Disposable Customer Service. Hello? Anyone There?

Customer no-service, by telephone and by web, will be a fast-approaching result of The New OMG It's Crashing Economy.

No one will be answering. Hold times will be very very long. It's already begun.

When companies cut back on staff, they will preserve for as long as possible the rainmakers, the sales and marketing departments who stand the best chance of bringing in some moolah. But the Training Department? Bye-bye. Customer service? So long, guys. All those customer service centers in India, Brazil and the Philippines? So long, guys; thanks for the help. 

There will be some exceptions, but...accept it. You're going to be on hold for a long time. A very long time. 

Keep a pillow by the phone. And something to read. 

You can always get account information by logging on to the Internet and to our website, PleaseDon'tCallUs.com. We apologize for any inconvenience. Our goal is to provide excellent customer serv, uh, well that was our goal, when we had more people...

Maybe later this year we'll be better. In the meantime, please hold for the next available agent. And listen to the horrible, tuneless music. Buh-bye!