Nobody enjoys spending time on hold to a call centre with the same automated message playing on a loop.
But there are some messages which get under our skin more than others.
More than half of Brits admitted regularly raising their voice or losing patience while hanging on the line to customer services, according to a new study from Talkmobile.
Some of these catchphrases might sound all too familiar – with 50 per cent of people admitting their most hated phrase is ‘we are experiencing high call volumes’.
Just behind, the phrase ‘your call is important to us’ ranked the second most-loathed phrase.
More than two-fifths of Brits said being ‘on hold’ was worse than being stuck in traffic while a quarter said it was more annoying than a car alarm sounding in the street.
For many the whole call centre queuing conjures a sense of frustration, anxiety or even dread before they have even dialled the number to a call centre.
More than half have ‘lost their patience’ while trying to relay their name or personal details to a ‘bot’ and three-quarters saying they regularly have to repeat themselves.
More than half of Brits admitted regularly raising their voice or losing patience while hanging on the line to customer services, according to a new study
More than two-fifths of Brits said being ‘on hold’ was worse than being stuck in traffic while a quarter said it was more annoying than a car alarm sounding in the street
Researchers asked 2,000 people on a variety of call centre issues ranging from the length of time spent waiting to the most irritating things about their ‘on hold’ experiences.
This comes as a previous study found most Brits will wait on the line for an average of 38.2 minutes before hanging up with their problem unresolved.
Sarah Boyle, Head of Operations at Talkmobile said ‘We value our customers’ time and understand they lead busy and stressful lives. The last thing they need is being wound up further by battling on the phone to speak to a real person.
‘We are proud that 93 per cent of calls to Talkmobile are answered by a real person in 20 seconds. – but that is not to say we cannot be even better. We’re continuously shaping how we forever improve the call centre experience for our customers.’
