Here are useful tips to help you this busy holiday season to avoid being stuck in customer service Hell.
We all know the frustration of being stuck in lengthy calls or lines to chat with customer service.
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Among consumer gripes is going to the Department of Motor Vehicles, where sometimes long lines start before the offices even open - and if you think calling the DMV might save you time, think again.
INSIDE EDITION’s I-Squad called customer service hotlines in every state to see how long it would take to get someone on the phone.
The worst was Massachusetts, where we were kept on hold for nearly two hours.
INSIDE EDITION’s Lisa Guerrero and Adam Goldkamp of gethuman.com called a few customer service hotlines. In one call, a recorded operator voice says: “Hold time is greater than one hour.”
Facebook doesn't seem to be much better. We tried to get a human being on the phone but their customer service recording said: “Unfortunately, we do not offer phone support at this time.”
What about the post office?
Guerrero got the complete runaround when she wanted to get someone on the phone. No matter what she did, it didn't work
Jeff Pearson, a game store owner in Lafayette, Louisiana, also had a beef with the post office. He posted his frustrating experience online where you could hear him saying: “I would have kept holding, but they hung up on me!”
Pearson says he was just trying to track a missing package. He told Guerrero that he was on hold for “over three hours, three hours and ten minutes.”
Guerrero asked: “And you're just trying to track a package?”
He replied: “That's all I’m trying to do is find out, what is going on with the package?”
Fortunately, there are tips to deal with customer service Hell.
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First Adam Goldkamp says don’t rely on pressing “0” over and over. It used to be effective, but it doesn’t work much anymore. “Companies are getting better at figuring that out,” he said.
Also, avoid calling during busy hours like lunch time or on Monday mornings.
Use social media to complain. Many companies monitor what's posted online.
Believe it or not, Goldkamp says get mad at the recording.
“If you are angry and elevate your voice and possibly yell into the phone, you get pushed to the front,” he said.
One last tip, be nice to the customer service agent once you get a real person on the phone.
Goldkamp said: “I tell people, just be nice to them and then the person is more likely to help you out faster.
INSIDE EDITION researchers called each state’s DMV customer service telephone number five times and recorded the wait times in 2014.
THE 10 WORST – These states had the longest singe-call wait times:
Massachusetts: 1 hour 55 minutes
California: 1 hour 15 minutes
Tennessee: 31 minutes
Missouri: 33 minutes
Ohio: 28 minutes
Florida: 18 minutes
New York: 22 minutes
Virginia: 19 minutes
Colorado: 28 minutes
North Dakota: 16 minutes
THE BEST – For these states, the calls were answered with no, or very short wait times:
Arkansas
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Mississippi
Nebraska
New Jersey
South Carolina
Utah
Idaho
Oklahoma
Wyoming
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