We will be with you shortly

Our surgery at the moment has 6 minutes of Covid bumpf 'please call ... for a Covid test, please call ... for a Covid jab, we do not do ..., please treat our receptionists with the respect you would hope to receive. Well yes, but I can't remember the last time I was treated with respect by my surgery!

I was waiting with finger on phone button at 8.30 one morning to ring GP. I was 64th in the queue!! How? It took an hour to get through. I put the phone on loudspeaker and completed my ironing and prepared meat and veg to go in slow cooker but my phone bill will be horrendous. Next time I phoned I was only able to do the ironing as I was only 24th in queue.

I had been trying to ring a centralised hospital appointments centre for days without success. One day, I was only no.12 in the queue so I decided to hold on. Long story short, finally got answered by a recorded message saying they had no one to answer the call, press 1 to leave a recorded message, which I did. Recorded message then informed me the message bank I had chosen was full, phone back at another time!!! Grrrrgrr!!! I phoned the central switchboard number and complained and was told” that happens to every caller on that line, all the time”. Then asked if I would like to be put through, I said yes and guess what, I was no.48 in the queue!!! I decided to email!!! Still waiting for a reply 5 weeks later! You could not make it up!

Yes, these queues are annoying and the message and music can drive you mad, but, let us try to be fair here.

No-one in the office you are trying to reach can tell you how long each and every phone enquiry ahead of you is going to take, so telling you whether shortly means in five minutes time or fifty, is not easy.

They could time yesterday's calls today and work out an average, but would you feel more content, if they told you "We are very busy, so we will be able to answer your call in half-an-hour"?

You could:
Put your phone on speaker and get on with something else while you wait.

OR

Phone them early, as soon as they open for business. The queue is likely to be shortest then,

Suggest that they do as a lot of Danish firms do and say, "You are welcome to wait in our phone queue, or if you prefer press such-and-such a number and the next available clerk will phone you back."

You could also air another idea that firms have started using here: they put a graph on their homepage showing you at what time on each day of the week they are least busy, so you can ring then.

But of course the fallacy is that if we all check it and ring at those times, the firm will suddenly be VERY busy then!

But please stop allowing yourselves to be annoyed by it.

If the firm, employs more people their wages will have to be paid by someone - and that someone is very likely to be you, the customer, as the bank charges or whatever will rise to cover the cost of another employee's wages,

You could also consider whether you really need to phone them. Their homepage probably has a list of common problems and solutions and an e-mail address, so you could write asking advice and telling them when they can phone you.

This does sometimes work.

Same here Legs55. Dh went to renew his driving licence at DVLA online but it wouldn’t let him. The chat option wasn’t working and when he rang the number given he was told to try again later and cut off! So he decided to download and fill in the application form except that wasn’t working either! He completed the email request which said allow 3 weeks but it’s arrived this morning after leases than a week.

Dickens

Chocolatelovinggran

Yep, I've said it before: what the voice should say is "your call is important to us, but not important enough for us to employ sufficient people to answer the phone " ?

Companies can't employ sufficient people. They are in competition with each other. The only way they can compete is by minimising their costs. Human resources cost money.

Marx was right - "the anarchic competition between capitalists for greater profits – force each capitalist to try and reduce their costs, in order to sell at a lower price, by increasing productivity through the replacement of labour with machinery" ... or 'technology' as we call it now.

"Under capitalism, the individual capitalist introduces technology and improves productivity in order to increase their own individual profit, without any regard for the living standards of workers or the needs of society" (Adam Booth, Science and Technology)

That's it, that's how Capitalism works. And no, I'm not a Marxist.

I have to agree with you but I’m probably a Marxist!

I phoned our doctors 9am and was put in a queue and finally got the recepionist at 10.10am to be told all the slots had been allocated and I had to phone back the next day to do it all over again.

silversurf, I find it utterly infuriating - so I'd rather text or email - or use any online chat facility - than pick up the phone!

grandtanteJE65

Yes, these queues are annoying and the message and music can drive you mad, but, let us try to be fair here.

No-one in the office you are trying to reach can tell you how long each and every phone enquiry ahead of you is going to take, so telling you whether shortly means in five minutes time or fifty, is not easy.

They could time yesterday's calls today and work out an average, but would you feel more content, if they told you "We are very busy, so we will be able to answer your call in half-an-hour"?

You could:
Put your phone on speaker and get on with something else while you wait.

OR

Phone them early, as soon as they open for business. The queue is likely to be shortest then,

Suggest that they do as a lot of Danish firms do and say, "You are welcome to wait in our phone queue, or if you prefer press such-and-such a number and the next available clerk will phone you back."

You could also air another idea that firms have started using here: they put a graph on their homepage showing you at what time on each day of the week they are least busy, so you can ring then.

But of course the fallacy is that if we all check it and ring at those times, the firm will suddenly be VERY busy then!

But please stop allowing yourselves to be annoyed by it.

If the firm, employs more people their wages will have to be paid by someone - and that someone is very likely to be you, the customer, as the bank charges or whatever will rise to cover the cost of another employee's wages,

You could also consider whether you really need to phone them. Their homepage probably has a list of common problems and solutions and an e-mail address, so you could write asking advice and telling them when they can phone you.

This does sometimes work.

You could also consider whether you really need to phone them.

I truly don't believe many of us make calls to companies or public services these days unless it's absolutely essential - because it's frustrating, time-consuming and sometimes, expensive. That much we've learned.

Their homepage probably has a list of common problems and solutions and an e-mail address, so you could write asking advice and telling them when they can phone you.

Yes, we know all about these FAQs and where we can find "further information" because the recorded message tells us - repeatedly, whilst we're hanging on! But the reason we are probably calling is because the problem or 'issue' is not generic - it is specific to us, and the FAQs don't cover what we want.

As for email addresses - they are few and far between I've found - companies want you to 'phone them, it's quicker and cheaper for them.

But please stop allowing yourselves to be annoyed by it.

How can we not be annoyed? This is the free-market economy forces at work. This is privatisation. The bottom line is profit. Increased productivity and low cost are the cornerstones... minimal staffing levels with technology just waiting in the wings to replace even them.

I am angry. Because IMO, there are some things that should just not be in the hands of the private sector. Energy and water being two of them. Profits are made at the expense of over-worked staff and the long-suffering public.

I'm angry because it doesn't have to be like this.

If there’s an option for ‘thinking of leaving us’ or ‘cancelling ‘ , try that . Works for me .

I must say that my GP surgery is operating an normal and has been for a long time. All face to face appointments and not hard to get. I had a GP appointment last week and a nurse to do a dressing and HCA appointments on Monday for a blood test. GP phoned me at 8.10 on Tuesday morning to say that my medication needs to increase slightly and he would send the prescription to local chemist. Really good.
I have had two new knees in the past 6 months, N.H.S. and a hospital check up for another condition. This is in Sussex and I am very grateful to get such good care.

There was a lovely cartoon of a man listening to a voice on his phone saying “your call is important to us. Please hang on until your call is no longer important to you.”

Happygirl79

Vintagejazz
Equally frustrating is when you have to spend ages listening to a recording, then are asked to press 1, 2 , 3 etc; then get another recorded message and are asked to press further buttons to narrow down the options, then another recorded message and so on and after going through the whole palaver you're either cut off or looped back to the original message angry.
This is my pet hate.
Mine too, especially when I eventually get an answer the person talks so fast they are unintelligible.
After trying to get through for quite a while, I tried again and pressed 2 to cancel my phone contract. That brought a quick response, and when asked why I was cancelling, I said, because no one answered the phone for 18 minutes. After listening to lots of apologies I accepted another year’s contract at a lower monthly payment.

Wow!! We occasionally have those issues here in the US, but most of the time you can reach the desired person in a reasonable amount of time or, there is often the option of giving your name and number and having them call you back when there is a technician or operator who is free. I've rarely had to wait a long time or call back for a doctor or dentist or other health provider, aside from the time constraints imposed by the covid issue. I feel really lucky!

our GP surgery does this. They leave you on hold for ages. The robotic voice chips in every so often telling you your call is important. Then to add insult to injury when they do finally answer the phone they ask if you can "just hold on" and then put you on hold again. SOOOOOO FRUSTRATING!!!

