Talk about things that make a person want to scream!!!
I occasionally use my state's paratransit program to get home from work when Chris has to work late or otherwise can't be there to take me home. A few weeks ago I called to schedule a ride after not having used it in a couple of years, and discovered two things: 1) that my eligibility for the program had expired and I needed to renew it; and 2) that once I got my new account number I'd be able to use a completely automated telephone system to schedule my rides rather than talking to an agent.
Now, I know a lot of people can't stand these automated systems, but I love them, for several reasons. A lot of it comes from the fact that I hate talking to strangers on the phone... I always have. It's this social awkwardness that I cover well when I have to, i.e. all day long in my job, but I welcome every opportunity to take a break from trying to sound like a normal person, and just carry on my conversations with computers, with whom I get along much better. And specific to the RIde program, the thought of never having to deal with one of their agents again was especially appealing. These people, although it's their entire job, never sound like they are particularly thrilled to be talking to you. And not only are they short and unfriendly, they often mix up details or just completely fail to do their jobs correctly. Most commonly they reverse pickup and drop-off locations, and I am left waiting for the shuttle at work while they sit outside my condo and then report me to dispatch as a no-show. There was one time, I sat waiting at work over thirty minutes past my pickup time, and called the dispatch center only to find out the reservationist I spoke to just the day before never entered my trip into the system. So you can see why I was happy for the opportunity to enter my trip requests directly into their computer system myself, bypassing these incompetent morons.
Except it seems those incompetent morons must have been who designed the new automated phone system. I tried to use it for the first time today, and for the first time ever felt like one of those people who ends up ripping their hair out trying to get through one of these systems. First, it's voice activated, which is fine as long as the people recording the prompts realize that they eventually have to shut up to give the caller a chance to say a command. Interrupting it doesn't work; it inevitably fails to recognize what was said, then spends another five minutes explaining what the options are before taking a two second breath, during which the caller must try to quickly blurt out their command before it starts talking again. There is an option to switch to touch tone only mode, so I try that instead. But now my trip time (5:00pm on April 28) is invalid; it tells me I can only schedule up to 48 hours in advance... But wait - a minute ago when I was on the voice activated system it said it had to be at least 48 hours in advance, up to 14 days! At this point I hang up and call back, staying on the voice activated system. This time I manage to get through the date and time selection, which it accepts, and next it asks where I need to be picked up. "This can be home, or one of your five favorite locations." Since I have never used the automated system before, there are no favorite locations configured, and it gives no indication how to configure them. I try saying, "favorite locations". "I'm sorry, what was that? I need to know where you are being picked up. This can be home, or one of your five favorite locations. For home, say 'home'." Yeah, thanks, moron robot woman, what do I say for a favorite location... or to create one, for that matter? I try saying the address. Same response. Fine, I'm fed up... I say "agent" to be transferred to a live agent (something which it has assured me I can say at any time during the call). "Okay, please hold while I transfer you." The line goes silent for several seconds, and then I am transferred... back to the beginning of the automated menu.
Seriously, has anyone ever managed to successfully schedule a trip through this thing?!
The worst part is, I still never managed to schedule the trip! I called back, opted not to press 9 for the automated system and instead pressed 2 for the old live call center, and sat on hold longer than I ever had before they installed the automated option, before I finally had to give up and get back to work. So much for the new system reducing call load for the live operators, eh?
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