How I got through the ATO phone system which stops callers from talking to real people

Apparently, it is a busy time of year at the Australian Tax Office, which is why the automated system kept hanging up on me. Here’s how I managed to speak to a human.

There’s nothing like calling a government agency and listening to an automated answer machine to get the blood boiling.

How many times can you call the Australian Tax Office number and press a different option to try and speak to a human?

Let me tell you, I did it five times, pressing random numbers that were not related to my concern, in the vain hope of connecting with a real person. Each time I had to listen to the same lengthy message about how my issue could be dealt with online.

NO IT COULDN’T.

That is why I was calling. In fact, I was following instructions on MyGov to call a particular number urgently.

Trying to speak to a real person at the ATO is not easy.

So, I did. I tried a variety of options and each one ended with the message that there was a high call demand and so they could not help me at this time. I wasn’t even given the option to sit on hold for hours, I was just hung up on.

And there is nothing more infuriating than to be hung up on by a robot – five times.

I know you feel my pain because this very scenario has happened to every single one of us, such is the contempt these bodies hold for us mere mortals, the taxpayer.

I had no option but to call the complaints department where I had to listen to their message about how I should be kind to staff and that they have a zero tolerance policy for abuse.

Of course, by this point I was fuming.

Then something like a miracle occurred; someone answered. Let’s call him Dave. I can’t remember what his name was because I was in shock.

With my voice simmering with anger and resentment, I told Dave what my issue was.

Guess what? He was able to rectify it with a couple of keystrokes.

Of course, I could not help it, I am a journalist after all, I then went into interview mode and asked him why there was no one answering the main line, and whether he got a lot of calls from people that didn’t have a complaint as such, but who couldn’t get through to a human on the main number.

He cheerfully said it was a busy time of year, which is why no-one was available to answer the phone. He said he loved calls from people like me who actually didn’t have a complaint, but whom he could actually help.

Well at least I made someone’s day, although now I’ve told everyone how to reach a human at the tax office, I think Dave’s fun might be over.

Originally published as How I got through the ATO phone system which stops callers from talking to real people