Discussion:
Maybe OT - Telephone Support
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Sam Plusnet
2025-02-20 21:02:21 UTC
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I read the following headline in "The Register"

"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"

I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
--
Sam Plusnet
nib
2025-02-20 21:16:20 UTC
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Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?

nib
Tim Streater
2025-02-20 21:57:59 UTC
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Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
It's the usual bollocks isn't it.
--
"The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place." - Douglas Adams
David
2025-02-21 05:15:48 UTC
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Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
nib
+1
John Rumm
2025-02-21 08:26:53 UTC
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Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Probably because they went to the effort to put on a recoding for COVID
times, and now can't be arsed (or work out how) to turn it off?
--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/
Jethro_uk
2025-02-21 10:10:33 UTC
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Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
charles
2025-02-21 10:30:02 UTC
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Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
or, all the relevant staff are "working from home" and they haven't been
provided with a proper phone service.
--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4té²
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle
David
2025-02-21 11:41:06 UTC
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Post by charles
Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
or, all the relevant staff are "working from home" and they haven't been
provided with a proper phone service.
or rather all relevant staff are working in a call centre in Mumbai,
Delhi or wherever.
nib
2025-02-21 14:23:23 UTC
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Post by David
Post by charles
Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
or, all the relevant staff are "working from home" and they haven't been
provided with a proper phone service.
or rather all relevant staff are working in a call centre in Mumbai,
Delhi or wherever.
Or if the average response time drops below 15 minutes they take staff off?

nib
Ottavio Caruso
2025-02-21 15:33:08 UTC
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Post by David
Post by charles
Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
or, all the relevant staff are "working from home" and they haven't been
provided with a proper phone service.
or rather all relevant staff are working in a call centre in Mumbai,
Delhi or wherever.
Or Birmingham, UK. There are plenty of shitty companies that offer
shitty customer service in UK and unfortunately I had to work for some
of them.
--
Fuck Putin! Fuck Trump! Слава Україні!
Andrew
2025-02-22 19:08:39 UTC
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Post by Ottavio Caruso
Post by David
Post by charles
Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
or, all the relevant staff are "working from home" and they haven't been
provided with a proper phone service.
or rather all relevant staff are working in a call centre in Mumbai,
Delhi or wherever.
Or Birmingham, UK. There are plenty of shitty companies that offer
shitty customer service in UK and unfortunately I had to work for some
of them.
Always remember what Warren Buffett (the sage of Omaha) famously once
remarked -

"only invest your cash in companies that can be run by complete idiots,
because as sure as night follows day, the company that you have put a
big chunk of your money into *will* be run by a complete idiot"

Ottavio Caruso
2025-02-21 15:31:37 UTC
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Post by Jethro_uk
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
Because the company makes crap products with crap service.
Which (mid to big) company doesn't make crappy products?
--
Fuck Putin! Fuck Trump! Слава Україні!
SteveW
2025-02-21 14:54:50 UTC
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Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
I've often said that we should have a law, backed by large fines, that
companies cannot answer customer service calls any slower than they
answer their sales lines.
Theo
2025-02-21 15:10:11 UTC
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Post by SteveW
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
I've often said that we should have a law, backed by large fines, that
companies cannot answer customer service calls any slower than they
answer their sales lines.
"I'm sorry sir, we only sell via our website. Please contact our Live Chat
AI Robot who will be happy to 'help'"
SteveW
2025-02-21 16:44:29 UTC
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Post by Theo
Post by SteveW
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
I've often said that we should have a law, backed by large fines, that
companies cannot answer customer service calls any slower than they
answer their sales lines.
"I'm sorry sir, we only sell via our website. Please contact our Live Chat
AI Robot who will be happy to 'help'"
Yet companies are happy enough to accept calls that may make them money,
while pushing those that may cost them onto the web - and there are many
people who have zero internet access (I have an elderly neighbour
opposite, who has no desire for it).
Soup
2025-02-21 17:36:03 UTC
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Post by SteveW
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
I've often said that we should have a law, backed by large fines, that
companies cannot answer customer service calls any slower than they
answer their sales lines.
Oh look another squadron of pigs.
charles
2025-02-21 20:30:02 UTC
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Post by Soup
Post by SteveW
Post by nib
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
Yes, why is it that _every_ telephone help desk I call is _always_
"experiencing an exceptional number of calls"?
I've often said that we should have a law, backed by large fines, that
companies cannot answer customer service calls any slower than they
answer their sales lines.
Oh look another squadron of pigs.
My department used to help with technical enquiries. My last project was to
commission a call queuing system to make sure callers didn't have to wait
too long. All senior management wanted to know was "how quickly you could
get rid of a caller". After I'd left one of my former colleague had a
disciplinary interview because he took too long on calls!
--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4té²
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle
Jethro_uk
2025-02-21 10:18:23 UTC
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On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a company
at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a letter.

Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
Jeff Gaines
2025-02-21 10:29:09 UTC
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Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a company
at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
They don't want that, 'phone calls are dealt with immediately and case
closed, they do not want reams of correspondence!
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
You know it's cold outside when you go outside and it's cold.
The Nomad
2025-02-21 10:54:29 UTC
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Post by Jeff Gaines
Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a company
at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
They don't want that, 'phone calls are dealt with immediately and case
closed, they do not want reams of correspondence!
Many/all send html formatted emails - I don't do html emails for $REASONS
and many/all don't have a reply-to email that is valid.

Many also don't include a 'phone number either - if they can't make it
easy I'm not jumping through hoops to find out what they want to tell me.

The use of ***@domain.tld seems to have fallen by the wayside - I
thought it was required (or at least considered best practice).

<grump>

Avpx
--
I mean, I wouldn't pay more than a couple of quid to see me, and *I'm* me.
(alt.fan.pratchett)
Fri 11497 Sep 10:50:01 GMT 1993
10:50:01 up 6 days, 23:24, 1 user, load average: 0.68, 0.99, 1.11
Joe
2025-02-21 14:45:13 UTC
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On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:23 -0000 (UTC)
Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a
company at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a
letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
Er, that exists already. What doesn't exist is a method of compelling a
reply, or even being sure of getting it read. *That* would be the
millionaire job, and would probably involve electrodes.

Worse is the web form, with no way of keeping a record other than a
screenshot.
--
Joe
Tim Streater
2025-02-21 16:28:34 UTC
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Post by Joe
On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:23 -0000 (UTC)
Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a
company at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a
letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
Er, that exists already. What doesn't exist is a method of compelling a
reply, or even being sure of getting it read. *That* would be the
millionaire job, and would probably involve electrodes.
Worse is the web form, with no way of keeping a record other than a
screenshot.
The ability to print such ought to be mandatory, so one can make a PDF.
--
"That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."
-- Christopher Hitchens
Jethro_uk
2025-02-21 16:46:04 UTC
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Post by Tim Streater
Post by Joe
On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:23 -0000 (UTC)
Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a
company at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a
letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
Er, that exists already. What doesn't exist is a method of compelling a
reply, or even being sure of getting it read. *That* would be the
millionaire job, and would probably involve electrodes.
Worse is the web form, with no way of keeping a record other than a
screenshot.
The ability to print such ought to be mandatory, so one can make a PDF.
Isn't there an "AI" widget which can catch a webform and screenshot it
automatically ?

No ?

Odd. I wonder what "AI" is useful for then. Since it comes with
everything these days.
Bob Eager
2025-02-21 22:17:20 UTC
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Post by Joe
Worse is the web form, with no way of keeping a record other than a
screenshot.
I run the local branch of a well known professional society. We have
regular hybrid meetings and presentations.

I have to fill in a web form to book these and get the details on the
website, etc. I was informed that I could get an electronic copy of the
completed form after submitting it.

The first time I did this, I saw nothing and left it.

The next time, I scanned the 'accepted' page very carefully and saw a
symbol right in the corner. I clicked and that, and that led me to a way
of getting a PDF. But they don't make it obvious, or easy. This place
should know better.
--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor
Sam Plusnet
2025-02-21 19:22:24 UTC
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Post by Jethro_uk
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:02:21 +0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:aire
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
If only there were some way to electronically communicate with a company
at your own convenience. A sort of modern way of writing a letter.
Whoever can come up with that would be a millionaire surely ?
Nope. The person who devises the scheme to baulk such a communication
method (and thus cut company costs) will be the one to make money.
--
Sam Plusnet
Ottavio Caruso
2025-02-21 15:30:51 UTC
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Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
I worked for many companies who used this trick. It's nothing new and it
is difficult to prove.
--
Fuck Putin! Fuck Trump! Слава Україні!
Sam Plusnet
2025-02-21 19:23:44 UTC
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Post by Ottavio Caruso
Post by Sam Plusnet
I read the following headline in "The Register"
"HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls"
I suspect they are not the first to try this type of 'creative'
technique to cut down on the cost of customer support.
I worked for many companies who used this trick. It's nothing new and it
is difficult to prove.
I think that is what justifies the headline - HP were caught with their
trousers down.
--
Sam Plusnet
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