That Guardian thread made me giggle... heres a little personal history on it, you judge for yourself why they ask you to put your account number in first (even on dedicated card lines):

Back when I had a Platinum card and a healthy monthly spend, I used to get answered within three rings, each and every time. A colleague also had a Platinum but didnt use it much and hadn't had it long- it was he that first told me about the pre-clearing story as stated in the guardian. Once we ran a test, both dialled at the same time, I wa answered within three rings, he waited a minute or two...

When I first had Centurion, again they would answer straight away. Recently I transferred all my monthly spend to my BA Amex card and havent levelled a penny on Centurion for three months. I called Centurion the other day, and waited AGES... but when I call the BA Amex number, gues what? they answer within three rings. Judging by the level of CS I've received from them recently over a few fraudulent transactions, I'm beginning to see a patern... your card determins your published benefits, your spend determins the real ones...

dnw