1200 to get human

Sears, 800-4-MY-HOME, Silence don't push numbers just sit there and you will be placed at front of que

Target, local store, 0 during greeting

"Toys ""R"" Us", local store, 0

Wal-Mart, 800-546-1897, 0


Shipping Phone Steps to Find a Human

DHL, 800-225-5345, press 1, press 5, press 0, enter your phone number

FedEx, 888-GO-FEDEX, "At message say ""Representative"""

UPS, 800-pick-ups, yes

USPS, 800-275-8777, 7-3-2 or send them some junk mail


Technology Phone Steps to Find a Human

AOL, 888-346-3704, 0

Apple, 800-275-2273, "000; if virtual rep answers, say ""operator"""

Compaq, 800-652-6672, No easy escape

Dell, 888-560-8324, 2 order; 3 support; 4 purchase help; or 00 to human

Dell Service, 800-624-9897, option 1, xt 7266966, option 1, option 4, option 4

Earthlink, 888-earthlink, 1 find a dialin number; 2 billing; 3 sales; 4 support

Epson, 800-922-8911, yes

Gateway, 800-846-2301, 00#

HP, 800-474-6836, "Say ""agent""."

HP, 888-560-8324, 00

IBM, 800-IBM-4YOU, You go into a hold queue immediately

Microsoft, 800-936-5700, Always 0. This is true for just about any MS number

QuickBooks, 888-729-1996, 1 purchase; 2 billing; 3 registration; 4 tech support or 0 to human

Symantec, 800-441-7234, 00


Telco Phone Steps to Find a Human

AT&T, 800-222-0300, ..

AT&T Wireless, 800-888-7600, No easy escape

BellSouth, 877-678-2355, *0

Cellular One, 888-910-9191, "4, say ""agent"", then #"

Cingular, 800-331-0500, For faster service, the option that you are looking to close your account, You get the same ppl but an immediate answer

Cricket, 800-274-2538, 313

Nextel, 800-639-6111, 0 five times

SBC, 800-585-7928, Again, an (intelligent, this time) IVR wants YOUR phone number first

Sprint PCS, 888-788-5001, "00, then say ""agent"""

T-Mobile, 800-TMOBILE, "Say ""representative"" at any time."

Verizon DSL, 800 567 6789, "Say ""I don't know it"" then ""technician"""

Verizon Wireless, 800-922-0204, #00 or enter phone # then 0 then 4


Travel Phone steps to Find a Human

American Airlines, 800-433-7300, "00, then say ""agent"""

Amtrak, 800-872-7245, "0 or say ""agent"""

Continental, 800-523-3273, "Three Delta 800-221-1212 0 then say ""operator"""

Delta, 800-221-1212, "say ""agent"" four times - every time it asks for a response from you"

jetBlue, 800 JET-BLUE, 1 flight status; 2 reservations; 3 vacation packages

Kayak.com, 203 899-3120, 0

Northwest, 800-225-2525, Star, 0, after initial greeting

Southwest, 800-435-9792, Calls answered by operator; during busy times you might have to hold

United, 800-864-8331, Do nothing, wait for human

US Airways, 800-428-4322, 4, wait, 1

Walt Disney World, 407-824-4521, Direct line to Magic Kingdom Guest Relations


TV/Satellite Phone Steps to Find a Human

Comcast, 800-266-2278, Customer service, but an IVR wants your number first

Direct TV, 800-347-3288, 0 repeatedly

Dish Network, 800-333-3474, 0 during menu

Sirius, 888 537-SIRIUS, 0

TiVo, 877-367-8486, "Say ""Live Agent"""

Xm Radio, 800-998-7900, Direct to human!

Valentine's Day Trivia

Did you know that...

Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts.

15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

More than 50% of cards are sold the week of the holiday, with the largest and most elaborate Valentine cards sold 48 hours before February 14.

About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.

Cupid, another symbol of Valentine's Day, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.

Hallmark has over 1330 different cards specifically for Valentine's Day.

In the United States, 64% of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine's Day with their sweethearts.

70% of those celebrating the holiday give a card, followed by a telephone call (49%), gift (48%), special dinner (37%), candy (33%) restaurant meal (30%), and flowers (19%).


Valentine's Day Superstitions

To be awoken by a kiss on Valentine's Day is considered lucky.

By tradition, a young girl was supposed to eventually marry the first eligible male she met on Valentine's Day.

In Great Britain, women would write the names of their sweethearts on small scraps of paper which would be placed on clay balls. The balls were dropped into water with the belief that whichever scrap of paper surfaced first would be the name of the man destined to be the future husband.

Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem, and that is the number of children you will have.

Seeing different animals on Valentine's Day can result in different ways; seeing a goldfinch, you will marry a millionaire; seeing a robin you will marry a crime fighter; seeing a dove, you will have a happy peaceful marriage. (Maybe it's a good day to go to the zoo!)