Majority of Companies Earn "F" on Gethuman's Phone System Testing

In my previous coverage of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, I've written a lot about how to get around them but never about how badly individual companies perform. I think that's because, like everyone else, I feel that they're all pretty much awful.

Well, the ever-useful gethuman has taken the bold step of actually qualitatively rating the 500 companies in its database of phone numbers and instructions on how to bypass IVR and reach a human being directly. Lest you think something like IVR is impossible to objectively judge, think again. The gethuman standard 1.0 provides 10 points for testing the consumer-friendliness of any phone system. The tests include whether the caller can always dial 0 or say "operator" to reach a live person, whether hold times are estimated, whether the option to leave a message for callback is available, and whether the system manages errors instead of hanging up on you. A total of 10 tests are included in the grading.

Who failed the tests? Just about everyone in the world of tech (and in the gethuman database). In the technology hardware category, every company got an F except for one: Epson, which earned a D. Ditto for every cell phone company except for T-Mobile, which earned two Cs and a D (it has three separate entries), and Motorola, which earned a C. Symantec also earned a D, the only software company to rise above an F. Finally, Vonage also earned a C. Unsurprisingly, every cable and satellite provider earned an F.

Who got an A? A small and eclectic list of companies: Hertz, Commerce Bank, Dillard's, Land's End, LL Bean, Comfort Inn, Hyatt, and Walt Disney World. Congratulations, Mickey.

Check out the full list here, and join me in thanking Paul English and the gethuman crew in their tireless efforts to improve telephone customer service.