Automated Phone Service

So I call Verizon to talk about my order for DSL. It is a 1-800 24/7 tech support line for their broadband customers. So when I get an computer talking to me, eh, nothing new right? This one seemed pretty good at voice recognition: it asked for me to speak my number and then it correctly repeated it back to me. It then asked me if that was correct and to say yes or no. So I said yes. And it didn't get it, it started from scratch: what was my telephone number. So I put it in again and it repeated it back to me. I said yes when prompted and made sure to speak clearly and loudly. It then didn't get my yes again.

::sigh:: So I punched my number into the keypad. It then asked me if the number it repeated back to me was correct. It didn't ask me to hit either 1 or 2 for yes or no, but asked me to speak to it again.

Frustrating. So after 5 minutes of stupid questions, it puts me on hold to wait for a "human" operator. When she gets on the line, she asked me for my phone number.

Umm, why did I spend 5 minutes trying to get the machine to say it if I was just going to give it to her anyways? I didn't ask, as the operator was super nice and really polite. Helped me out an resolved my problem.

So I'll be getting DSL (1 GB downloads / 356 kb uploads; with an option to go to 3 GB / 756 kb for an extra $10 a month) at the start of next week. For just $4 more a month then what I'm paying now for 56K telephone internet access, the DSL is a pretty sweet deal. Much better then $49 / month for cable internet, 'cause I'd also have to subscribe to cable for another $39 or more a month. And I don't even own a teevee, why the hell would I want cable.