What is the longest you've ever been on hold?

[Analog]

I was pushing over 45 min. yesterday, and at precisely 4:30, I got a message that said "we're sorry, our offices are now closed, please call back again during business hours!"

OK, so I called back today, right when they said they opened (8:30am), and I know I must be the first caller, because I speed dialed until it let me in. And immediately it says they're helping others, and it is now 20 minutes later...

:|

 

[SithSolo1]

1hr 45mins with DELL tech support, then it took them 30mins to fix my problem.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
1hr 45mins with DELL tech support, then it took them 30mins to fix my problem.

Why use DELL tech support when you have the AnandTech Forums!?

There is enough people here to put you down or make you fell stupid, don't spend it on the phone!

 

[Lonyo]

My ISP sucked.
They have their own dialler, and the helpline on that was the wrong number, it just gave their new helpline number to ring

So I rang the new helpline number I was given and it rang, and rang, and rang, and not even a machine answered.

So I gave up, but thankfully the problem was fixed anyway, might have just been a temporary glitch.

And when I tried to ring their technical helpline, that was engaged, so I didn't even bother retrying.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Hahaha.... which company?

1 1/2 hours or so is my record so far. Tech Data (still called Computer 2000 at that time). Worst support ever, took 7-8 months to finally get a 3Com hub refunded, which was originally send to them for repairs. After that they changed it so support came directly from 3Com, and a broken switch was replaced within 2 days.

 

[KeyserSoze]

Who are you calling, just out of curiousity?




KeyserSoze

 

[tigerwannabe]

i spent 1 1/2 on hold with tech support once. won't say the name of the company...but it's one we all know

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: KeyserSoze
Who are you calling, just out of curiousity?




KeyserSoze

The Journal of Applied Polymer Science - I want to buy a back issue.

800-825-7550 option 7 - in case you're interested....

 

[SithSolo1]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
1hr 45mins with DELL tech support, then it took them 30mins to fix my problem.

Why use DELL tech support when you have the AnandTech Forums!?

There is enough people here to put you down or make you fell stupid, don't spend it on the phone!

This was before I knew about the forums.

 

[TheCorm]

About 40 minutes with Dabs.com tech support....until they closed the tech department down....which was half way through sorting out my query (not literally in the middle of one of the calls).

 

[Siddhartha]

I was once on hold so long that I fell asleep. I had the phone by my ear so that support person woke me up by yelling "Is anyone there".

 

[Kevin]

When I first got my Dell maybe 7 years ago, something happened so I called tech support. I believe I was on hold for about 50 minutes. After that call, I began to understand some of the massive hold times since I was on the phone with him for another 2+ hours. I think it was because Windows died after installing a security patch or something. Booting the computer would result in a "Non-system disk or disk error" even though there were no floppies or CDs in the drive...

 

[mpitts]

nearly two hours with MediaOne (my old cable modem provider).

 

[Turkish]

1 hour with Yahoo Travel CS.

 

[Rogue]

6+ hours, literally. It was on a conference call with SBC regarding a firewall configuration problem. I told them exactly what the problem was and they kept me on the phone, virtually all of it in silence while on hold only to do exactly what I told them to do within the first 5 minutes of the call. Talk about pissed off!

 

[DurocShark]

2 hours a few years ago, and for the life of me, I can't remember who I was calling!

 

[ThaGrandCow]

First computer: Macintosh w/a DOS card in it.
tech support calls took upwards of 2 hours to get through to someone. After a while I would dial and go do errands for the first hour or so. Got back from the grocery store and put the phone on speaker for the next 45 -60 minutes.

 

[TJN23]

tips for being put on hold:

1) always expect to be put on hold
2) use a speaker phone in the room
3) try to enjoy the "elevator music"

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: TJN23
tips for being put on hold:

1) always expect to be put on hold
2) use a speaker phone in the room
3) try to enjoy the "elevator music"

4) Sit and watch a subtitled DVD

 

[TJN23]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: TJN23
tips for being put on hold:

1) always expect to be put on hold
2) use a speaker phone in the room
3) try to enjoy the "elevator music"

4) Sit and watch a subtitled DVD

5) Eat popcorn

 

[djheater]

4 hours with Gateway, for my mother in law.

the call itself took about 20 minutes and then they sent me a hard drive.

I couldn't believe it. At about an hour in, I had invested to much time to back out and resolved to see it through.

I ate dinner, watched some TV, took a little walk, had a couple of beers....

 

[Viper GTS]

Nearly four hours once. I was fixing a customer's DSL circuit & needed to have a PVC bounced.

Easiest day ever, although being tied to the phone for four hours sucked.

Viper GTS

 

[Grey]

3.5 hours with @Home support in 1999, they were aweful! The answer they gave me was great too, your cable is down? Try rebooting your PC.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

2+ hours with sprint pcs