@ Terry6 ... Right, but for the wrong reason...

Yes you are right.

The scripted switch board is there for a reason.

When you call in to a site and you're placed on hold, how do you feel?

Imagine if the average wait time is 5 minutes.

Now if you were on hold for the entire 5 minutes listening to the same self promoting audio commercial is played over and over and over, you'd probably want to shoot yourself or hang up in frustration.

Now suppose that in that same 5 minute period of time you spend 2 minutes navigating through the phone menu system. Now you're just waiting in the hold queue for 3 minutes doing nothing... Your perception of the wait time had mysteriously been cut in half.

So yes, these menus do serve a purpose. They keep you busy and frustrated long enough so that when you do get to talk to a live human, it doesn't seem like you've been on hold that long.