If you're like most consumers who prefer real trees to phone trees, there are Web sites that can help you bypass the endless rerouting you experience at some companies.

For example, gethuman.com provides short cuts to reach a live person right away for 500 companies.

To reach a real person at Verizon Fios, for example, dial the number and say "operator" at each prompt, ignoring the messages.

For a nightmare calling center such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, dial the number 1-800-999-1118, and when the recording starts, press 1000. The recording responds: "That was an invalid entry, please hold while we transfer you to the next available customer service representative."

Companies are listed alphabetically under several categories: credit, finance, government, hardware, insurance, Internet, mobile, pharmacy, products, shipping, software, stores, telco, travel and TV/satellite.

The site was founded in February 2006 by Paul English of Boston, with the aim of changing the face of customer service in the United States. In fact, he has worked with Microsoft and other companies to help improve their operations by providing wait times for people on hold and giving more options for them to speak to a representative.

English also has created a "standard" that describes how a customer service system should work. His system, he says, not only would help consumers but would also improve efficiencies for the company. The site grades each company -- from A to F -- on how efficient and customer-friendly its call center is.

Unfortunately, most companies have flunked. Hertz rental car, on the other hand, has earned an "A" because callers reach a human directly.

Another helpful site, www.hardtofind800numbers.com, includes information for some firms on how to bypass the phone tree. It also includes operating hours when the phone is answered.

"Our sole purpose is to help customers reach companies whose numbers are often buried deep within a large corporate site," according to DreamLaunch Media Ltd. of Gig Harbor, Wash., the firm that developed this site.

Interestingly, the five most searched firms at hardtofind are Amazon.com, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo and Microsoft.

Among other tips that gethuman.com gives for penetrating the impenetrable telephone tree:

Just hold, pretending you have an old rotary phone.

Selecting the option for Spanish will sometimes get you a bilingual human more quickly than if you just waited for an English-only operator.

For companies that try to hide their phone numbers, many times the Google search will find a page from a disgruntled customer who exposes the phone numbers for that company. For example, see the gripe page about Amazon.com at clicheideas.com/amazon.htm.

For a public company, you could also try searching EDGAR at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html). The "10K" report includes information about corporate officers and the official company mailing address.

When you do finally find a human, ask him or her how to connect directly the next time, in case your call -- heaven forbid -- gets disconnected.