Ever call a cellular phone company for BlackBerry-related tech support, really need to talk to a human, but wind up in a type of voice-mail jail that will even reject your attempts to press "0" to reach a live person?

Yes, me, too. In the world of customer "service," nothing is more infuriating then hitting "0" in exasperation and then be told by an automated voice, "I'm sorry, I did not recognize your selection."

Well, there's hope. Today's Seattle Times has a meticulously researched, totally essential,
priceless guide on how to navigate these voice mail traps and reach a live operator.

Ya gotta love the article title: "Dial-a-human shortcuts: How to escape from automated phone-system hell."

The article comes in tabular form. There's tips not only for cell providers, but cable, DSL, gadget makers, even financial services companies, retailers and airlines (handy considering Thanksgiving is almost upon us).

But since we concentrate on BlackBerry here, let's look at one example from BlackBerry cell hell.

For Cingular, who will be likely to field numerous tech support calls when they release the BlackBerry 8700c on November 21, the article advises:

"Press 1, enter cellphone number or press 0 three times to be transferred to a representative."

The article offers advice on how to reach a human for SprintNextel, Verizon and T-Mobile
customers as well.

Memo to the wise: because the Seattle Times tends to place their articles into their paid archive within a week after publication, I suggest you grab this article now and save it to your hard drive.

The Read prompt below this post leads to the article.

Run!!!