Greatest Product? How about the Worst Invention!

Bird · Aug 18, 2003

My vote for the worst invention of the century has to go to the automated telephone answering systems where you play telephone roulette. If you want this, press 1; if you want that press 2, and on and on. And eventually you either get cut off or you get "All our customer service representatives are currently assisting other customers. Stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received" (MAYBE!) Then you get to sit there and listen interminably to a loud and obnoxious racket that at least some people call "music." And polite language cannot describe my opinion of those contraptions and the companies that use them. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

daedong · Aug 18, 2003

Computers /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I would get more work done without one /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

DaveNH · Aug 18, 2003

All the products from the famous Ron Popeil.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

OkeeDon · Aug 18, 2003

Computer dialing; computer solicitation. Even our local police department has an automated dialing system with recorded messages. When they bought it, they justified it by saying that it would be used for emergency situations, like informing everyone in a specific neighborhood of an evacuation, etc. But, about every 6 months, they dial with stupid messages about community policing or some such, probably just to rationalize the existence of the system. I've never heard of it being used in any sort of emergency.

At my business, we received at least two calls a day for over two weeks, even after using their removal system, offering a vacation in Orlando including air fare. We live 2 hours from Orlando by car.

The solicitors use automated dialing but sometimes can't keep up with it. After you say, "Hello", the computer says, "Please hold on - someone will be with you shortly." Yeah, sure, like I'm going to sit and hold on a call I didn't make! I learned that some of them use a voice recognition system that triggers on the word "Hello". We now try to answer the phone some other way, when we remember.

Blah.

jinman · Aug 18, 2003

( polite language cannot describe my opinion of those contraptions and the companies that use them. )

It seems the telephone company is one of the worst offenders, followed by the utility companies. I think they have those machines only because they know you really need to contact them and are not going to hang up. When I worked for General Electric, we had to report absences from work by what they called an "interactive voice system" which consisted of multiple levels of a boring, droning voice offering many too wrong choices before getting to a "possible" correct choice. There was no operator at all. At the end, this computer voice would read back the info to you and if it was wrong, you had to repeat the entire frustrating process. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif I'm with you. I think we should "nuke" all of those systems.

Egon · Aug 19, 2003

Re: Greatest Product? How about the Worst Inventi

You fellows are all way to modest on the list of undesirables.

Ive got watches I can't set, Tv's with all that ancillary equipment that doesn't respond to that " thing" called a remote. Sound systems tied in also that seem impossible to turn on. A phone that I'm almost able to use. A hand held GPS that require hours reading the manual before I dare try it and will have forgotten for the next use. Vehicles on which one opens the hood and say's "okay it's dealer time" and another $600 dollars. A computer and manuals that defy my feeble comprehensive skills.

And worst of all, a coffee maker with so many buttons it takes a magician to get a cup. Then it also beeps and I try and answer the phone or the phone beeps and I try for a cup of coffee that isn't there.

But all is not lost. In my possession there is a hammer from my Grandfathers time that can alleviate all the previous frustrations.

Egon

Bird · Aug 19, 2003

( It seems the telephone company is one of the worst offenders, followed by the utility companies )

Yep, a week ago Saturday our phone went out; had to report it to Verizon using the cell phone and never spoke to a human. The automated system eventually told me it would be fixed by 1 p.m. Monday (they actually got it working just before 2 p.m. Monday). Then yesterday morning, the electricity went off shortly after 7 a.m. and I called TXU with the same results. The automated system simply told me the information would be forwarded to the (repair service). An hour later, I tried again, using some different "options" on the automated system and after 18 minutes finally got to speak to a human, who also could tell me nothing except that they knew there was an outage. Service technicians did show up in the area about 9 a.m. and power was restored shortly before 2 p.m.

s1120 · Aug 19, 2003

had to report it to Verizon using the cell phone 

Ahhh Cell phones! We all have them, we all need them, how meny of us just want to chuck them into the nearest river? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

How come things that are to make are life easyer, just make it more complcated? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

rancar · Aug 19, 2003

How about the Worst Invention! 

Fast food restaurants.

Many of us would be thinner and healthier if it wasn't for fast food restaurants.

...Bob

Gatorboy · Aug 19, 2003

( Many of us would be thinner and healthier if it wasn't for fast food restaurants. )

But I don't believe they are forcing you to eat there, are they? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif