5 ms·

Call centers are going to have to become more accommodating about this. If they make customers wait for hours but can't wait seconds for someone to get on the l

Call centers are going to have to become more accommodating about this. If they make customers wait for hours but can't wait seconds for someone to get on the line, they should be considered effectively unreachable by phone.

ugh123 6y ago
>If they make customers wait for hours but can't wait seconds for someone to get on the line, they should be considered effectively unreachable by phone. I think thats part of the playbook for most support call centers.
- crpatino 6y ago
  Unlike the playbook, though, this is a observable behavior that can be documented. If I were writing an utopia, class action lawsuits would rain like fire and brimstone.
  - a_bonobo 6y ago
    Australia's Centrelink, the unemployment/student payment government body, is notorious for doing this. They have physical centres which usually tell you to call the hotline. In 2015, the hotline got the busy signal for 29 million callers (Australia has 25 million inhabitants). 7 million were hung up during the wait time. I myself have been in their queue for hours at a time. There are zero legal ramifications for this behaviour. Source: https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/centrelink-hangs-up-on-29-million-calls-senate-estimates-hears-20161021-gs7ecj.html https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/centrelink-hangs-up-on...
throwaway2048 6y ago
Considering how little they already care about their customers, I find it extraordinarily unlikely they are going to suddenly become more accommodating for some random Google project.
bleepblorp 6y ago
For the company that's operating the call center, that's a feature rather than a bug. Anything they can do to just make you go away, including making you wait for two hours in the first place, saves the company money.
- xmprt 6y ago
  That doesn't make sense though, right? Barring regulatory reasons that force companies to have call centers, if the company wanted to provide customer support then they would want to be able to fix customer problems, right? And I've heard call center employees are paid based on minutes on the line so why wouldn't they want to wait a bit longer to solve someone's problem.
  - EamonnMR 6y ago
    They want to provide the outward appearance of providing customer support.
  - KeepFlying 6y ago
    The company wants problems to go away. Fixing them or making it so people don't bother the company about it are both ways to accomplish that goal. And as long as the lack of support doesn't impact sales, it doesn't hurt the company and saves them money in not having to pay for more/better call center staff. Also in more benevolent companies, providing support over the phone is the most expensive way to provide support. So as much of that that can be shifted to automated systems, better products, etc the better because it avoids the high cost of a call center. While a call center employee may be paid by minutes on the line (though I think that is rare), they would be penalized for taking too long on a single call or helping too few customers. There's little incentive to spend time on longer more difficult calls when you could just focus your effort on solving many of the simple calls instead.
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    > if the company wanted to provide customer support then they would want to be able to fix customer problems You've clearly never had to deal with a company in a monopolized industry like telecommunications. The call center needs to be there on paper, otherwise it will give people the option to cancel their contracts or even initiate lawsuits because something doesn't work and the company is unreachable. The call center doesn't need to provide quality support however; as long as it is there on paper it is all that matters. In reality the call center is costing the company money and they'd rather not have you on the phone as long as you keep paying your bill (and most people will keep paying even if they receive subpar or lack of service because of the lack of consumer protection laws in the US, forced arbitration, the fear of a hit on their credit report or the lack of competition).
dx87 6y ago
Or it will make the wait even longer, since the queue time is going to increase if a large amount of people use this feature and take 15-30 seconds to answer their phone when a representative is available, instead of being able to answer immediately.
Nition 6y ago
Maybe the feature should switch the phone to loudspeaker mode when the call is answered, so you'd immediately hear them speak and could also immediately reply before picking the phone up.
ogre_codes 6y ago
Call centers that give a shit about customer service usually have the option to just leave your number and they call you back. Call centers that don't want/ need to be accommodating will just hang up.
- cube00 6y ago
  Some of those never seem to call back in my experience.
jojobas 6y ago
*laughs in Comcast.
aschatten 6y ago
Aren’t they effectively unreachable anyway, if they make customers wait for hours?

ugh123 6y ago

>If they make customers wait for hours but can't wait seconds for someone to get on the line, they should be considered effectively unreachable by phone. I think thats part of the playbook for most support call centers.

crpatino 6y ago
Unlike the playbook, though, this is a observable behavior that can be documented. If I were writing an utopia, class action lawsuits would rain like fire and brimstone.
- a_bonobo 6y ago
  Australia's Centrelink, the unemployment/student payment government body, is notorious for doing this. They have physical centres which usually tell you to call the hotline. In 2015, the hotline got the busy signal for 29 million callers (Australia has 25 million inhabitants). 7 million were hung up during the wait time. I myself have been in their queue for hours at a time. There are zero legal ramifications for this behaviour. Source: https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/centrelink-hangs-up-on-29-million-calls-senate-estimates-hears-20161021-gs7ecj.html https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/centrelink-hangs-up-on...

throwaway2048 6y ago

Considering how little they already care about their customers, I find it extraordinarily unlikely they are going to suddenly become more accommodating for some random Google project.

bleepblorp 6y ago

For the company that's operating the call center, that's a feature rather than a bug. Anything they can do to just make you go away, including making you wait for two hours in the first place, saves the company money.

xmprt 6y ago
That doesn't make sense though, right? Barring regulatory reasons that force companies to have call centers, if the company wanted to provide customer support then they would want to be able to fix customer problems, right? And I've heard call center employees are paid based on minutes on the line so why wouldn't they want to wait a bit longer to solve someone's problem.
- EamonnMR 6y ago
  They want to provide the outward appearance of providing customer support.
- KeepFlying 6y ago
  The company wants problems to go away. Fixing them or making it so people don't bother the company about it are both ways to accomplish that goal. And as long as the lack of support doesn't impact sales, it doesn't hurt the company and saves them money in not having to pay for more/better call center staff. Also in more benevolent companies, providing support over the phone is the most expensive way to provide support. So as much of that that can be shifted to automated systems, better products, etc the better because it avoids the high cost of a call center. While a call center employee may be paid by minutes on the line (though I think that is rare), they would be penalized for taking too long on a single call or helping too few customers. There's little incentive to spend time on longer more difficult calls when you could just focus your effort on solving many of the simple calls instead.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  > if the company wanted to provide customer support then they would want to be able to fix customer problems You've clearly never had to deal with a company in a monopolized industry like telecommunications. The call center needs to be there on paper, otherwise it will give people the option to cancel their contracts or even initiate lawsuits because something doesn't work and the company is unreachable. The call center doesn't need to provide quality support however; as long as it is there on paper it is all that matters. In reality the call center is costing the company money and they'd rather not have you on the phone as long as you keep paying your bill (and most people will keep paying even if they receive subpar or lack of service because of the lack of consumer protection laws in the US, forced arbitration, the fear of a hit on their credit report or the lack of competition).

dx87 6y ago

Or it will make the wait even longer, since the queue time is going to increase if a large amount of people use this feature and take 15-30 seconds to answer their phone when a representative is available, instead of being able to answer immediately.

Nition 6y ago

Maybe the feature should switch the phone to loudspeaker mode when the call is answered, so you'd immediately hear them speak and could also immediately reply before picking the phone up.

ogre_codes 6y ago

Call centers that give a shit about customer service usually have the option to just leave your number and they call you back. Call centers that don't want/ need to be accommodating will just hang up.

cube00 6y ago
Some of those never seem to call back in my experience.

jojobas 6y ago

*laughs in Comcast.

aschatten 6y ago

Aren’t they effectively unreachable anyway, if they make customers wait for hours?