*nods* When I was in the USA and had to call around to several places (the Swedish embassy, hospitals, etc.) I encountered this many times too. How annoying it was... And like, if you didn't hear what number they said to press you had to go through it all again!

Sweden has started doing this as well now, which is a real pain for me since I do have one of those super-old phones that won't work when it comes to that.