Do call centres send you into a phone rage?

Long waiting times, bad music and endless options are leaving call centre users angry and frustrated, according to new research.

The study, by market analyst Mintel, found that the most common complaint was about being kept on hold.

Six out of every 10 of those questioned said they were frustrated by having to hang on for long periods of time before being able to speak to someone.

Also, 30% of callers said they became frustrated when their call was routed through a seemingly endless menu of options.

What is your experience of call centres? Do the automated phone systems send you into a rage?

This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails is published below.

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Call centres are a fact of life - get used to them. They provide mass employment in the areas they are based, the staff do work hard under a bombardment of calls from rude, abusive people. The options can be used to provide information that doesn't need personal contact. The options can be removed, but are you prepared to pay the cost?
Darren Wheeler, UK

I have worked in call centres in the USA and it seems we share the same frustrations. Can someone tell me who came up with this business plan? How to stay in business but not really help the customers and never keep employees long enough to train them!
Lisa, USA

I work as a call centre manager and have to say it is extremely upsetting for all staff to have to listen to abusive callers who expect you to sort every problem they have in life.
JSS, UK

I recently changed my car insurance, got the quotes over the phone (calls answered more or less instantly). When the printed details arrived in the post I rang the claims number lines. What a difference! Slow, endless menu options etc. The one company who fielded a real human to answer my call straight away without touch tone options, got my business, even though they were not quite the cheapest.
Brian Williams, UK

I remember a rather smug Call Centre Manager saying that we are happy to queue at say, The Post Office or a Bank, so what's the problem queuing for a response to a call? The problem is that you don't know how long it will be before you get a response. At least at the Post Office you can see how many people are in front of you, and make a judgement about the wait. Call Centres don't even give you that courtesy!
Colin Spicer, UK

I often have to call UK call centres for banking, phones and other utilities. You can imagine how much more frustrating it is to be on hold if you're paying for a call from half-way around the world! And if your information or needs differ in any way from what their systems expect they are completely stumped. I agree that call centre workers often have a horrible time. I agree that most of them are lovely people. But they usually have no authority to get anything done!
John Scott, Taiwan

I wholeheartedly agree with Joe, Scotland. I too have worked in Call Centres and they were the worst jobs I have ever had. I eventually resigned at 10am one morning and within 20 minutes had fled the building never to return! Here in Australia, our telephone company Telstra has started using voice recognition on the directory enquiries number. After asking you the name you require, they invariably come back with a completely obscure company name you didn't want and then you have to wait to be put through to an operator. A complete waste of time. Although I do sympathise with the people who work in call centres obviously after my own soul destroying experience.
Janelle, Melbourne, Australia

You mean they actually needed to do a study to figure that out. I thought it was common knowledge.
Dave, Canada

Call centres are the sweat shops of our age. They are designed to limit the actual service provided to so that the owners and those they represent with a profit. If the number of calls exceeds the resources available then the operators and the customers are put in an impossible situation. Remember the operators are not directly employed by the company that supplied the original product or service you are having problems with. Call centres should by law be staffed by people working directly for the company providing the product. If I buy an English product I do not want to be answered by someone in Ireland, Holland or Sri Lanka because the wages are cheaper there.
Ian Hill, Bolivia (UK)

I developed an unnatural hatred of the British public

James C, Birmingham UK

After 12 months in a call centre I developed an unnatural hatred of the British public. Phone rage has over taken road. The call centre operatives work under Victorian-style conditions; a friend of mine worked in a centre where he was actually locked in a glass booth, to exit he had to press a buzzer and request permission to go to the toilet.
James C, Birmingham UK

I recently tried to call my local police station in Chiswick, London and was transferred to a police advisory line where I had to hold for 20 minutes before it was answered. By this time the joyriders had crashed the car and made their getaway.
MB, UK

What really gets my goat is the knowledge that I'm paying for that time on hold.
Malcolm McMahon, York, UK

Yet another performance of The Final Countdown in panpipes

Max, UK

I find that when you finally get through, you are put through to the wrong department. Whilst you are transferred, you have to sit through yet another performance of The Final Countdown in panpipes.
Max, UK

A word of warning to would-be absusive callers: In our call centre for a now-defunct telecomms company, there was a practice of putting abusive calls on the overhead PA system so everyone else could hear it. It was one of the few perks in the job, and usually made our day!
Sadie, Britain

Am I frustrated with call centres? Press 1 to agree, 2 to disagree, 3 if you don't know, 4 if you want to phone a friend, 5 if you want to go 50-50 6 if you want to have a few beers while waiting, 7 if you want to fall asleep while waiting, 8 if you want to switch off the appalling music, 9 if you want to speak to someone who has a script of what to say but can't answer anything if it's anything other than routine or press 0 to repeat these options!
Kenneth, Scotland

Do you know how long I've been holding?