It is so very difficult for the hard of hearing to have to wait, push button 1 etc, wait again and then the recorded 'with you shortly message' kicks in and they think they are speaing to a 'real' person. My Aunt is 97 and struggles so much with these calls. And gets most upset when the message tells her to go on-line as she has no internet access and has never used a computer.

Just put your phone on speaker and get on with what your doing. I put mine on the table of what room I’m in and get on with things. I’m not a slave to it cos sometimes it can take an hour for someone to pick up.

I needed a repair to my Samsung washing machine. The foreign young woman who eventually took my call went through a long list of questions and then asked my age group, Rapidly loosing the will to live I said over 70. I thought she was then talking to a 5 year old but realised she was talking to me. She transferred me to another company with more time on hold. After all that time I decided that the repair would be about half the cost of a new machine. When I told my friends how I had been spoken to they were all horrified.
This is in complete contrast to the excellent speedy customer service I received from Worcester Bosch. I rang in the afternoon. The phone was answered immediately I spoke to a lady technician who agreed with my diagnosis of the problem I was promised a call by an engineer the next day who would have the relevant part in his van and would call ahead 30 minutes before he was due I was woken at 6.55 am . The engineer arrived 7.25 and had left by 8 am. Problem solved , boiler fixed. Incredible service.

Had to ring the Royal Mail customer line the other day, couldn’t be sorted any other way. Said there was approximate 5 minute wait, but answered in about 20.

From then on, I couldn’t fault them. The lady was courteous, empathetic, efficient. She took details of the issue, gave me a reference number and I was told I would be informed, probably would take at least 3 days to hear back.

The next day, I was phoned by the relevant department, another extremely helpful lady, and hopefully the issue is being rectified. Also gave me a direct number to ring if needed again as ‘the customer service line often busy’.

I was well impressed with Royal Mail service.

Milest0ne

I needed a repair to my Samsung washing machine. The foreign young woman who eventually took my call went through a long list of questions and then asked my age group, Rapidly loosing the will to live I said over 70. I thought she was then talking to a 5 year old but realised she was talking to me. She transferred me to another company with more time on hold. After all that time I decided that the repair would be about half the cost of a new machine. When I told my friends how I had been spoken to they were all horrified.
This is in complete contrast to the excellent speedy customer service I received from Worcester Bosch. I rang in the afternoon. The phone was answered immediately I spoke to a lady technician who agreed with my diagnosis of the problem I was promised a call by an engineer the next day who would have the relevant part in his van and would call ahead 30 minutes before he was due I was woken at 6.55 am . The engineer arrived 7.25 and had left by 8 am. Problem solved , boiler fixed. Incredible service.

I have a Bosch and had a similar response. Excellent customer service.

So it can be done.

And just to add - I bought my Bosch washing machine when I lived in Norway in 2005 and a leaking hosepipe is the one and only problem I've ever had with it.

I have a Samsung Washing machine. When I had a problem I rang a local domestic equipment repair man. Left a message on his phone. He returned the call that evening. He came round the following evening on his way home just to check that the repair was as I said and came back a week later with the spare part and fitted it.

No intrusive questions, no long waits for the phone to be answered, no being transferred from one person to another.

What is more as well as repairing my Samsung washing machine, he has also repaired my Bosch Dishwasher.

124 calls for my drs! Before I could get through to our health centre! User busy, user busy, and when I got through you guessed it no appointments! And that was just after 8,20 am

I was no 7 in The queue for the surgery ot wax like winning the pools but still waited over an Hour,
Glad I didn’t wait the previous day when I was no.36, would have waited all day and part of the next.
Our surgery was always good but now to see a doctor or speak to anyone demands enormous persistence and it’s exhausting.

I can’t understand why our surgeries are not functioning as before the pandemic. Receptionists are triaging, doctor are mostly part time or working from home. You are either in a queue to have the receptionist decide if your ailment is serious or you go onto Ask my GP, and explain your symptoms in an email and hope you get a response.
We are going backwards. Everyone us being encouraged to get back to normal, why aren’t GPs.

After a skin graft my leg became extremely swollen. Phoned the surgery waited for ever. Got a phone call in the afternoon and was very wearily told I had better go to the surgery. Was then sent to A&E who were furious I had not been referred immediately as the possibility of a DVT was high. On the mend now.