Phone menus suck

I got 3 big gripes here.

I hate talking to a computer. I totally dread it when the "Jimmy-cool-guy" voice comes on and says stuff like "Ok, how can I help? You can say something like 'Change my address,' or 'Billing question.'" Because it seems like then I always hear "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." And then, a little while later, I hear "I'm sorry you're having trouble, goodbye." And I have to start all over. Grrrrr.

They never use the data they make you give them. You carefully select 1 to transfer your service, then punch in the phone number on your account, then your zip code, the last four of your social, and then your account number. Then you wait. Then somebody answers, and they have absolutely no idea who you are or what you want to do. My theory on this is that management actually does use that data in the back office to help them generate reports to determine needed head counts, but rather than go the last mile and provide that data to the poor customer service reps, they make them ask it all over. I say we rebel against this - use the gethuman database to short-circuit these menus.

When are voicemail greetings going to stop telling us how to leave a message?
File this in the same area as my complaint that airlines are still telling us how seat belts work, but, jeebus, is there really anybody left on this planet that doesn't know that you start talking after the beep? I'm so sick of that woman, you know the one, that explains how to leave a message. How about this? It's off by default and then people could enable it in their voicemail menu.