The snarksters at Consumerist.com have been running an experiment for the last few days, calling various U.S. airlines’ phone numbers, to see how long it takes them to get through to a real human being. (Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.)

The loser, by a mile? Midwest Airlines, every day.

When they do get through to a customer representative, they might try asking them where they’re located. Soon, phone reps may be REQUIRED to state where they’re located. If U.S. Senate bill S.2553 makes it out the Commerce Committee and to a floor vote, overseas call center workers would need to identify their location to their U.S.-based customers.

While a number of flyers have grumbled about foreign-based phone representatives not understanding U.S. geography, among other complaints, it’s not clear that identifying one’s location would help matters any. It’s not like you have a choice in the phone tree between a domestic or an international call center. This seems like a jingoistic attempt to get people angrier about jobs moving overseas.

(image)