"Sir, you reached the human, not another robot."

I use the same greeting 40 times a day so it’s safe to say I’ve got the pace and tone on lock and I sound professional af. Usually it’s well received, but there’s a small problem.

I sound nothing like my company’s automated system, yet customers ask me if I’m a recording several times a day. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve had people hang up and call back when I’m trying to verify the account.

This evening, customer asks me if I’m a robot and I brush it off. At the end of the call, I advise him if a rep takes the bill payment we charge a fee and he can avoid this with self help options. He requests the automated phone system and I tell him, “one moment while this human gets you a robot to take that payment.”

He did not find it as funny as I did.