how long it takes to get in a queue for an operator getting longer and longer

MattMattMattUK

NaughtiusMaximus said:

Chrysalis said:

 listen to the voice telling me I can get what I need on the website and to get put in the queue.

That really annoys me, as I'm not a complete moron I do check the website before calling.

You might not be a moron, but unfortunately the vast majority of the general public are, as anyone who has the misfortune of dealing with them will testify.

Tokmon

Chrysalis said:

I rang 3 different companies in the past week.
The companies are now trying so hard to get people to hang up instead of speaking to an operator.
First company took me 3 mins 30 seconds to navigate the menu, listen to the voice telling me I can get what I need on the website and to get put in the queue.
Second company over 7 minutes
Third company 4 minutes and 50 seconds.

From reading lots of posts on other online forums there is an astonishing amount of people who ring up for "issues" that are a complete waste of the call centre operators time. So they are trying to filter out all these people as much as they can and also they want to get the person to the right department first time because waiting and being transferred doesn't help anyone.

DCFC79

Wait time isnt much of an issue for me, Id rather be able hear the person Im speaking to but thats dependant on the line being good.

IvanOpinion

Tokmon said:

Chrysalis said:

I rang 3 different companies in the past week.
The companies are now trying so hard to get people to hang up instead of speaking to an operator.
First company took me 3 mins 30 seconds to navigate the menu, listen to the voice telling me I can get what I need on the website and to get put in the queue.
Second company over 7 minutes
Third company 4 minutes and 50 seconds.

From reading lots of posts on other online forums there is an astonishing amount of people who ring up for "issues" that are a complete waste of the call centre operators time.

As someone who works with multiple call centres I can assure that is very true.  Then when they contact the call centres a growing number of the customers are just ignorant, arrogant and entitled - how the operators treat them with respect is beyond me.

As part of my job I sometimes have to listen into calls (for various purposes) - it really bugs me when I hear an operator having to be nice to someone that is hurling abuse at them.  But then as one told me, 'Don't take it personally, the person at the other end means nothing to me, nor does their opinion, I just follow the script and do my job." Or as another told me  'One of the biggest pleasures in life is listening to an obnoxious caller getting more and more irate because I don't rise to their bait.' - I have heard this on a few calls and the faux empathy always makes me laugh.

mobileron

I called Amazon customer services on Saturday,there was an issue on a firestick,they called  me back within 20 seconds from the Philippines, tried online repair couldnt  resolve issue. Was then informed that they would replace it for me,just had Alexa tell me it will be delivered today.
Mt Currys/Argos that is customer service why cant you do this.

NBLondon

MarkN88 said:

I’ve found 9 times out of 10 organisations have an email address you can you, it’s easier, for me anyway, if you can’t get through on the telephone there isn’t much you can do. 

That many?   I wish...   I'd much rather send an e-mail so I can describe the issue, quote any reference numbers, send photos if needed and have it passed on to the right person first time who then responds the same way with a solution.

drsquirrel

Today I got to a line which the website told me for what I wanted, I needed to call them, so I did.

The number wasn't specific so ended up on the general switch board. I ended up having to ignore the "sorry we didn't get your response" TWICE before it suddenly said "press 9 to speak to a customer adviser" at the end of their list.

Nothing tops the one HMRC line that you need to ignore the prompts for 4 minutes (if you press an option it cuts you off after saying use the website etc etc) to get through to someone!

Pennywise

Those times are very impressive.  Not everything can be done online especially when websites are full of programming errors which cause error messages and the "phone instead" message.  Since covid, I've had to wait an hour or two to speak to advisers at BT, Sky, Virgin, HMRC, and Green Flag breakdown.  All for things I couldn't do online (believe me, I tried).  Eg despite order Virgin broadband entirely online, arranging installation date online, etc., their faulty website wouldn't let me change my package, so  I had no choice but to phone - their livechat was offline "due to covid").  BT sent me an email saying they were changing their contract (putting up price) in August, but if I didn't want the new contract, I had to phone them to cancel the "upgrade" and stay on the existing contract - no option to do that online.  I tried to phone Green Flag several times to cancel the breakdown renewal (can't do it online), but they never answered the phone, so I wrote to cancel instead (signed for delivery), no action taken by them, so they sent debt collection letters, which I had to respond to by phone to get them to cancel as I had proof of postage of the cancellation - can't deal with debt collection online).  As for HMRC, well, I won't waste my time writing about all the things you can't do online (I'm an accountant).  Re Sky, I just wanted to change the TV package - all the options available on line, went through their system, got to the confirm/checkout screen and got an error message saying the change couldn't be made online and to phone instead.  

MothballsWallet

The "oh, you can do it online" thing doesn't help anyone who:

• Doesn't have a computer or smartphone
• Doesn't have broadband
• Isn't confident on the internet
• The company's website isn't working

It would be better for that part of the message to be reworded to take these factors into account.

bap98189

The ones that really annoy me are those that ask you to type in information like your account number, date of birth etc. but then as soon as you get through the operator asks for the exact same information. !!!!!!, why make me type it in if it isn't passed to the person who answers the call?