To think this is a blatant lie

[TheShellBeach]

..........................when call centres say "we are currently experiencing high call volumes at present" because everyone you phone says this, even when they answer immediately.

I reckon it's just a way to get people to give up and hang up.

Oh and don't get me started on "you can find the answers to your questions on our website" which is absolutely not true, because your shitey website is the reason I'm calling you today.

Looking at you, Scottish Power.

😂Aint that the truth!

I'd really like to see anyone on this thread try and manage a busy call centre floor.

I wad 37 in an ikea queue once

I could easily manage a call centre floor. How hard can it be? Just put the right amount of staff in. If short staffed, I'd make the package more financially attractive.

However, if the higher ups were expecting me to run a call centre floor for £30k a year whilst running 50% under staff and shareholders raking in millions, i'd tell them to stuff it, and go somewhere easier.

“Your call is important to us. Please hold the line until it is no longer important to you.”

I once took offence at a manager who said she was too busy to speak to me (about something urgent) as she had to manage the whole floor. I told her her job was to manage people not floors.

When I worked in a call centre 10+ years ago there were big screens dotted around the floor letting us know how many callers were in the queue. It was usually dozens of callers at a time (all calls took 5 minutes just to get through the callers basic details) and unless you press the little button on your device to put yourself away from your desk for a toilet break the calls came through automatically. You'd also get a bollocking from your team leader if you're away too long or too often.

If you knew exactly how long every call was going to be and knew exactly what to do each time to fix it, with precisely how long that would take, sure it would be easy.

Of course, you won't know any of that. You'll have predictions of customer behaviour. But if you think that means anything in the real world, you're very naive. It is an absolute fucking nightmare trying to deal with the general public.

This is funny. I mean at least he got through after 15 minutes, but then the call is even more annoying for him.

I don’t think OP is blaming the call centre employees, but rather the companies for not employing enough people to answer calls.
Sorry, but it is infuriating if you have to listen to endless repetitions if “check our website” if you already know the answer to your specific question isn’t listed there 🤷‍♀️

Correct.

I am absolutely not blaming the people who answer the calls.

It's the fat cat companies who underfund their call centres (while taking huge bonuses for themselves) that I have a problem with.

And when you ask how to search the issue on the website/your acc page next time: ‘sorry that isn’t an available option yet.’

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend but she is the end user here - the reason the call centre exists, so really her opinion is the only one that matters.
I do like it when they give an estimate of the wait, and the 'you are number X in the queue'. But to break the (awful always) music every 20 seconds to say 'your call is important to us' is unnecessary. I also hate it when I explain the issue to one person, I get passed on, and have to explain the issue again - why not have a transcript of the call the next person can read through first?
And the very worst thing, getting cut off.

And the very worst thing, getting cut off

OMG yes!

After waiting for 45 minutes to be put through to someone, then another 11 minutes to be put through to someone else, you hear the dreaded sound which signifies that your call has been disconnected.

On the invoice my local council send to pay the service charge there is a phone number for any queries. When I call the number the automated response says due to the current covid pandemic we are unable to take phone calls. And cuts the call off

Our doctors surgery has a message which says they are closed for staff training every lunchtime... what a load of b***ks, they certainly need it on customer service but can't believe they have it every day!

Had it before where you ring up plenty of time before the lines close or what should be. To get to second and sorry we are now closed. Arseholes. Again not the staff but the stupid company for not having more staff.

Or you get though but that particular department you need closed at 5pm, is only open mon-Fri 9-5pm when all you need them to do is change one code their end but now it’s 6pm Friday and your wifi now can’t be fixed till Monday 😡

What is even worse, is the "instant chat". Did it with HSBC for a very quick transaction query and was messaging for nearly an hour as the operative must have been messaging about 20 customers at one!! Took so long for them to reply, I was getting so angry!!!

But you can use Gustav Ehriling's 3rd calculus from 1919 to predict the number of calls you will receive and the optimum number of staff to answer theses calls. When I managed call centres, our support team provided an xl spreadsheet which allowed me to adjust the number of staff to meet the number of callers.
I was also on a TUC sub committee 're unions in call centres in the 90s....when companies actually wanted to answer every call as quick as possible. However, in Australia they had already had some companies who thought that using less staff costs more money than the number of people who don't wait/call back.
Hence I say we are stuck with the Australian model of piss poor call centre service

I have a busy household claims department. Thankfully we were providing "white label" service to one of the big 4 banks. That is our global insurance company provided the product branded for the bank (we did all 4 big banks at one stage). So there were service level agreements that we answered 80% of calls in 10 seconds. It was a struggle to achieve but at least we didn't spend time apologising for the wait

If only someone would invent a mechanism where you could send a message to an organisation at your own convenience, and they could then respond when they have the resources.

Maybe one for the Dragons ?

If you want to get sorted ASAP- go nuclear and email their CEO.

They won't read it but will immediately get flagged as a priority to the relevant team.

Dealing with 3 executor cases recently.

Banking - reasonable to get through but message used at lunch times and Fridays so I tend to believe it. Don't get that message otherwise.

Insurance companies- usually very short waiting time or no issue. They also sounded like the happiest call centre staff but maybe I got lucky.

Social welfare/pension etc - usually ok to get through but service poor thereafter

Phone/TV/Broadband companies - hell on earth and constant use of "High call volumes" message.