Customer Service

I needed to call technical support for a laptop computer. After entering all the little digits on the bottom of the system, I received the following notice from their phone system:

Due to heavy call volume, we are experiencing delays of an hour or more.

Not what you really want to hear when your computer isn't working. Now that I have to sit on hold for this long, I can't even use the phone to do business!

Every 30 seconds or so, the pleasant little voice comes on and says,

Thanks again for waiting. Our representatives are working as quickly as possible to answer your call. We apologize for this delay. Please stay on the line. We'll be with you as soon as possible.

While I appreciate that the company wants to help me with my problem, they're sending a bad message with this comment. Are the service people really just cranking through calls, trying desperately to clear this hour-long backlog, or are they providing quality care to the people who called before me?

While it's true that I want someone to take my call immediately, I also want to know that, when someone does answer, they will take the time to give me exactly the support I need rather than just try to clear the call.

So, please pay attention to everything your customers hear from you!