[mseebach]

> I'm hard pressed to name a single business in which consumers have been well served by call centers.

I can't speak for everybody, but I'm a big fan of the fact that my bank-experience is a credit card, an online app with digital signature features and a distant, streamlined call center. I can get someone on the line in seconds, 10 (I think) hours a day, 6 days a week. They can fix 80% of my problems immediately, and escalate the rest, in those cases they typically return my call in <24 hours. My favourite: No faux "we have a special, personal relationship, part of the community"-crap. My previous bank was 20 minutes away and was only open when I was at work. I had to take time off from work to do what I do in three minutes on the phone today.

[tptacek]

I have the same opinion of my mortgage holder, except when I get on the phone with them, whereupon I have exactly the opposite of your experience: long wait times, incompetant first-tier support, a total lack of continuity across multiple calls, and inconsistent answers to questions. Fortunately, all I stand to lose from a major snafu with my mortgage is my house.