Automated Answering Nightmares!

When we first signed up with our cable company, we were enticed with wonderful offers to receive benefits FREE for a year.  Well, free is a subjective term.  Yes, they were free for one year, but then after that year was over, all of a sudden our bill skyrocketed.  I called the cable company and after punching 6,798 numbers into an automated system (which I HATE), I was told by the automated voice, "We are currently experiencing higher than normal call volumes.  Your expected wait time will be xxxx."  WHICH I HATE!!!!

 This whole automated answering system companies love to use is just ridiculous.  99% of the time my problem/question/concern does not fit tidily into one of their pre-conceived answers.  I want to speak to a human, which unlike a machine, can discern my issue and direct me to the right customer service representative.

I have a few recommendations:

1)  Companies should be required to notify customers when something is about to expire, instead of just billing them for something they had been getting for free.  *Yes, I realize I was told this when I signed on, but one tends to forget what items were included free.  So, why not a call or e-mail to remind me that my free items are about to end, and unless I cancel them, my bill will increase?

2)  Companies should do away with the courtesy message stating that they're experiencing high call volumes.  They're ALWAYS experiencing higher than normal call volumes.  I never get a message that says, "We're currently experiencing lower than normal call volumes, so expect someone to..."  "Hello, thank you for calling Company X, my name is Helpful.  How can I help you today?"

3)  In fact, companies should just do away with the automated answering system all together and put a few more Americans to work.  Don't outsource my customer service to someone who doesn't speak English as their native language, and don't put me through a series of dialing numbers, and listening to options that don't fit my specific need.

END RANT!!!