'All our representatives are busy assisting other customers. Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered by the next available representative', said the nondescript voice over the phone. This may give the impression that there is an army of reps answering calls from customers. But what if there are only a handful? And I have called at a busy time? How long will I have to wait? How do I know I am the next in line to be helped? This creates an annoyance. Calling to make a complaint already predisposes me to be unhappy and the wait is only aggravating the situation.
I resign myself to a long wait. To make things worse, instead of playing some boring music, this company has decided to use the waiting time to pitch more of their products and services. Clever use of multiple recorded messages fools me into thinking that my call was at last being answered every time a new message starts off. It takes a while to realize this which, need I say, adds more to my frustration. I try to focus on the fact that the call is being paid for by the company and the longer I am waiting, the more it costs the company. One can take some small consolation in that.
'Can you hold, please?' is something we all remember from calling any service or business - airlines, doctor's office, bank, telephone company, hardware store, etc. etc. But being greeted by a human being and then put on hold is actually better than being greeted by an automated response which then puts you on hold. I suspect that in the first case your wait time is going to be less. If the business has not invested in an automated call management system, they may not be getting flooded with too many calls. A receptionist or an operator can handle them. At least that is what I think.
Given that the system unwittingly adds to the frustration of the callers, I think we must spare a thought to the poor service rep who has to face their wrath at the end of a long wait. It is certainly not his/her fault. I often remind myself of this and refrain from ranting at the rep.
Sometimes you are given an estimated wait time before your turn comes up. If you are told that you have to wait fifteen minutes, you may decide that it is too long and hang up. Perhaps this is the intent - to discourage customers from staying on the phone. Perhaps I am being too cynical. Knowing how long you have to wait is not a bad thing after all. Surely that is helpful.
There are companies that actually tell you that you are the fifth or sixth or whatever in the queue. The best way I have seen this being handled is when you are offered the choice of waiting or having your call returned. You are given an estimate of when to expect the call too. Of course, this will also save the company from paying telephone charges for waiting time. Win-win I suppose, if you can call it that.
Whatever be the system, it would seem we are at the mercy of the company but this post will not be complete if I don't tell you about the time I was able to return the favour. I was about to move to San Diego and had called the phone company to have a service established there. I was just not able to even get through, let alone being put on hold. After getting a busy signal a number of times, I tried different numbers that I could find. Finally, I got through and a voice answered at the other end. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was actually a person and not a recording.
I was happy that I got through at last and told the rep that I wanted to establish a new service in San Diego. My heart fell when he said that I had reached Pacific Bell of North CA but I should call PB of Southern CA. I told him in the nicest possible way with more than a tinge of sarcasm that if he knew of a way of getting through to them, I would love to hear it and was ready to hang up. But miraculously, and I am not making this up, he said he was transferring the call to the appropriate person!
Thus I was able to get to the right representative. While I was talking to him, I got a call and said to him, 'Can you hold, please? I am getting another call' barely giving it a second thought. It only hit me when a few minutes later I got another call and was able to put him on hold again, smiling to myself in smug satisfaction. It had been a stressful day and my failed attempts to get through to the phone company had only made things worse. But now I forgot all the frustrations of the day. In fact, it turned out to be a day to recall with fondness. How often do I get to put the telephone company on hold?
I resign myself to a long wait. To make things worse, instead of playing some boring music, this company has decided to use the waiting time to pitch more of their products and services. Clever use of multiple recorded messages fools me into thinking that my call was at last being answered every time a new message starts off. It takes a while to realize this which, need I say, adds more to my frustration. I try to focus on the fact that the call is being paid for by the company and the longer I am waiting, the more it costs the company. One can take some small consolation in that.
'Can you hold, please?' is something we all remember from calling any service or business - airlines, doctor's office, bank, telephone company, hardware store, etc. etc. But being greeted by a human being and then put on hold is actually better than being greeted by an automated response which then puts you on hold. I suspect that in the first case your wait time is going to be less. If the business has not invested in an automated call management system, they may not be getting flooded with too many calls. A receptionist or an operator can handle them. At least that is what I think.
Given that the system unwittingly adds to the frustration of the callers, I think we must spare a thought to the poor service rep who has to face their wrath at the end of a long wait. It is certainly not his/her fault. I often remind myself of this and refrain from ranting at the rep.
Sometimes you are given an estimated wait time before your turn comes up. If you are told that you have to wait fifteen minutes, you may decide that it is too long and hang up. Perhaps this is the intent - to discourage customers from staying on the phone. Perhaps I am being too cynical. Knowing how long you have to wait is not a bad thing after all. Surely that is helpful.
There are companies that actually tell you that you are the fifth or sixth or whatever in the queue. The best way I have seen this being handled is when you are offered the choice of waiting or having your call returned. You are given an estimate of when to expect the call too. Of course, this will also save the company from paying telephone charges for waiting time. Win-win I suppose, if you can call it that.
Whatever be the system, it would seem we are at the mercy of the company but this post will not be complete if I don't tell you about the time I was able to return the favour. I was about to move to San Diego and had called the phone company to have a service established there. I was just not able to even get through, let alone being put on hold. After getting a busy signal a number of times, I tried different numbers that I could find. Finally, I got through and a voice answered at the other end. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was actually a person and not a recording.
I was happy that I got through at last and told the rep that I wanted to establish a new service in San Diego. My heart fell when he said that I had reached Pacific Bell of North CA but I should call PB of Southern CA. I told him in the nicest possible way with more than a tinge of sarcasm that if he knew of a way of getting through to them, I would love to hear it and was ready to hang up. But miraculously, and I am not making this up, he said he was transferring the call to the appropriate person!
Thus I was able to get to the right representative. While I was talking to him, I got a call and said to him, 'Can you hold, please? I am getting another call' barely giving it a second thought. It only hit me when a few minutes later I got another call and was able to put him on hold again, smiling to myself in smug satisfaction. It had been a stressful day and my failed attempts to get through to the phone company had only made things worse. But now I forgot all the frustrations of the day. In fact, it turned out to be a day to recall with fondness. How often do I get to put the telephone company on hold?
5 comments:
At last the wait is over.As always you speak for all of us.
Right on! Sometimes, it is frustrating to have to enter account number, some form of ID, and then being put in line for the next customer service rep who is busy "helping other customers". Another redundant message is being told to visit their website or mobile app or a chat application. Would I have called if the problem could be solved online? Some even want a telephone survey after the call is complete. How about reducing the wait time?
The worst part is that the agent would say: "sorry, Sir...you would have to visit a nearby branch personally."
Nice blog. Sometimes it goes on and on when you call a telecom company. Dial 1 for landline 2 for Mobile, you choose 2. Dial 1 for new customer, 2 for old customer. You choose 2. Dial one for billing information, 2 for billing complaints, 3 for plan change, 4 for etc etc. Finally you out of frustraion click a different number and get disconnected and start all over again.
Good topic Neelaks! You ought to have mentioned the use of computer generated technologies that are geared to try and help you navigate to the right person but often just increase your level of frustration!
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