Please hold while your patience expires

Ringing your bank, insurer or internet service provider these days usually delivers a remarkably consistent experience.

It begins with a polite recorded message before the sound at the other end of the line drifts into hold music.

Waiting on hold for customer service has become so common it barely registers as a problem anymore – even though it is a problem.

A phone call once suggested progress – perhaps even resolution. 

But today, calling your airline, government services or power supplier rarely feels straightforward.

The phone is answered quickly enough by the recorded message and the recording is polite, well spoken – and completely useless. 

The wait is treated as a minor but worthwhile inconvenience rather than what it actually is: a steady drain on people’s precious time.

There is so much not to like about being put on hold.

For starters, there is a strange kind of cruelty associated with “hold music”.

Music is meant to make the wait easier though it increasingly does the opposite. 

Alongside the music comes the familiar line about how important the call is.

If a call were truly important, it would be answered quickly rather than letting the caller wait.

Add to this the fact these calls rarely happen in ideal conditions. 

People wait on hold while standing in shops, sitting in cars or stepping away from their desks. 

Of course, some waiting is inevitable.

But there is a difference between occasional delays and long waits becoming routine.

It is time to put an end to hold fatigue.

Taking time – and your business – elsewhere is simple.

It means choosing providers who answer calls promptly and giving up on those who treat long waits as normal.

Sometimes the most effective response is simply to step out of the queue.