Are there any company call phone lines are are not "experiencing exceptionally high call rates" ?
Posted by Inkblot7001@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 82 comments
It feels like the "sorry, we are experiencing exceptionally high call rates" is now a standard greeting for all call lines. As if it is just a standard play from the call system. Three different companies, all the same message, but to be fair to one of them I got through straight away, even with the message.
To those who work in call centres, is this just a standard greeting now?
ukbot-nicolabot@reddit
No one answering question. Just jokes and anecdotes.
Locked. Removed. OP try r/britishproblems
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
Seems it started during COVID imo.
But if you are forever experiencing high call rates than it's no longer exceptional.
worotan@reddit
No, this has been the case for a long time before Covid. People on Reddit have such a skewed idea of even the recent past.
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
I don't think so.
Yes there's always been some companies with long call queues, but I don't believe anywhere near the same number and they didn't routinely call it an unexpectedly high volume.
donalmacc@reddit
Nah. I had to phone Vodafone about 15 years ago and spent an hour on hold to them. It’s been a thing forever
DigitalStefan@reddit
“Thanks for calling. Did you know you can use our app to access information about your account? You can also find helpful information on our website at double-u double-u double-u dot crappy website dot com forward slash help that’s double-u double-u double-u dot crappy website dot com. All of our lines are busy at the moment. Press 1 to have us call you back at the exact moment you’re taking a shit. Press 2 for balance information. Press 3 to make a payment. For any other reason stay on the line and one of our team will answer when they’ve finished talking to the other dickhead”
Many_Income_2212@reddit
Fuck me, this is distilled to a T
YourLocalMosquito@reddit
Here’s some Ed Sheeran recorded on a fisher price voice recorder from the garden next door to a house party.
platebandit@reddit
You joke but I used to work for a company that purposefully installed the tinniest version of shape of you on loop to dissuade people from ringing in
ab00@reddit
To be fair that would improve any Ed Sheeran song immensely. Making people queue is bad enough but don't torture them with drivel music.
Kian-Tremayne@reddit
Instructions unclear. Have replaced the hold music with a recording of Ed Sheeran being tortured. Is that an improvement?
NibblyPig@reddit
The government ones are like this but worse, the urls are dictated by the slowest speaking man alive, and it's like
for our current wait times...
you can find them...
on our website,
at
double-u... double-u... double-u...
dot...
h, m
c t s
dot gee oh vee
forward slash
usage
forward slash
call, times
forward slash
current, hyphen, call, hyphen, times
srmarmalade@reddit
Oh that pisses me off no end, like if I'm calling it's because I can't find it on your website or your website has told me it can't be done online.
Just as bad is the fake chat windows that is actually a crappy AI search bot for the FAQ (which I've already looked through).
Or the ones that take you through automated security just to ask you to do it all again when they finally answer anyway.
Da5ren@reddit
I genuinely hate all that crap before they give you the options. Admiral is the worst for this, it’s like they do it so you get annoyed and just hang up. I timed it once and the pre-option message lasted 4 minutes! Just give me the fucking options.
Suz-goose@reddit
Not your first time I see
captain_crackerjack@reddit
This guy calls
Oldfart_karateka@reddit
Never had a problem calling First Direct.
Chlorophilia@reddit
Literally the only large institution that isn't a nightmare to contact.
Cub3h@reddit
Right? I've been with them since forever and even if I only need to call them once a year it's worth it to be able to speak to a normal person who can just sort stuff out. They can offer me money to move bank accounts but until First Direct start messing up I'm staying put.
Green_Lychee8221@reddit
Id guess because their whole thing historically is being telephone based banking.
spiderham42@reddit
I think that's the only place that ever gets mentioned in a positive light when this question gets asked. Even though they now claim to be an online bank that same telephone service has manged to endure.
