The Art and Science of Being Put On Hold

“Anything that you force your customers to listen to while they’re on hold for a long time really infuriates them”, says Samantha Mehra, a marketing communications manager at Fonolo … The company powers a community site called #OnHoldWith, which tracks individual tweets – in all their visceral and hilarious glory – from frustrated customers kept on-hold across the globe. Airlines in particular come in for a lot of social media flak. Companies are paying attention, especially when these tweets go viral.” – Damian Fowler, BBC Reporter
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Can Evil Automated Switchboards Really be Improved?

“I found it oddly comforting to peruse the site’s tweets and share other people’s misery. Being ignored and treated like dirt by a big company is usually a private hassle. OnHoldWith.com reminds you that we’re all in this together — and that there are ways to make your voice heard.” – David Lazarus, Contact Reporter
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Call Center Wait Times Can be Guarded Corporate Secrets

“Call center wait times can be guarded corporate secrets, but social media have given everyone an outlet and in the process a window into who’s complaining about whom.” – Shirley Leung, Globe Columnist
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Why the Twitter Hashtag #onholdwith Should Frighten You

“Onholdwith.com’s own Twitter feed trumpets brands that are receiving high complaint volumes to thousands more across the web. This tactic can lead to a “piling on” effect where more people, who otherwise wouldn’t mention a small issue…” – David LaBatt, Social Media Writer
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Beware: You May Lose a Month of Your Life to Contact Center Hold Times

“Consumers are reporting 45 minutes on hold with a national department store, 30 minutes stuck waiting for a large cable company, 53 minutes in Muzak purgatory with a cell phone provider. The magnitude of the problem is apparent by the speed at which the complaints scroll past.” – Tom Hudson, Writer
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Love and Hate On Hold With Verizon

“…when she and her husband, Marty, changed their internet to AT&T, he almost went crazy. It was a six-month drama. Recently they wanted to make a change in their service but, she said, Marty is still so traumatized that they don’t dare.” – Delia Ephron, Op-Ed Contributor
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Stuck on Hold? The Worst Offenders Include Apple, Amazon, Airlines

“How well a company does in complaint handling can be the difference between whether a consumer returns to purchase from the same company in the future or defects to a competitor.” – Forrest Morgeson, American Customer Satisfaction Index
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7 On Your Side: Apple, Verizon Top ‘On Hold’ Complaints List 
A new study suggests that over a lifetime, we will spend a total of 43 days on hold. Complaints are flooding social media and a telecom company has collected millions of them…
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Fonolo Announces Winners of the 2017 Customer Experience Excellence Awards

The awards program recognizes contact centers who deliver superior customer experiences and who are dedicated to reducing hold time. Companies were selected based on the total amount of customer hold time saved using Fonolo call-backs.
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How many hours of your life have been spent on hold?
OnHoldWith provides a public service so that people can air their complaints and companies can see how much goodwill they are losing from customers. Additionally, reporters, analysts, bloggers, and others can use this data to shed light on the problem.
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