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Secret customer service hack that drastically reduces call wait times by letting you bypass phone bots to speak to a human in SECONDS, and it works (almost) every time!
- TikTok video goes viral after revealing a hack to help bypass automated systems at popular customer service help lines
- Typing ‘0#’ each time you’re asked a question will put you directly in touch with a human operator, users say
- Dailymail.com tests eight banks, airlines and retailers to test the trick
Are you sick of having to deal with robots every time you have a simple customer service inquiry?
TikTok users claim to have stumbled upon a nifty hack that helps callers bypass the endless automated questions now used by the help lines of most major companies and communicate directly with a human being.
Los Angeles music industry expert Liz Kamlet revealed that customers can type the zero symbol followed by the pound key (0#) whenever a recorded voice asks them for information such as their account number or nature. of your query.
The hack confuses a company’s automated system, prompting it to transfer the customer to a real-life operator, and Kamlet claims it works for “90 per cent” of brands, including major airlines, banks and retailers.
When Dailymail.com tested the help lines of eight major US companies, the hack proved successful for five, including Chase Bank, American Airlines and Amazon.
Dailymail.com tested eight major helplines and found the trick worked for five
At Chase, we were able to communicate with a human in 41 seconds. This was more than three times faster than when we entered the requested information through the automated system as usual.
Amazon, DHL, and American Airlines transferred us to a carrier within a minute. For Delta Airlines, it took 43 seconds.
However, the hack didn’t work for FedEx, Expedia, and Bank of America.
These customer support lines hung up on Dailymail.com, with Expedia citing “system problems” and FedEx repeatedly saying “I need to understand the reason for your call.”
thesystem also allows you to avoid frustrating automated questions and cannot reduce call wait times for operators.
For example, American Airlines was quick to say that they would transfer us to an operator, but added that it would take up to 28 minutes to be able to speak to someone.
Falling customer service standards have been the subject of fierce debate in the US, with the pandemic and work-from-home culture often blamed for steadily increasing call wait times .
Brands are also increasingly relying on ‘virtual chat’ services and artificial intelligence to answer customer inquiries.
Data last year from call center analytics firm CallMiner found that the average wait time for calls in the US had tripled since the start of the pandemic.
TikTok viewers responded enthusiastically to Kamlet’s hack, with many saying it “worked like a charm.”
Other users responded with their own tips and tricks for bypassing a company’s automated systems.
“I just yell ‘representative’ or ‘help’ over and over again,” said one user.
Another wrote: “For some companies that doesn’t work so I just start talking crap so the bot says ‘sorry I don’t understand I’ll connect you with someone’.”
The video has now amassed 2.1 million views.
It begins with Kamlet answering the question: “What kind of information seems illegal to know?”
“This little piece of information has saved me a lot of time, hassle and frustration,” Kamlet said.
So give it a try.
Kamlet’s videos often offer advice on the music industry and how her followers can achieve success as a songwriter.
She claims to have worked with world-renowned artists during her decade-long career and is married to singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, who has written songs for Eric Clapton and Barbra Streisand.