Wd91@reddit
"experiencing exceptionally high call rates" is a euphemism for "we laid off 80% of our call centre staff"
Captaincadet@reddit
“And we used Covid as an excuse but the customer service department does not want to admit that AI isn’t where it should be to the board as they’ll be strapped onto the next satellite launch if shareholders ever found out that the current systems costing more than the old cost center”
OMGItsCheezWTF@reddit
I had to call somewhere fairly recently that hadn't updated their answerphone from the 2020 "due to these unprecedented times" message before telling me I was in queue position 4,691.
doegrey@reddit
“And the 20% we kept keep quitting so we’re constantly juggling untrained staff.”
Voltalox@reddit
It's also "we're too cheap to actually hire enough staff to cover the call volumes, so we're just going to constantly hire new people as the existing ones burn out from overwork and repeat the cycle over and over so that the reps never actually gain tenure or experience."
MaxMouseOCX@reddit
Or "we didn't lay anyone off, but this call will cost you more than normal, some of which we get, so enjoy holding".
Separate_Flight3693@reddit
As someone that has managed multiple service desks it generally just means they are choosing to have less staff than they need to answer calls in a timely manner.
If there are periods that are significantly busier(like lunch or around 5pm) they are allowed to hire more staff to cover them.
However a message saying "sorry we are busy and stuff lol" is pretty much free, other than maybe 5 minutes of someone's time to do the recording once.
Fortunately they don't all do it though, our answer target was 7 seconds(3 rings if I remember correctly) and my bank almost always answers the phone immediately when I call regardless of time.
Many_Income_2212@reddit
It (the demand) is exceptionally high, compared to the resource they have allocated (1 poor call centre worker)
amytee252@reddit
It annoys me so much. Especially when there is a pause in the music playing and you think it is because you've gotten through to a human, but no it is the same recorded message again and again.
I've thought about this and I half think hearing all these stupid messages means you spend less time hearing music/ringing tone and you are less aware of how long you are spending on hold.
BarNo3385@reddit
There is something of observer bias here.
By defintion more people ring up when there are unusually high call volumes, thats why volumes are high.
Say you average 50 calls an hour, but thats spread 5 or so overnight, 20-30 early morning, mid afternoon and late evening, and then 300 at the peaks at lunch time and shortly after 5pm.
About half your calls hit in only around 10% of the time. So a lot of callers end up hearing "high call volume" because they are all part of the spike.
Liv_October@reddit
Having worked in call centres, there's usually more of an even spread (eg it's almost always busy between 11am and 6pm, with an extra spike at lunch and after 5pm). I'd say it more like 90% of your calls hitting in 75% of the time - but if you don't have adequate staffing levels to handle peak demand, then you'll end up with longer waits throughout the day.
Wd91@reddit
If it's a repeating pattern then it stops being exceptional.
BarNo3385@reddit
Debatable.
And certainly not the approach taken by call centre IVR messages.
If you have a better explanation why dont you provide it, since the question was why does it happen. If you dont believe me that its because of in-day fluctuations in volumes, what is the reason then?
probablyaythrowaway@reddit
The Trainline gave me a riddle when I was on hold. It was shit but mildly amusing
RadicalDog@reddit
My company plays that line unless the call goes straight through to a person, which can happen at maybe 2:30pm. So I'd say "unusually busy" is about 6 hours of the workday.
RoyofBungay@reddit
Well from the other side of the fence. My company clearly states have your physical debit card ready at the outset.
If you choose to ignore this then fanny about getting your details from your banking app then surprise your call will take longer which then impacts calls volume.
Vertigo_uk123@reddit
I wouldn’t be suprised if it was standard. Psychology says that if they set you up for a long wait and they answer quickly then you feel like it’s a win and may be more susceptible to their offers etc. yes I made that up but it makes sense.
DameKumquat@reddit
The UK Passport Office, and First Direct.
No idea why UKPO manages to do it, but they do actually have helpful humans answering within moments.
edfosho1@reddit
Tbf, I wouldn't be surprised if some don't know how to take it off and just left it.
quick_justice@reddit
Yes, there are some. However, I have you know that no matter how far your outsource, phone calls are excruciatingly expensive operationally, and every company out there wants as little of them as possible.
