If you have any doubts that customer service is a joke in corporate America, just tune in to Jeff Hoyt's latest podcast, Voice Jail. It will make you laugh ... and cry.

My favorite travel anecdote? His interaction with Amtrak's automated phone system, which you can listen to about halfway through the audio essay. I won't say any more except that it involves delusional train nerds, space aliens and lots of very dry humor.

Ironically, Hoyt is a voiceover actor who has recorded tracks for a variety of call centers. He's even suffered the indignity of listening to himself say, "Your call is very important to us" while on hold with a big company.

Hoyt makes a serious point, though. Companies spend lots of money to acquire customers, but then set up call centers to prevent us from talking to them. Isn't that a "disconnect"?

On a related note, I'm starting to get the feeling that there some momentum building in the blogosphere to change the way in which companies handle customer service queries. I wouldn't quite call it a "movement" yet, but we are getting close to it.

Blogs like Hoyt's and others, such as Maria Palma's CustomersAreAlways are tapping into a deep sense of public discontent about the way in which companies respond to their customers.

It's just a matter of time before the snowball becomes an avalanche.