Lee, UK

Don't you just love people who ring call centres? After hearing "That music is rubbish" or "Do you know how long I've been holding?" for the 50th time in four hours, it's no wonder these companies cannot keep staff. Who wants to hear that at 8.30pm on a Friday night?!
Lee, UK

What a truly happy moment it is when you call a number, expecting to get the inevitable menu and extended wait, only to be answered almost immediately by a person saying "Can I help you?" Tell me if I'm wrong please.
Max, UK

Vote with your wallet. Call centres are a fact of life these days. I recently changed mobile phone provider, after eight years with a company that rebranded itself. I asked around and found which companies seemed not to irritate my friends and colleagues when they called their service. The new one is much better. They're not all the same. Shop around.
Kevin, UK

Whatever happened to patience?

Jamie, England

Actually I think that people don't want to wait anymore, they want it all immediately like instant coffee. And preferably 24 hours. Whatever happened to patience?
Jamie, England

In my experience the biggest problem is the useless people who cannot use a touch tone phone. The number of people out there that cannot press one to get a balance scares me! Are these the same people who tick their ballot papers when it asks for a cross? I wonder how many would complain to the driver who runs them over when they decide to walk when the little man is on red?
Ben, England

Three minutes to get through the various options to be put on hold for 15 minutes listening to JAZZ music for goodness sake - and call centre staff wonder why people are rude when they finally get though! Customer service is getting worse not better, shades of Orwell's 1984 I think.
Donald Ferguson, Scotland

You must remember that when you call an 0870 number part of the call cost gets paid to the company you are calling. It's therefore in their interests to keep you hanging on....
David, UK

Check your account online, no waiting like a muppet!

Calum Steen, UK

Avoid the call centre grief and use the internet! Any half-decent service company now lets you renew insurance, pay bills and check your account online, and no waiting on the phone like a muppet!
Calum Steen, UK

I like call centres. You know where you are with them, it's their job to try and help. I recently had dealings with two companies that don't use call centres. In one case I have to fill in a massive form and post it to them in Germany, in the other case, no-one I spoke to was willing to deal with the problem. Well managed call-centres are great! But then, I don't have to work in one.
Aegir, UK

The call centres are not part of customer service at all. They are actually a way of avoiding having to spend money on customer service by operating a system designed to frustrate and confuse rather than help. The aim being that you will give up and go away.
Keith Capelin, United Kingdom

I do not think people would consider speaking to us face to face in the same manner

Julie, Northern Ireland

Please spare a thought for the staff in call centres. On a daily basis we are insulted and abused. I do not think people would consider speaking to us face to face in the same manner we are addressed each day. I would suggest if you have a complaint or want assistance some manners would be much a more productive approach, than shouting and swearing. Consider how you would want people to speak to your son, daughter or partner before you launch into your tirade of abuse.
Julie, Northern Ireland

If it deviates from their script they are clueless

Neil J, UK

They are generally very nice people who try very hard but have absolutely no power to help you with the problem you are calling about. If it deviates from their script they are clueless.
Neil J, UK

If you need to contact a company, say for service on a premium rate, and their sales are on a toll-free number, then ring the toll-free number. You will get answered reasonably quickly as they think they are getting a sale. Then apologise and ask to be put through to service. They usually have the capability of transferring the call. Not only do you get answered more quickly, you get a freephone call instead of a premium rate call.
Gary Price, UK

I have worked in a call centre for the last 11 years, where we are all multi-skilled. Despite this, it is not uncommon for one of us to have abusive language thrown at us, even though we are willing and trained to help. We have a menu of options, which minimises the time a customer is left waiting, and also ensures that the customer is transferred to the department with the most experience to help them. I know that it can be frustrating to be passed about, but it does mean that in the end, you will be helped by the most able person available.
Karen, UK