As part of reducing the count they would use various deflection strategies. Some will try to do something positive, like automating most common services. And some will just ensure you wait at least 10 minutes before they pick up, in hope you'll just give in.
Sometimes it's not that, but understaffing call centre, especially in pick hours, because yes. Calls are very quite surprisingly very expensive to take.
adreddit298@reddit
"Thank you for calling. Unfortunately, due to our relentless drive to spend less money servicing our customers, we've continuously cut the numbers of support staff available to help you, even though we've also already outsourced it to the cheapest offshore provider we could find. If you'd rather speak to the same agent via text so that they can help four customers simultaneously, please use our online chat. Otherwise, please hold, and we'll connect you to an agent who is also helping three customers by chat."
Human-Call@reddit
I think they just leave it on permanently to discourage you calling. I have had that message a few times but then didn’t have to wait very long.
stupre1972@reddit
You can call me if you like, I am not experiencing a high volume of calls.
I will tell you to Foxtrot Oscar, but thats just a general grumpiness and wish to be left alone
Same_Grouness@reddit
This is the plan, if they weren't experiencing high rates then they would sack people until they were stretched again.
ARobertNotABob@reddit
It's a disappointing start to a conversation to be told a lie.
Call volumes are data you have long known and have based resourcing decisions on.
Just start by saying "We've chosen not to have sufficient staff, academic of call volumes. Please hold in the hope of speaking with an agent, or try another time".
If you wanted to go for full honesty, you could end by saying "Your business is only of importance to us if we haven't yet got your money.".
RedThragtusk@reddit
I would honestly prefer this. They're still being greedy bastard cunts, but at least they aren't lying about it. We both know where we stand and there's no attempt to hide your goal is to maximise profit.
GreenhousePlum@reddit
It's so manipulative because it makes the caller feel guilty for 'contributing to the call numbers' when it's always about the company/organisation saving money by employing fewer staff to answer calls. They want you to use their website or a chat bot which often isn't sufficient. I know they do get annoying people ringing unnecessarily but I'd never ring a place if I could find their answer on their website and I expect a lot of people are the same.
jajay119@reddit
The ironic thing is I’m convinced most people will not call unless they absolutely have to. I will always do something on the website or web chat if I can first. So callers have either tried all of that or have no intention of doing it. It’s such a waste of time.
Liv_October@reddit
I've worked on customer service phone lines and I'd say it's a solid 25/75 split of "didn't try anything" and "tried everything possible".
SgtBukkakeMan@reddit
Yep. Work at a council and the amount of calls where people haven't even read the letter we've sent them is astounding. You basically have to babysit them as they read it.
nobelprize4shopping@reddit
It's standard and intentional to get people to ring off.
Majestic_Matt_459@reddit
"Its much quicker to use our Live Chat system"
me 45 mins later
No its not
CatFoodBeerAndGlue@reddit
Fucks me right off. It's not "unusual", "unexpected" or "exceptional" if you've had the same answering machine message for the past six years is it?
That's obviously the normal rate of calls now. If you can't answer them all in a timely manner you need more staff.
Consistent_Ad3181@reddit
They save money by only providing the barest minimum staffing levels to keep the customer engaged.
Vega5529@reddit
Think of it like this. Will the company earn the £23k\~ back from the 1 extra agent they hire to take calls? Most likely they are just running a skeleton crew and direct you to email/live chat that can be outsourced abroad for far less.
PsychoticDust@reddit
You're right, and that makes sense from a business perspective. However, as a consumer, I don't care about that. I just want to speak to a competent human ASAP. I don't want to be on hold for half an hour while I'm working or trying to relax after work, and I don't want to use a chatbot, which almost never gives me an outcome, let alone the right outcome.
Street-Frame1575@reddit
It's not just calls - message them through their apps and it auto-responds with "high message volumes", and emails just auto- reply with "high email volumes".
We've normalised waiting more than 5 business days for any response at all, and even then it's usually a copy/paste job telling you to check the website or app, before closing your ticket.
Customer service just isn't a thing anymore so I just change providers if things aren't working out.
