I’m a contrarian.

As a person who uses a phone, I’m thrilled to call a business and get a real human. To put it another way, I’m more likely to spend my money somewhere where I can actually interact with a human.

When I call and get a phone tree, there’s a signal to me “ the customers don’t matter, just take their money “.

I get that employing people costs money — and that software is seductive — but interacting with humans still tells me that business actually care.