Waiting for an Operator

2/5/2015

I know you've been there, because everybody has been on the receiving end of elevator music.  After a period of time, which depends on how antsy you are, you begin to think about hanging up.  But, what if you're the next caller?  Goodness such decisions.  If you hang up, you'll lose your place in line, so to speak.  

So you sit at your desk, strumming your fingers or maybe you have enough time to work a crossword puzzle (if you're good at puzzles).  I decided to do some research, because obviously I have oodles of spare time.  

For one company a 40 minute wait is the norm.  Yet another company's wait is 18 minutes, which is better than the 40 minute wait, but it's still a long time.  According to the Huntington Post on 12/21/2012, the longest phone call with customer service was 10 hours and 29 minutes at Zappos!  The employee was allowed to even take breaks!  Apparently, the employee and the customer were engaged in conversations, like they were friends.  But, at the end of the call the customer did buy a pair of Uggs, so I guess the time wasn't really wasted.

When did we as consumers began to become complaisant about waiting for a customer service representative.  If you work in an office, and you're trying to conduct personal business on the company's time, and you are responsible for answering incoming phone calls, then it's unlikely that you'll be able to remain on hold for long periods of time.

Remember when every call to every company reached a live person!  In some ways, we have given up so much in the name of progress?!

P