I_hate_cross_country@reddit
Tesco clubcard was surprisingly painless on both times ive hd to call them
Greatgrowler@reddit
Yes, when you want to sign up as a new customer.
1HeyMattJ@reddit
My GP surgery still have the same message from COVID on saying “exceptionally high call rate” and also to come in wearing a mask
ParticularSuite@reddit
I rang a computer hardware company and an actual person answered the phone, I was a bit shocked but I asked the question I had, they didn't know but took my number and said they'd call me back and then they did about 15 minutes later.
I'd actually been waiting for Dell to actually find a sales advisor to talk to me on Whatsapp for 2 hours before I contacted this other company - I bet you can guess who got the order!
Actual-Audience8165@reddit
Sorry I can't reply.
Unexpectedly high number of Reddit posts to reply to.
captain_crackerjack@reddit
Your OP is important to us. Please bookmark this post and check back for updates.
squigs@reddit
The companies that don't put you in a queue usually answer after a few rings.
We tend not to notice this because that's what we expect to happen and it's a non-event.
PaulSpangle@reddit
Without wanting to sound like a shill, when I was involved in a car crash last year, whenever I had to call my insurers, LV, they answered the phone almost immediately, and whoever answered always knew how to help with whatever I needed.
What I would say though, is that if their website worked better, I wouldn't have had to call them so much.
cooky561@reddit
I've worked in call centres before, they had quite large teams (at the time) but the queues were always high. It's usually just that a lot of people have concerns.
So yes the message is (or was) usually genuine, however since companies seem to have forgotten the customer matters, it'd not surprise me if some batshit policy has resulted in more complaints than in the past.
Another_Random_Chap@reddit
No-one is experiencing an exceptionally high call rate - they're experiencing a deliberate policy of not recruiting enough staff to handle the normal call volume. It's all part of trying to drive you to use the AI chatbot.
My mother died last year, and trying to get through to people to deal with her various contracts & accounts was an awful experience.
Low-Rooster5398@reddit
I've been trying to get an issue resolved with EDF for about 2 months and I'm struggling to speak to anyone. Terrible customer service.
blackzero2@reddit
On the flip side, I switched to Octopus energy a while back and they are an absolute breeze to get hold off. One thing that they get right (in my experience) is that even if they can't immediately resolve a problem, they keep me up to date. Even if its just to say that they are still working on it. Makes a world of a difference that I dont need to keep chasing
Low-Rooster5398@reddit
Yeah I've been looking at changing.
badger906@reddit
I think that’s just on the consumer side. All the B2B call centres I deal with a day, pick up instantly!
Ecstatic-World1237@reddit
Saying "exceptionally high call rates" always seems like code for "lots of our users/customers have problems, We're not very good."
Brian_from_accounts@reddit
Yes - the lines to pay a council tax demand or an overpayment of a benefit.
dweedman@reddit
American Express - it does happen sometimes but I usually get put through to someone immediately.
MilkEnvironmental709@reddit
This makes my blood boil. Furious before i even get to speak to anyone. The phone trees just send you round in circles. Some of them just hang up at the end or direct you to the website, which in turn direct you to the call centre.
Careless-Drag8644@reddit
I agree it is a standard line used by most companies, but not all thankfully!
Tirno93@reddit
I worked in a (physical) call centre pre-Covid, it was a big company and most days there would be anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes between calls. Back to back calls were considered a critical emergency, get more staff in, managers to the phones type situation. Then Covid came in, call centre went virtual, everything took longer, calls started queuing up. The company treated it as the ultimate experiment and liked what they saw. It went from being common to have 5 minutes between call to the norm to always having customers queuing. Slap on an “unusual call volume” message forever and call it a day was the solution
IndigoQuantum@reddit
I like the ones that still say "Due to Covid..."
IndigoQuantum@reddit
"Your call is important to us"
But not enough for us to increase our call handling capacity.
BrilliantPrudent6992@reddit
Companies are reducing staff numbers and encouraging/forcing customers to use online services and self-service.
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.