Yesterday I spent over a half-hour on hold waiting to speak to a person at a large corporation. I beg to differ with their canned message stating, “Your call is important to us.” If they really cared about their customers, they’d hire enough people to keep the wait to a reasonable time, such as five minutes.
The so-called music that was played interspersed with ads had to be the most annoying noise they could find. It reminded me of the summer a neighbor boy was learning to play the coronet. Windows were open so I could easily hear him. He repeated the same few beginning notes to a song. Apparently, he kept making the same mistake and started over again and again.
Whenever I have to make a phone call to clear up a problem with a big business, I prepare like I’m taking a long journey–go to the bathroom, get a drink and bring a snack. It doesn’t seem to matter what company I’m dealing with or the day of the week I make the call.
I don’t have anything pressing to do, but I still don’t like to sit and sit with my phone in my hand. I think back to when I had three little kids under foot. At that time, they’d take advantage of Mom being tied to the wall phone and do things they weren’t supposed to.
Today I had an email survey that asked, “How would you rate your recent call experience with Nicole?” Boxes numbered from 1 to 10 were included. Nicole was a 10. It took less than a minute for her to solve my problem.
There also was a box to type a message about my feelings for the company. I told them about my dislike of spending so much time on hold. I don’t expect a change, but I tried.
Do you get as annoyed as I do with long waits on hold?
I too have had the same experience of waiting a long time, and usually I prepare as you do. I either have the days newspaper with me or my current book. Also, I try to push the speaker button so I don’t have to keep the phone to my ear the whole time.
Always glad to see your comments.