Why Does a Two-Minute Phone Call Now Take Thirty Minutes?
Today I spent nearly half an hour on the phone to a financial institution trying to resolve what should have been a simple query.
The issue wasn't especially complicated. My credit card app clearly showed a duplicate payment, yet establishing what had happened turned into a conversation lasting almost thirty minutes. There were long periods on hold while checks were made and information was sought elsewhere. Eventually, I got my answer, although it wasn't particularly satisfying: I was told my statement would show something different from the app. My statement is due in three days, so I'll soon find out whether that's true.
The frustrating part wasn't the outcome. It was the journey.
It left me wondering how we reached a point where so many customer service calls seem to take far longer than they once did.
Have We Accepted Poorer Service?
This doesn't feel like an isolated incident. Whether it's a bank, credit card company, insurer or utility provider, I increasingly expect a simple phone call to consume 20, 30 or even 40 minutes.
Years ago, many queries appeared to be resolved by the person who answered the phone. Today, it often feels as though the first person you speak to is simply the beginning of a much longer process.
Why?
Cost Versus Service
Businesses understandably need to control costs. Many have centralised customer service, invested in technology and, in some cases, outsourced support.
Those decisions may well make commercial sense.
But from the customer's perspective, the experience often feels slower rather than better.
If advisers have limited authority, need to consult colleagues, or work through lengthy procedures before answering relatively straightforward questions, the customer pays the price—not financially, but with their time.
The Human Cost of Waiting
Time has value.
Thirty minutes spent chasing an answer is thirty minutes that could have been spent working, exercising, relaxing or simply getting on with life.
Multiply that by millions of customers every year and it represents an enormous hidden cost—one that rarely appears on a company's balance sheet but is paid every day by its customers.
Is It Training, Communication or Systems?
I don't know exactly why customer service seems to have changed.
Perhaps it's increasingly complex computer systems.
Perhaps advisers aren't given enough training or authority.
Perhaps communication sometimes becomes more difficult when customers and advisers have different accents, first languages or cultural backgrounds.
Perhaps it's a combination of all these factors.
Whatever the underlying cause, the result is often the same: customers spend far longer than necessary trying to resolve relatively simple problems.
Technology Was Supposed to Save Time
For years we've been told that technology would make our lives easier.
In many ways it has.
I can check my balance instantly, transfer money in seconds and manage most of my finances from my phone.
Yet when something falls outside the expected path, we often find ourselves navigating layers of systems, scripts and departments before reaching an answer.
When something goes wrong and I need to speak to a human being, the process often feels slower than it did twenty years ago.
That doesn't feel like progress.
Time Matters
One of the themes running through my work on The GOOD Method is that money isn't the only valuable resource we have.
Time matters just as much.
Companies naturally focus on efficiency and profitability, but customer service should also value the customer's time.
Good customer service isn't just about solving problems. It's about giving customers confidence that their time is respected as much as their money.
Sometimes the best service isn't about adding more technology or more procedures.
It's about empowering knowledgeable people to solve straightforward problems quickly.
Money can often be refunded.
Lost time can't.
That's why customer service should value both.
Because a two-minute conversation shouldn't routinely take thirty.