A brief cheat sheet

Company	Toll-free number	Paul English's tips for reaching a human
Sprint/Nextel	800-639-6111	Hit 0 five times. Hitting it once just restarts menu options.
Compaq	800-652-6672	No easy escape; go through menu options first
Dell Customer Service	800-624-9897	Select option 1, dial ext. 7266966, select option 1, then 4, and 4 again
Southwest Airlines	800-435-9792	Calls answered directly by person after brief announcement
Sovereign Bank	877-768-2265	Press 1 for English, 1 for personal banking, 3 to talk to an agent, input Social Security number, followed by pound key, and password, followed by pound, then press 0 one to three times
US Postal Service	800-275-8777	Press 7 on first menu, then 3, then 2
Visa Assistance Center	800-847-2911	Hit 0 several times. Ignore prompts saying it's an invalid entry.