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  I'd like to know if a study/dialog has been created about how much time we spend learning other peoples' jobs. 

  For instance, we can no longer depend on "so-called" service providers we talk to on the phone.  Let's say we call AT&T about setting up cell service.  A few years ago we could get by with documenting who we talked to and briefly what they said. 

  Nowadays you'll never talk to the same person twice, and you'll never get the same story twice.  Again, you had better know *their business.  Even if they give you a confirmation number for the conversation, it is no guarantee that the person on the other end of the line recorded anything that was discussed.   

  Same with insurance.  You can call to verify coverage, or get a referral, or whatever, but like the phone company, you will never talk to the same person twice, nor hear the same response twice.  You always hear the message that "this call is being recorded for quality purposes."  Whose listening? and Where is the quality?

  It has become so all-consuming to learn other peoples' jobs, that I would be interested to know how much of our time is spent trying to resolve issues created by initiating calls to them.  It is NEVER as simple as engaging another intelligible person and getting an answer.  It seems that every transaction or interface is fraught with inconsistency and incompetence. 

  Do others feel this way, and do you know how much time you spend resolving these types of issues?

*I recently cancelled an AT&T service (ha!) agreement and was told I would have to pay the $250 cancellation fee.  Fortunately, I had copied all the fine print in their agreement into a document on my computer, and was able to dispute the $250 charge.  (It was actually $175, which I gladly paid.)  Why?  Because I knew their business!             And by the way, I still had to pay the $250..... and then wait for them to refund me MY $75!