What is the point of phoning to chase test results?

[Nixbox]

Got tested on 23rd. Told to phone and chase results after 72hrs if we hadn’t heard. Thought there might have been an extra delay due to Christmas so phoned today after 96hrs.
I must have been on the phone for about 20minutes (not queuing, actually speaking to someone) by the time I confirmed everyone’s details.
Our details have now been passed on to the team that chase results (can’t remember what the team was called). The tests have been correctly registered with our details but the person on the phone couldn’t give me any further information. We should hear within 72hrs if our tests are located. If not, nobody will contact us and we are not to call back.
It strikes me as pointless. Surely our tests are somewhere in the system and they will turn up, or not. And if they turn up, we will get the results.
I can’t see what the special search team can add to the process - I doubt they are physically looking in a lab or in the van to see if they have fallen somewhere.
What am I missing?

I agree, unless they are looking on a computer system? If it’s any consolation, we’re waiting for our results (posted Xmas day), and either we get our results or not. Dp and I definitely have Covid atm, as we are symptomatic with positive LFTs and an email confirmation won’t change that.

I thought it was day 6 that you could call.

There isn't any. They told me when I called they were probably lost but if they were I wouldn't hear anything. Totally pointless.

I only know one person who had this, shortly after they phoned they just got a text saying the results were "inconclusive" and to retest. So basically they were lost

This happened last year when my DC was tested. I tried eventually phoning the GP on the premise that they might have sent a copy of the results to the practice - they had. Maybe worth a go?

@Dorismargaret they told us three days at the testing centre but the recorded message on the phone line said 96 hours which we had reached anyway.
We are all isolating anyway as we have all had positive lat flows. It just seemed a waste of my time, waste of the call handler’s time and a waste of the search team’s time - if indeed they exist!
I thought maybe they had access to a different computer system and could manually access results if the text/ email part had failed. But she could only see that tests had been allocated to our bar codes. Nothing else, like saying “yes it got scanned in to the lab but seems to have gone missing” which would not really have been helpful but would still have been good to know.

@FireandBrimstone not sure I will be able to get through to GP either

Hope you get your results soon. We tested on 23rd at 9am and only got the results at 10pm yesterday. I guess it's crazy busy with so many cases and Christmas. Fingers crossed for you as it's awful waiting.

DD’s were never found but we all isolated anyway (in summer and missed a week of holiday) and dh got someone else’s results with the same surname. They’re lost basically.

We got them this morning. No idea if they would have been sent today if I hadn’t phoned.
All positive as we expected.