Hello Joanne,

You write: " I had one company where a human answers and was helpful, and she got someone else to help as well. I was actually treated like a person, and it felt strange...It's becoming rare!"

Nah! What really happened was that you were on the telephone to a Company waiting for the excruciatingly tinny sound of an MP3 recording of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (periodically interrupted by a mechanical voice unconvincingly apologising for the delay in answering your call) to be brought to an end by that nerve-shredding, ingratiating, artificially cheery: "Good morning. My name is... How may I help you..." - and you fell a sleep, only to dream that your telephone call was answered by a genuinely helpful human being...

Alex