On hold music...why?

[Strawman]

I'd definitely prefer a recorded voice prompt every couple minutes to let me know where I am in the queue as opposed to something like oh, the same fucking sax and piano solo looped over and over again every 1 minute that I've been listening to for the last 41:11! :grr:

[realisticphish]

1. i would play

the music from "Halloween" on an endless loop, especially at night. See how long people stayed on :D

Oh, and one place I called used the local classic rock radio station as their hold music. That was pretty kickass

[dropkickpa]

2. My Dr's office

Had a funk station as the hold for about a month, which was really cool! Now they're back to the same boring old muzak.

[Strawman]

3. Now I'm 57:00 in to being on hold and faced with a sadistic choice

Risk leaving for a couple minutes to go take a pee or no? With my luck they will come on the line while I'm gone.

I'm think going to have to find someone to wach my phone.

At least I'm not listening to some custom made advertising jingle for the place I'm calling. Those are the worst.

[realisticphish]

4. put it on speaker

or take the phone with you into the bathroom

[Strawman]

7. problem solved

On speaker already. It's my office phone and the restroom is outside our suite.

Names changed to protect the innocent:

<13:25> me: ok dude need some help here
<13:25> work buddy: whats up
<13:25> me: I'm an hour into holding for tech support and I have to piss
<13:25> me: can you watch the phone for 2 minutes for me
<13:25> work buddy: yeah

[realisticphish]

9. this is why

you should keep a bottle in your bottom desk drawer :evilgrin:

[Kali]

5. I hate that. first it is always a shitty recording - that must be where all the

messed up cassette tapes in the universe went, second I have GOOD music playing on the stereo or I might be listening to Democracy Now! or something - I don't want to listen to static-y muzak over the phone.

[LeftyMom]

6. If I had hold music for my business,

I'd play something exceedingly annoying, probably Bright Eyes, so all the people who didn't have a really good reason to bother me would hang up and let me work.

[Strawman]

10. Surprised they don't do something like that for tech support

"We've hidden the "contact us" number behind a labyrinth 6 links deep into our site, so we can cut "overhead" by staffing our help line with one person who is available only three hours a day, now lets see if you can survive 55 minutes of pure angst!"

[Orrex]

8. The reason is that, if there's no music, the caller assumes she's been dropped

Even an intermittent "your call will be answered in X minutes" voice is insufficient; the dead air in the meantime is a dark place that few callers are willing to endure. Music, interspersed with updates from that same voice, is the better choice.

But there's still no excuse for using crappy music to fill that void.

[ThomCat]

11. Many people think they've been hung-up on if they hear silence

even for a minute. So there has to be some kind of noise just so people know they are still connected.

[mopinko]

12. they want you to hang up.

tech support is for babies. right?

[Strawman]

13. Normally I would agree

but this particular software update (to a messaging server for handheld devices) just ain't working the way it ought to. They're obviously getting lots of calls for the same reason.

[mopinko]

14. yeah, just giving you a little jibe.

i think most people would rather walk barefoot through the sahara than call tech service. i know i would.