Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
I am on hold right now while calling my internet provider for a service question, and all I am hearing is some music and a voice saying "please be patient" every 30 seconds or so (for 30 minutes now).
It came to my mind that there is so much more a customer being on hold wants to hear. For example:
- If I am in a queue, which place I am in?
- What is the usual waiting time for this company, for this time, for this topic?
- When another call has ended and I moved up in the queue.
- When really no-one is in place and I should call later again.
I never came across something like this. Is it that this is too much technical effort? Or is this information about inner workings which a company usually does not want to provide publicly? Or is it maybe that I am wrong, and users will be even more annoyed by this information?
Many thanks to all the answerers and commentors. It seems I always had particularly bad luck with the companies which put me on hold, or if you want so, never had to wait for so long that these services were presented to me. I am amazed by the fact that these ideas are implemented all over the world, especially for doctors (which I have never recognized for any doctor here in Germany).