Stop moaning, call centre people. You're part of a complaint process - if something's gone wrong enough times then I want to bawl someone out. Take it - if you can't you're in the wrong job. We don't mean it, it just makes us feel better. That said call centres are 500% better than talking to a computer. Yesterday I phoned a train service and said I wanted to travel from London to Warrington. It said "Thank you, when will you be departing Reading?" and there was no way back. Madness!
Tom, England

Modern life is rubbish

Wendy, UK

From reading all these notes, it is certain that everyone calling or working in call centres is utterly fed up with the whole experience. And yet they are booming. Companies pretend it's a fast, efficient service for the customer, but in fact it's some bizarre modern ritual that does nobody any good. As Blur said, "Modern life is rubbish."
Wendy, UK

I currently work in a call centre. What I find is that when I have the occasion to call another call centre, having the decency to extend the same amount of politeness and courtesy to the person who answers the phone as I do to customers who call me will usually do wonders for the level of service that they provide. After all, it's nice to be nice.
Lachlan, Scotland

The person on the end of the phone is invariably not the same person you have spoken to before

Chris Walsh, London

The problem with a call centre in my experience is, the person on the end of the phone is invariably not the same person you have spoken to before, and therefore not the causer of your problems. It's difficult to find anybody to take responsibility for a mistake when each time you call you are dealt with by a different member of staff. It does seem the only way to guarantee getting the action you want is to escalate the call to a team leader. It's unfair to shoot the messenger but as a representative of the company you have called some form of collective responsibility should be taken.
Chris Walsh, London, UK

I managed a support centre for a while and I have to say that most of the problems these places have are due to bad management. They normally employ a wannabe sales person with no social skills whatsoever to manage a department of people who have to take complaints all day. I ran the best damn team in the country. My support team had taken the level of support to a different level. At one point the European director called me to tell me not to provide such a high standard of support because I was making the rest of the support centres look stupid. I got no support from senior directors in my company and when it came to making cut backs we were one of the first teams to go; cheaper to support from Europe. The secret to this success? Train, motivate and support your team, all the time!
Nick, London

The most head-wrecking, monotonous, concentrated way to rot your brains

Alan, Ireland

My two months in a call centre were reminiscent of the film Groundhog Day. It has to be the most head wrecking, monotonous, concentrated way to rot your brains in minutes. After a while you just start repeating yourself on automatic pilot. Nothing ever changes. Your mobile phone will remain untouched, contact with any phone produces a serious allergic reaction. Never again!
Alan, Ireland

The worst part is when you are told that "Your call is important to us. Please wait." SO important that you have already been waiting for 10 minutes!!
Tim, NY

Showing a little respect to the person on the other end of the line will make life a lot easier

Mark Burton, Belfast

When calling a call centre, try to start the call off on the right foot. Many customers I speak to automatically assume that the problem with their account is my fault, thus setting an unpleasant tone for the conversation. I know it can be infuriating, but showing a little respect to the person on the other end of the line will make life a lot easier, and they will be more inclined to go out of their way to help you, rather than provide just the basic level of service. A little pleasantness can go a long way in trying to get that direct debit charge reversed!
Mark Burton, Belfast

The most irritating thing about call centres is the infurating snippets of speach played over the hold music which have you diving back to the phone in the false belief that someone has actually answered your call.
Mark, England

Calling Odeon cinemas is a tiresome experience. After telling it which cinema you want, waiting for your film to be presented in the list, waiting for your day, waiting for the front circle to be presented, typing 5 for the number of adult tickets and 0 for student etc, typing in my credit card number and expiry date you are then told that they need authorisation and to phone a different number during office hours. Authorisation is needed for transactions over £50. Why can't they tell you the maximum number of tickets you can purchase at the start?
Steve, England

After weeks of unsuccessfully trying to solve a problem through a call centre, I wrote directly to the chief executive of the parent company. The problem was resolved quickly after that. All company information is available through the internet, so if their system doesn't work you have an alternative.
Andrew, UK

The people you are speaking to are either inefficiently trained or couldn't care less.

