phone woes

One of my pet peeves? Trying to get to a company representative over the phone. Goodluck trying to talk to a real "live" person right away. The voice prompt will lead to a maze of several different buttons you have to push just to get to somebody. It's a real test of patience, and a total waste of time. I wonder why companies do not invest in live answering service? Specially when their message says "your call is important to us." Really? Prove it!