Beating those customer service robots

Typical customer service rep.

Want to speak to a human being? You can get help navigating phone menu mazes more quickly to get to a company rep by going to GetHuman.com.

Other suggestions from Smart Money:

Call. Forget e-mail: When it comes to reaching a customer service rep, picking up the phone is still significantly faster. In a recent study, StellaService found that the retailer with the fastest email response time, OfficeDepot, still took 48 minutes, and many retailers took more than a day. Meanwhile, the swiftest retailers answered calls in 27 seconds or less; and the fastest, SierraTradingPost.com, in just six seconds. Calling on a Sunday yields the shortest wait time. 

Yell. There are times when complaining loudly and widely actually helps. Companies tend to offer a higher level of service on Twitter and Facebook because your initial complaint -- and any thoughts you have about the eventual resolution -- are in the public eye. On the phone, it can also help to get loud with the automated system. Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, among other companies, use technology that can sense yelling and recognize a few choice four-letter words, Goldkamp says. If it senses you're angry, it will cut straight to a live representative. But it's still a good strategy to stay calm and be nice while talking to the rep, which gives them an incentive to help.

There's your American ingenuity at work: yelling at a computer gets results.