Mr B, UK

I recently rang a call centre to query the fact that I had not received my phone bill for the last month. After selecting about 4 different options just to speak to an operator and being left on hold for 15mins, I was told that they had no record of any calls made in the last month and that my balance was zero, even though my account was in order and the phone had been used. When I jokingly said that I'll carry on using the phone for free then, the response from the operator was 'It seems that way'! This just proves that the people you are speaking to are either inefficiently trained or couldn't care less. Not that I'm complaining on this one occasion!
Mr. B, UK

I recently tried to cancel my contract with an oh-too well known mobile company. After constant engaged tones, or being told that I could not be helped on numbers that I was able to get through on (accompanied by unanswered emails and letters), when I eventually got to speak to somebody and complained that it had taken me three weeks to cancel, I was told that "I had not tried hard enough". There is no such thing as a call centre help-line. They should be renamed hinder-lines.
Steve, England

I have worked in call centres for 7 years now and although agree that the queues and messages can be most annoying, I find it astounding at just how rude some people can be. Why do callers always insist on taking it out on the call handler? It's not their fault if you have been waiting. After all, you don't shout and swear at bar staff if they are busy or at checkout staff if they have a queue do you? It seems that people feel that because they are not dealing with someone face to face its ok to be nasty and aggressive on the phone. Call Centres are now being forced to join many other employers in getting their staff trained to deal with aggressive, angry and often personally offensive customers.
Simon, UK

Hello, Lisa the lemming speaking, how can I help you?
Lisa the lemming, Scotland (call centre land)

I have been a call centre designer for some years and do sympathise with people who have to both call or work in them. It is possible to make the experience as stress-free as possible, but unfortunately many business are not prepared to invest in the customer services as much as the technology. The result - ineffective response times and frustrated customers.
James, UK

When trying to get through to a sales department the call is almost always answered straight away.

Janine, UK

Whenever trying to get through to Customer Services at one of these call centres there is always a long waiting time. However, when trying to get through to a sales department the call is almost always answered straight away. It seems that companies are willing to take your money as quick as they can but do not care about after sales.
Janine, UK

This is a little secret I'll share. when the voice asks you "do you have a touch-tone phone?", press nothing. The computer will then assume you have an old-style dialler phone, skip the tedious menus and jump you through to an operative. If everyone does it they might think twice.
Andrew, England

Recently some call centres have implemented a system whereby you are given an estimate of how long you are likely to have to wait before someone answers the call. This system should be mandatory for all call centres and it stops you wasting your time and denies BT even more profit.
Jasper, Fife

I know how these people feel, I have worked in a large call centre for 4 years now and we have many ways of making the caller wait to make it seem as if we are extremely busy. The menu system is usually enough to annoy most people, but we sometimes have a game called "pinball caller". A bet is made for the amount of times the caller can be passed around... I am led to believe this goes on all over the UK.. I wouldn't like to call one, lets put it that way
John, UK (Cheshire)

These menus seem to have been designed by someone with a singularly twisted mind

John Latham, UK

I recently phoned a call centre and spent several minutes calmly moving from menu to menu choosing what seamed the logical option. I was rather disappointed to find that I was directed into a dead-end where the choices where to leave a message or place an order! I tried again with no greater success. These menus often seem to have been designed by someone with a singularly twisted mind.
John Latham, UK

A broadband service provider kept me waiting for 30 minutes for essential technical support and then, without any warning, closed the support service at 9:30pm. The line just went dead. As it was an 0870 number, I was paying for the call.
Allan, UK

I work in a call centre and it's the most soul-destroying job you can imagine. Every call is timed. Every break is timed. Every trip to the toilet is timed. If you are three minutes late in the morning, you will be questioned by your manager for 15 minutes about it. Our company has an "Investor in People" plaque, but that's a joke. The work is dull, repetitive and thankless. There is no initiative required, everything is scripted or computer led. There is no hope of promotion or recognition. Each minute seems like an hour, each hour a day and each day a week.
Joe, Scotland

My 21-year-old daughter works for a major bank in their call centre. She has recently had periods of sickness through stress and becomes very upset when customers are rude and abusive and use foul language. Perhaps people should remember that the person at the call centre is only doing his/her job and they do not need to be shouted and abused at. They are there to help!!
Maria North, England

Even their toilet breaks are timed

Michael, UK

Having worked with teams in call centre environments for the best part of four years, I can safely say that they have a thankless task. Staff are monitored on targets, performance, time away from desk - in some environments, even their toilet breaks are timed. If businesses began treating call centre staff like adults, not battery hens, that would be a start.
Michael, UK

