I spent 40 mins on the phone yesterday talking to a machine, I was pressing buttons left right and centre to get a simple answer to a simple question, after 40 mins I was eventualy put through to a real person who answered my query in 2 seconds flat.

Why do companys use these automated machines ?
Whats the longest time you've spent pressing buttons only to find that in the end they don't have the answer to your query and you need to talk to a real person ?
And whats the worst hold music you've heared?