How to Avoid Automated Operator Rage

Man, sometimes we love our readers. Especially when they leave us nifty tips using Gothamist Contribute. For instance, basically every time that we have to call a large business, be it the cable company or a government agency and everything in-between, we find ourselves bashing our head into the wall as we work our way through one bizarro series of prompts after another when all we want to do is speak to a human (even if they are in India, what can we say, we're just people people!). Enter the IVR Cheat Sheet, which until this morning we had no idea existed (thanks tipster!).

Basically the cheat sheet is a list of companies, broken down into categories, and how to skip directly to a human operator when calling them. Seriously. We almost wish we had a reason to call one of them right now so as to test out some of these tips (we're looking directly at you insurance companies). Anyway these are great tips so learn 'em, use 'em and love 'em. And also remember to keep the tips coming.