No matter what time I call into any customer support center...

"We are experiencing a heavier than normal call volume."

:)

http://gethuman.com tells you how to avoid automated messages and get to a human. they even have users rate how effective it is. I've used it dozens of times and it cuts the wait time considerably. However, even with this info many sites have wait times of as much as 30 minutes.

Experienced the same thing so much recently. It would be ever so much better if they all recorded your message and telephone number and returned your call later. Apparently they know they don't have the staff necessary to actually return your call anytime.

I mean, sure, they don't keep a full crew on the clock 24/7, but the recorded message just sounds stupid when you call in the wee hours of the morning.

kidding me!"

You record your name and a callback number and they call YOU when you get to the head of the queue.

Are you friggin' kidding me? How many years have you douchenozzles been refining oil and you still don't know to make more gas in the summer when people drive more!

and see what they tell you. :D

the last thing they want to do is take care of customers.

Please be patient, and a dedicated responder will make a witty follow-up as soon as possible.

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The later in the day... the longer you will wait. But between 11 AM and 3 PM ET is lunch somewhere in
the country. If you're calling a national center... good luck. Same with local people at lunchtime.
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Have found this to be true with in-person visits to the DMV and ER's, too.
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Used to work graveyard shift for Vanguard Mutual Funds (outside contractor). After about 1 AM (when
calls from the West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii would trickle down to nothing), we were "allowed" to
nap -- as it might be an hour or two between calls.
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HOWEVER, in response to the post about 1:30 AM calls -- every once in a great while, we would
experience a completely bizarre rush where we might have 2-3 calls backed up... and there would only
be one or two of us on the phones at that hour (usually extremely redundant). It sometimes took a while.
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LOVED third shift.
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Spare change hint here. Used to walk to the bus stop and pass a corner college bar on the way --
shortly before they opened at 7 AM. People leaving would fumblefish their keys out of their pockets
and pull along crumpled bills that would fall to the ground unnoticed. Best day was a 20, a 5 and
3 ones. Usually nothing -- but worth keeping my eyes in the gutter for a little while.
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Oddest third-shift caller? A regular who sounded like an old Asian woman who would make the saddest,
LEAST erotic obscene phone calls you could imagine. Worth a chuckle to put on speakerphone for the
5- or 6-person shift to hear. One night, our supervisor got on the line and told her (facetiously)
that she was making him ill because he was gay. Threw her for a loop -- dead silence for about 5
seconds -- and then she chirped, "That's OK... ... ... I'm a MAN!!!!"
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We LOVEDED her!!!!!
.

"Why don't they just say 'Due to our usual call volume, we are unable to answer your call'?"