please stay on hold

[Gerianne]

it can be frustrating to be put on hold for an extensive amount of time.

[o2bnocn]

Yes it can be!

[sak4kat]

My son experienced automated activation for the first time today.  He's 16.. first checking account.  First ATM card activation etc...  I let him use my phone (A safelink phone)  After 4 attempts of entering all the #'s and hearing, "I'm sorry we did not catch that," he put the phone down and said, "I'm done; this has made me salty." I couldn't help but laugh.  I know how frustrating it was... and I knew what he was doing wrong.  But if I said anything the system would hear my voice and reset so there was nothing I could even say.

[squirrelgirl44]

My son experienced automated activation for the first time today.  He's 16.. first checking account.  First ATM card activation etc...  I let him use my phone (A safelink phone)  After 4 attempts of entering all the #'s and hearing, "I'm sorry we did not catch that," he put the phone down and said, "I'm done; this has made me salty." I couldn't help but laugh.  I know how frustrating it was... and I knew what he was doing wrong.  But if I said anything the system would hear my voice and reset so there was nothing I could even say.

Sad thing is that his experiences will not get better over time. We have replaced human operators with machines, and the voice activated ones are the worst. It can be so frustrating to get someone on the phone.

[autumnsparklemom]

Yes. it can be very frustrating.

[kimber62372]

It's very frustrating especially when you are waiting for an extensive amount of time and they accidentally hang up on you! Blood starts to boil then! lol

[catchow]

and how many people have been put out of work for these worthless automated garbage

[vickysue]

And they don't care how long they put you on hold. After all we are the ones paying the bill unless it is an 800 number.  If they tell me to hold i just hang up and if they want to talk to me they put someone on right away or to heck with them.about the only time i will stay on hold is when i need to get a hold of my doctor.

[Skyisbluetoday]

Frustrating, especially when your in a hurry!

[mrsmere]

After about three minutes I will hang up, may call back and may not depends on what I'm calling for.  If it's important I put the phone on speaker and get on fusion cash and that makes the time go faster.

[jkhanson]

Whenever I make a call and hear the automated voice giving me the choices for the automated menu, I hit ZERO or I say, "HELP".    Often, that will override the lengthy wait as the system says it will transfer me to live technician.  Sometimes you may need to say "HELP" or press ZERO more than once in order to get transferred to the live assistants.

This technique doesn't work with every automation system.  A SEARS service technician told me about the saying HELP trick many years ago. 

I also put my speaker on and do something else.....process the next ebay sale, get through a few videos on FusionCash, wash the dishes.  The speaker feature on the phone is very helpful when I put on hold.

[themrs13]

I hate holding ..... but sometime you just have to put on the big boy/girl pants and deal with it   

[12amos]

I agree...there's nothing more frustrating than having to hold for 30 to 45 minutes which happened to me when I was trying to get a problem corrected.  I was finally able to get it resolved after such a lengthy hold time.  I would have hung up and called back but I knew if I did my next call would have put me farther down the hold list. 

[mardukblood2009]

That happened today or to me when I called my doctor's office. I hate when that happens. It always makes me mad.

[Liquidfire_43]

Usually when a call put me on hold it, they come back in a minute or two... The only time I have been put on hold for more than 10 minutes is ISP provider and one of the  opthamologist in my area