To wonder if any call centre is not "busier than normal at the moment"??

[CollieFIower]

Or "experiencing a higher number of calls" or whatever chirpy message they play on repeat. I actually cannot remember the last time I had to ring any customer helpline for any business or govt department and didn't get told some version of the above!

If you're always that busy then no you're not busier than fucking normal, this IS YOUR NORMAL and you might as well just stop trying to gaslight your customers into thinking otherwise.

And breeeeeeaaathe. May as well settle in for some yoga with Adrienne while I wait for Royal Mail to answer

Ha! That's normal for LA SEN teams. Don't hold your breath for a response. They basically never get back to anyone ever.

1 hour 2 minutes to get through to the DWP on Tuesday afternoon. 😤

No - those people are included in 2. All nice non bastards who call a line and have to wait ages know they are dealing with a human being who is doing their best, but it is not credible to think people won't be a lot sadder/crosser/more frustrated having just wasted an hour of their precious lives hearing hold music than they were when they picked up the phone. To be clear I feel really sorry for the call centre staff when EVERYONE they speak to has been waiting for absolutely ages - that's my point. Imagine how much nicer their jobs would be if all their customers had only been on the phone a few seconds or minutes.

My in-laws recently died and we had awful problems with British gas, not withstanding the long waits, who sent letters to my father-in-law after we'd informed them that he'd died and sent them a copy of the death certificate.
NatWest have been almost as bad again taking ages to answer and then sending a letter to my mother-in-law after she'd died thanking her for notifying that my father-in-law had died ( 7 months before) and we had notified them of her death.

neither of these should have needed call back after call back to sort out two basic enquiries.

OMG I gave up after 3/4 hours this morning I obviously need be prepared for a longer wait