And another thing that annoys me . . .

[SteveDallas]

You call in for so-called "customer service." You are invited to press 1 for sales, 2 for hardware problems, etc. etc. etc. You make your selection. You are then asked to enter some information--your account number, your phone number, the serial number of your computer, etc.

Now, in principle, this is a great idea. In a well-run call center this information will be used so that when an operator takes your call, the computer will already be displaying all your information so that they can say, "Hello, Mr. Dallas, I understand you're having trouble with your network-enabled meat slicing attachment. How can I help you?"

But no. 999 times out of 1,000, in my experience at least, you end up telling the operator all the information you just entered in.