There are few things less pleasant these days than having to call a huge company's customer service line. I had this pleasure at 9:00 last night. And it went pretty much as you'd expect.

It started with my eager anticipation of the season premiere of one of my favorite shows - "Shameless" on Showtime.

My TiVo DVR went to change the channel at 9, and I got the message that you see above. Referring back to my last cable bill, I saw that I should have Showtime at least through the whole month of January.

So I bit the bullet and called my cable company.

Thankfully, I wasn't on hold very long, but when I got to a customer service representative, things started to go a bit sideways.

I explained my problem, the representative started to look into my account, told me that I don't have Showtime (clearly), and then seemed a bit confused.

After putting me on hold for about 5 minutes, she came back on the line and told me that she doesn't have access to do anything to accounts in New Jersey. Which is a bit of a head scratcher considering I was calling from New Jersey in the first place.

So she offered to transfer me to someone who could help me.

Of course this time I sat on hold for a good 20 minutes until I got a representative. I once again explained my problem, the rep asked me for my account info, which I gave, and then informed me that she doesn't have access to do anything to accounts in New Jersey.

At this point I was starting to lose my patience.

After another transfer and wait, I finally got someone who could help me and the issue was resolved.

But I think the whole thing is just one small indication of how big businesses may be getting a little too bloated for their own good. What does it say when calling the company's main customer service line can't get you to someone who can actually help you?

Have you had frustrating experiences with customer service? Tell us about it in the comments!

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