finance

phone

steps to find a human

American Express

800-528-4800

0

ATT Universal Rewards Card

800-950-5114

###

Bank of America

800-900-9000

1 loan; 2 account; 3 investing; 4 info; or 00 to human

Bank One

877-226-5663

0,0

Capital One Visa

800-867-0904

ignore prompts and invalid entry warnings; press #0 four times

Charles Schwab

800-435-9050

3 then 0

Chase

800-CHASE24

5 pause 1 4

CitiBank

800-374-9700

1 online support; 2 billpay; 3 non-online; 4 credit card; or 0 to human

Discover

800-347-2683

****

E-Trade

800-387-2331

####

Fidelity

800-544-6666

ignore prompt for social security number, just enter ###

MasterCard

800-MC-ASSIST

000 on each menu

MBNA

800-421-2110

00# when menu starts

Paypal

650 864-8000

cf http://paypalsucks.com/PayPalPhoneNumbers.shtml

Sovereign Bank

800-SOV-BANK

1 english; 1 personal; 3 then social#; passcode, #; then 0 (1-3x)

Sun Trust Banks

404-588-7815

Yes

US Bank

800-US BANKS

0000

Visa

800-847-2911

000 (ignore prompts saying that it's an invalid entry)

Wachovia

800-922-4684

accounts personal banking

Washington Mutual

800-756-8000

At any time after the announcement(s) press 0,0.

Wells Fargo

800-869-3557

0,0,0

Western Union

800-325-6000

* then ##

government

phone

steps to find a human

INS

800-375-5283

After selecting English, (with a 2 second delay between) 2 6 2 4

Social Security

800-772-1213

00 will confuse computer and send you to an agent

Veterans Affairs

800-827-1000

1,0

insurance

phone

steps to find a human

Aetna

800-537-9384

"2, then say ""operator"" (check this)"

Aetna

800-680-3566

* then 0 anytime

AFLAC

800-99-AFLAC

***

Ameritas

800-745-1112

0,0,0

CIGNA

800-516-2898

REGARDING A BILL

Cigna

800-849-9000

##

GEICO

800-841-3000

Wait for prompt then 6, 1, 5

Humana

800-4-HUMANA

After entering insurance number and details, 0.

Medicare

800-633-4227

"After the opening prompt say ""agent""."

Principal Life

800-247-4695

1 for english, 2, then 0 several times until it redirects you to an operator.

pharmacy

phone

steps to find a human

CVS

local listing

dial local store, after promt. press 6 will connect to store manager

Eckerd

800-eckerds

0 for pharmacy, 8* for manager

Rite Aid

Local Store

Press 3 to speak to the pharmacy

Walgreens

local store

0 for a pharmacy employee

products

phone

steps to find a human

Bose

800-444-2673

Direct to human!

Sonos

800-680-2345

1 sales; 2 support

Sony

800-222-7669

"When prompted by the automated voice system to answer ANY questions, just say ""Agent"""

retail

phone

steps to find a human

Advance Auto

800-314-4243

0 when the automated message begins

Amazon.com

800-201-7575

see http://clicheideas.com/amazon.htm

Best Buy

800-365-0292

00*

Best Buy

local store

wait for extension prompt (sometimes must 4), then ext. 2021

Circuit City

local store

0 for customer service or 218 for store manager

eBay

800-322-9266

0,0

Home Depot

800 677-0232

"When asked for account number, keep hitting ""#"". After 5 or 6 times, a human appears!"

Home Shopping Net

800-284-3100

0

Ikea

800 434-IKEA

"0000000 (hit ""0"" many times fast, if you do it once, or too slow, it will merely repeat the menu)"

K-Mart

local store

0

Kohl's

800 5645740

After providing account info, press 0 three times

Lowes

local store

0 for customer service or #450 for commercial sales

Old Navy

800-OLD-NAVY

0

Overstock.com

800-843-2446

At the main menu, 0 three to four times to bypass the menu

QVC

800-367-9444

0

Safeway

local store

As soon as voice prompt starts type 1200 to get human

Sears

800-4-MY-HOME

Silence don't push numbers just sit there and you will be placed at front of queue.

Target

local store

0 during greeting.

"Toys ""R"" Us"

local store

0

Wal-Mart

800-925-6278

1 for directory

shipping

phone

steps to find a human

DHL

800-225-5345

press 1, press 5, press 0, enter your phone number.

FedEx

888-GO-FEDEX

"At message say ""Representative"""

UPS

800-pick-ups

0,0

USPS

800-275-8777

7-3-2-0-0 or send them some junk mail

technology

phone

steps to find a human

AOL

800-827-6364

0

Apple

800-275-2273

"000; if virtual rep answers, say ""operator"""

Compaq

800-652-6672

No easy escape

Dell

888-560-8324

2 order; 3 support; 4 purchase help; or 00 to human

Dell Service

800-624-9897

option 1, xt 7266966, option 1, option 4, option 4

Earthlink

888-earthlink

1 find a dialin number; 2 billing; 3 sales; 4 support

Epson

800-922-8911

yes

Gateway

800-846-2301

00#

HP

800-474-6836

"Say ""agent""."

HP

888-560-8324

00

IBM

800-IBM-4YOU

You go into a hold queue immediately

Microsoft

800-936-5700

Always 0. This is true for just about any MS number.

QuickBooks

888-729-1996

1 purchase; 2 billing; 3 registration; 4 tech support or 0 to human

Symantec

800-441-7234

00

telco

phone

steps to find a human

AT&T

800-222-0300

#### then 1 if for current phone, else 2 to enter other, else 3

AT&T Wireless

800-888-7600

No easy escape

BellSouth

877-678-2355

*0

Cellular One

888-910-9191

"4, say ""agent"", then #"

Cingular

800-331-0500

For faster service, the option that you are looking to close your account, You get the same ppl but an immediate answer

Nextel

800-639-6111

0 five times

SBC

800-585-7928

Again, an (intelligent, this time) IVR wants YOUR phone number first.

Sprint PCS

888-788-5001

"If live person does not answer, 00, then say ""agent"""

T-Mobile

800-TMOBILE

"Say ""representative"" at any time."

Verizon DSL

800 567 6789

"Say ""I don't know it"" then ""technician"""

Verizon Wireless

800-922-0204

#00 or enter phone # then 0 then 4

travel

phone

steps to find a human

American Airlines

800-433-7300

"00, then say ""agent"""

Amtrak

800-872-7245

"0 or say ""agent"""

Delta

800-221-1212

"say ""agent"" four times - every time it asks for a response from you"

jetBlue

800 JET-BLUE

1 flight status; 2 reservations; 3 vacation packages

Kayak.com

203 899-3120

0

Northwest

800-225-2525

Star, 0,0 after initial greeting

Southwest

800-435-9792

Calls answered by operator; during busy times you might have to hold

United

800-864-8331

Do nothing, wait for human.

US Airways

800-428-4322

4, wait, 1

Walt Disney World

407-824-4521

Direct line to Magic Kingdom Guest Relations

tv/satellite

phone

steps to find a human

Comcast

800-266-2278

Customer service, but an IVR wants your number first.

Direct TV

800-347-3288

0 repeatedly

Dish Network

800-333-3474

0 during menu

Sirius

888 539-7474

0

TiVo

877-367-8486

"Say ""Live Agent"""

Xm Radio

800-998-7900

Direct to human!