Call centres, with their menu options and waiting times, are not about "providing a better service" for consumers, it's about providing a more cost-effective (that is, profitable) solution for the provider. They gauge exactly how long we are prepared to wait and how many options we will go thorough before becoming upset enough to seriously consider switching to another company - which is the ONLY concern they have.
Steven, Scotland

I've worked in two call centres. Both were the most boring jobs I have ever had (and I have had some jobs!) but I cannot blame the call centres or the customers, although the rude customers need to remember their manners. The money is invariably good, the conditions are more than fine, you get regular breaks and almost every other person working in that call centre hates the job as much as you do! The jobs are purely dull. How can anyone say working in a call centre is stressful? Stress is working a 45-hour week in casualty; stress is not knowing where or when you will be called upon in a life-threatening situation, such as fire fighters, police or lifeboat crews. Sitting on your bum all day is not stressful.
Amanda, UK

They either treat me as a nuisance or try to deny any responsibility for my problems

Dave, UK

It's not the waiting that annoys me - it's that when I finally get through to a human being, they are invariably poorly trained, poorly spoken, and often rude. I have worked on a customer support line and was trained to sympathise and accept responsibility for problems. When I call support lines, they either treat me as a nuisance or try to deny any responsibility for my problems. This is not customer service.
Dave, UK

I worked in a call centre, and I think the best way to keep all customers happy is to multi-train all staff so when customers call up the first person they talk to will have the power to resolve their query instead of transferring and having to sit through another queue.
Emma, UK

Nobody likes working in them and nobody likes phoning them. Why on earth do they exist!?
Phillip Holley, UK

Why do call centres exist, Phillip Holley, UK? They exist so that over-paid executives can hide behind a wall of stressed out, under-paid call operatives.
Cate, UK

It is a stressful job and we are under a lot of pressure

Kristy, UK

I work in a call centre and do sympathise with people who have to hang on and listen to the music, but we all do our best to help callers. It is a stressful job and we are under a lot of pressure both from employers and the customers. We are here on the phones for customers and are human beings. A lot of people need to remember that when they start swearing at us.
Kristy, UK

Kirsty, UK. We should not need to realise that yours is a stressful job. That is for your employer to do. We are the customers here. You (and your employers) should realise that actually phoning a call centre is a stressful experience. If this was not the case then your job would be less stressful.
TR, UK

I recently had an infuriating experience with a call centre where I was kept on hold for 24 minutes, listening to the same two songs! I didn't intend to be stroppy with the operative but after being sent slowly mad by the repetition of these songs I completely lost my temper with them. However, a couple of weeks before I was left bemused and annoyed when I phoned another call centre, only to be cut off! Take note call centres - if you can't deal with us straight away just say so and we can phone back another time.
Andrea, UK

My landlord once found it quicker to get in the car and drive to the call centre to report his problem. According to him they didn't look that busy, yet he had given up waiting after about 90 minutes on hold. He suspected they didn't actually have anyone answering the phone.
Gordon Lewis, UK

I like the idea of driving down to the call centre! Another good tip: If you have been put on hold for whatever number of minutes, hours, days - hang up, ring directory enquires, ask for the number of the call centre and go in the back door. Ask to speak to a customer service manager or team leader. I have tried this way and it does work.
Nick, England

If the automated phone system lets you know what position you are in the queue, you at least know how quickly your call is likely to be answered and can decide whether to give up and try later. This is not perfect but at least is better than hanging on without knowing how many people are in front of you. This feature should be implemented in all automated phone systems.
Ron, England

When faced with a menu of options on a customer services call, I tend to find that the easiest thing to do is to use the option which will put me through to a person as quickly as possible. If I have something important to deal with then it is preferable to take the name of the person you are dealing with and ask for them each time you call. Also, don't be afraid of asking to speak to someone who is more polite, articulate, intelligent or holds more power. If either they or you are busy, ask them to call you back. It's a small price to pay for your continued custom.
Jack, UK

I wonder how many of these people who recommend asking for a team leader immediately would walk into a shoe shop and ask the manager to fit their shoes for them? Probably the kind of person who couldnt tie their own laces in the first place.
Ben, England