The IVR was an endless tree of options, and at each option, it would point out how much time I would save if I paid online. It took several minutes to navigate the phone tree before being placed on hold. Pressing 0 didn't help.
I made a point of spending time with the agent talking about the problems with the phone tree. I did so very politely but also very slowly and verbosely - it took several minutes.
I think if we were able to create a social convention where people waste n or 2n minutes of the agent's time when the company has wasted n minutes of their times, it could change the incentives.
Right now companies save money by having long times. If we could create a movement to do this, leaving customers on hold too long would lead to congestive collapse. Long hold times would end up costing more money than simply having adequate staffing.
For free products, there's support on official forums.
Also, I need a number to reach support at Facebook, if you have it.
Judging by the number they called me from their call center is in Ireland.
Gmail: 1-877-355-5787 YouTube: 1-855-500-2756
Never done business with Facebook, can't help you there sorry!
You can find contact information for your region/niche on their partner directory site: https://facebookmarketingpartners.com/
You don't pay to use Facebook, so you don't get support.
Google does provide phone support to Google Business accounts, though, since those cost money.
If regulations were passed that mandated service levels, many companies would take Google's approach and simply not offer phone support at all. And we all know how great their support is.
The solution is to not use any services from monopolies, as the article points out. But of course, that's impossible for most people.