ABSTRACT
When dealing with banks, building societies, local authorities, utilities, insurance companies, etc, sometimes the problem is not so much getting your complaint dealt with as getting through to someone appropriate in the first place. Many so-called helplines seem to be completely automated: ‘If you are calling about XYZ, press 1. If you are calling about ABC, press 2…’ When you press 1 you get another recorded voice with another list of options and you may be treated-at enormous expense because this is going on your phone bill, not theirs-to synthesised music played very slightly off key
