Does anyone else get all wound up by having to phone organisations

[Jovacknockowitch]

Organisations still seem to have some things that they will only do via a phone call, but they never have enough staff to answer the phones.
I feel weirdly stressed with my phone on speaker listening to their hold music and trying to get on with other stuff but awaiting my call being answered.
I wish I could relax but for some reason I can't.

I'm with you. DH and I have spent nearly 5 hours on the phone to virgin money recently trying to sort out what effectively is their fuck up.

The best bit was after 3 phone calls they told us there was an issue, but they couldn't tell us what it was, they would need to call us back. So after chasing the call back a further 4 times, someone called us yesterday while DH was driving. Obviously had to go through security questions, but they wouldn't accept the answers because they could hear people talking in the background... yes, we were in the car with 2 kids!! So they ended the call advising they won't be calling us back!!

Honestly, the most infuriating company to deal with I think I've encountered so far! Oh, and while on hold, to be constantly told you can deal with most issues in the app... NO I CANT, YOU'VE BLOCKED MY ACCESS TO THE FUCKING APP!!!!!

Yes, I feel like this - always have. As a student I was temping one summer in a film company and was moved for the day from posting up accounts to the credit control department which involved phoning cinemas and asking why they hadn't paid their invoices for films they had shown - it was sheer hell!!! Even today, I have to steel myself to phone company's, need a quiet room, door closed and have thought out what I want to say beforehand. I just feel I get my tone wrong and have been stupid an ahve a weird anxiety about it that just seems to have no logical basis.

I'm autistic and find it really stressful. I often can't hear what they're saying due to background noise and the line being poor. I usually get dh to make the calls and we sit together and try to figure out what's needed. He's calmer than I am in any case.

My most loathed calls are:
To an insurance company
To a hospital

I find it easier and less stressful to send a letter instead. Oddly enough, they get responses really quickly.

It does annoy me that it's the 21st century and we still have to go through this rigmarole with so many companies!

I've been on hold to both HMRC and IKEA for hours on end (due to mistakes THEY made, not me, no less!) listening to their rubbish music and not really being able to just get on with my day just incase they should finally actually answer.

And just the other day I needed to see my GP about an acute issue...rang at 8am on the dot...got told I was 4th in the queue... eventually got through to a receptionist and an appointment sorted out...30 minutes later! What are people possibly talking to the receptionist at that time about for so long!?

I'd love to know why at the busiest time of the day does the surgery only have the one receptionist on - another one came on duty at nearly lunchtime when I went in for my appointment - the first one had taken care of most people's issues by that point!

What makes it even more anger inducing is that they normally have a message telling you that you can do most things online - which you can't - or to try online chat - which is always just a bloody Bot.

HMRC and DVLA are by far the worst.

Yep, same. The not being able to hear properly without seeing someone's face thing is called Audio Processing Disorder and is why I've hated phones my entire life. My husband calls for me or I insist on communicating via email with the company.

Unfortunately the thing I am trying to achieve at present requires an interaction of some kind - they won't tell me exactly what, but a letter wouldn't work. I resorted to letter for my last interaction with HMRC and it did get the issue resolved.