"Your call is very important to us please remain on the line."

slobake · #1 03-26-2013, 04:10 PM

Been on hold with a hospital for about 10 minutes now. I keep getting a recording that says "Your call is very important to us please reamain on the line." Really? Is it? If you are too cheap to hire more operators to answer calls in a timely fashion don't lie to me and tell me my call is important to you. It's a hospital for crying out loud. Okay, rant over (but I am still on hold)

slobake · #2 03-26-2013, 04:21 PM

Finally got through to the operator he tranferred me to another department and I am on hold again. Now every 15 seconds I hear "Thank you for your continued patience, blah, blah, blah."

MatticusMania · #3 03-26-2013, 04:22 PM

At least its not the IRS. Then again, Im sure we expect to wait 45 minutes every time we call the IRS.

HaMMerHeD · #4 03-26-2013, 04:25 PM

I suppose if the Hospital hired more people to answer the phone, you'd be fine with paying them more money?

gustobassman · #5 03-26-2013, 04:25 PM

Be glad they didn't pull the "we'll send your request to the proper department and someone will get back to you in 3 business days" ... that happened to me this morning.

fdeck · #6 03-26-2013, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

I suppose if the Hospital hired more people to answer the phone, you'd be fine with paying them more money?

Chances are, most of the calls are at the tail end of avoidable screw-ups that cost both the hospital and the patient more money. The way to reduce the wait time is to reduce the number of screw-ups, thus reducing costs along the way. Everybody wins.

bassinplace · #7 03-26-2013, 04:56 PM

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything's okay.

slobake · #8 03-26-2013, 05:05 PM

Thanks bro, but no worries it was a business call. Good thing I wasn't bleeding.

slobake · #9 03-26-2013, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gustobassman

Be glad they didn't pull the "we'll send your request to the proper department and someone will get back to you in 3 business days" ... that happened to me this morning.

They kind of did. After three tranfers and enough hold time to read "War and Peace" I got transferred to someone's voicemail who may or may not call me back.

Bloodhammer · #10 03-26-2013, 05:24 PM

I think my record for being on hold was somewhere close to an hour. Finally, as I was chatting with a co-worker, I realized my ear was really hot from the phone and I had forgotten who I had called or for what reason, so I just hung up.

I think they did that on purpose.

Benjamin Strange · #11 03-26-2013, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

I suppose if the Hospital hired more people to answer the phone, you'd be fine with paying them more money?

Hospitals are HUGE profit centers, and generate millions upon millions of dollars, well beyond operating costs. They could afford to hire more people to help, but then their CEOs wouldn't receive their (oftentimes) multi-million dollar bonuses every year.

Your call is not important to them. Your money is.

Etienned · #12 03-26-2013, 06:24 PM

In Soviet Canada, the hospital calls you to see if you're okay.

slobake · #13 03-26-2013, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Etienned

In Soviet Canada, the hospital calls you to see if you're okay.

Soviet Canada?

Sounds like a good medical system to me.

Mike N · #14 03-26-2013, 06:35 PM

"Thank you for calling xyz company, please listen carefully as our menu options have changed.... if you know your party's extension you may dial it at any time.... due to higher than normal call volumes you may experience a longer wait time..... calls are answered in the order they are received....."

Ugh.

Bloodhammer · #15 03-26-2013, 06:42 PM

Sometimes I sing bawdy, improvised songs about waiting while I'm on hold. If someone ever picks up, they get a verse or two before I realize the machine's been replaced by a person.

fdeck · #16 03-26-2013, 06:49 PM

I've often found that sending a letter works.

Gopherbassist · #17 03-27-2013, 08:35 PM

I used to work in a call center. Lots of callers complained about their wait time. They also wanted employees to only have about 30 seconds in between calls, regardless of the fact that we were responsible for about 5 minutes of work between one call and the next. All of the employees wanted more time between calls.

The obvious answer? Hire more people to take calls. Less wait time for callers and more down time for workers. But the company didn't care about customer satisfaction or worker morale. They did the cheapest thing they could do. That's one problem with working for a corporation.

Gopherbassist · #18 03-27-2013, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

I think my record for being on hold was somewhere close to an hour. Finally, as I was chatting with a co-worker, I realized my ear was really hot from the phone and I had forgotten who I had called or for what reason, so I just hung up.

I think they did that on purpose.

You think correctly.

MJ5150 · #19 03-27-2013, 08:43 PM

Consumers demand lower prices. This is what happens so businesses can try to meet those demands.

-Mike

slobake · #20 03-27-2013, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Consumers demand lower prices. This is what happens so businesses can try to meet those demands.

-Mike

At a hospital?