Call center hold times increasing while on hold?
Apr 2, 2022, 12:48 am
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: WLG/BKK
Programs: TG*G, NZ*GE, QF G, Accor Gold
Posts: 10,205
I suppose it triages calls for most pax, but for well informed FTers with specific questions, I find it slow and irritating. I have been offered call-backs 50% of the time, which I prefer over being on hold.
May 3, 2022, 3:20 pm
#17
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite; QF Platinum; CZ Gold; MU Platinum; Marriott Titanium; Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,467
OMG so i called vodafone customer service and they have literally the same voice prompt system that ANZ is now using, with the same voice and the weirdly pronounced "Kia Ora" at the start, and the same bizarre hybrid of voice and needing to type. Its such an awful system. Whoever is selling this though is clearly making some traction given both Vodafone and ANZ are using it.
While Jetstar is in many respects inferior to AirNZ I fly them quite a lot domestically and they have a really efficient online chat system where you can get things sorted with an agent. No status needed and faster than the NZ phone system even with status
While Jetstar is in many respects inferior to AirNZ I fly them quite a lot domestically and they have a really efficient online chat system where you can get things sorted with an agent. No status needed and faster than the NZ phone system even with status
May 3, 2022, 6:09 pm
#18
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
Agree. My recent call with Air NZ for something that online/app wouldn't let me do I was on hold for 2 hours 46 minutes. I have elite status. No significant weather or other disruptions that day, nor any change in travel restrictions.
My last agent interaction on JQ via chat I had a wait of maybe a minute.
My last agent interaction on JQ via chat I had a wait of maybe a minute.
May 4, 2022, 1:10 am
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: WLG/BKK
Programs: TG*G, NZ*GE, QF G, Accor Gold
Posts: 10,205
Agree. My recent call with Air NZ for something that online/app wouldn't let me do I was on hold for 2 hours 46 minutes. I have elite status. No significant weather or other disruptions that day, nor any change in travel restrictions.
My last agent interaction on JQ via chat I had a wait of maybe a minute.
My last agent interaction on JQ via chat I had a wait of maybe a minute.
I have been on hold longer with QF, but 3h34m was testing my perseverance!
May 9, 2022, 2:26 pm
#20
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sun Peaks, Taupo.
Programs: NZ Elite, AC SE100K, Westjet Teal, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, Nexus, Global Entry
Posts: 6,135
Saw this on Grounded Kiwi's FP page, many anecdotal reports of three plus hours on hold.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...T7QJPN66EM/Air New Zealand is on the hunt for 200 contact centre workers after some customers have been left waiting for two hours to talk to staff.
The airline says that unacceptably long wait times are the result of a surge in contact centre calls as Kiwis start to book flights and have more complex inquiries than before the pandemic.
''We are working really hard to get the resource ramped up, we acknowledge that we're not providing the customer service level that we would like to,'' said Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty.
The airline is now trying to recruit 200 contact centre staff but the tight job market means it may have to redeploy some staff to other parts of the business in the meantime.
She said the roles are full-time permanent ones that start with annual salaries of around $55,000. They are based at the airline's headquarters in downtown Auckland or at Concentrix in Mt Albert.
''We're working with an organisation that [recently] let some contact centre people go and working really hard to get out the message that these are great opportunities.''
There are now 250 contact centre staff who are dealing with up to 10,000 calls a day, a volume that is far greater than before the pandemic.
Previously around one in eight customers called the airline before travel but now it's one in three.
This is leading to not only more calls but also longer call times, with the average call handling time being around 16 minutes – approximately 50 per cent longer than pre-Covid.
While there were online options, the extra layers of complexity meant many weren't able to complete their bookings without help from the contact centre. Customers needed help trying to locate their credit, may have multiple credits they want to combine or use with a different type of payment.
''While we have been recruiting into our contact centre since December last year, we just can't keep up with the number of calls. At the moment, it's taking us a lot longer to respond to customers than we would like, with some waiting hours to speak to someone,'' Geraghty said.
''This is frustrating for our customers and stressful for our teams and we'd like to thank everyone for their patience."
The airline operated 200 international flights last week, about 40 per cent of its pre-Covid network and was relaunching other destinations during the coming months.
"The fact that travel is rebounding quicker than we expected is a really positive thing but that comes with its challenges."
For many customers, these trips will be their first in more than two years, and it's different to what it used to be, said Geraghty.
''The new travel environment is complex, and what we're hearing from our customers is that they have a preference to speak to a person rather than booking online or using an app."
Training of new recruits would take two months.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...T7QJPN66EM/Air New Zealand is on the hunt for 200 contact centre workers after some customers have been left waiting for two hours to talk to staff.
The airline says that unacceptably long wait times are the result of a surge in contact centre calls as Kiwis start to book flights and have more complex inquiries than before the pandemic.
''We are working really hard to get the resource ramped up, we acknowledge that we're not providing the customer service level that we would like to,'' said Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty.
The airline is now trying to recruit 200 contact centre staff but the tight job market means it may have to redeploy some staff to other parts of the business in the meantime.
She said the roles are full-time permanent ones that start with annual salaries of around $55,000. They are based at the airline's headquarters in downtown Auckland or at Concentrix in Mt Albert.
''We're working with an organisation that [recently] let some contact centre people go and working really hard to get out the message that these are great opportunities.''
There are now 250 contact centre staff who are dealing with up to 10,000 calls a day, a volume that is far greater than before the pandemic.
Previously around one in eight customers called the airline before travel but now it's one in three.
This is leading to not only more calls but also longer call times, with the average call handling time being around 16 minutes – approximately 50 per cent longer than pre-Covid.
While there were online options, the extra layers of complexity meant many weren't able to complete their bookings without help from the contact centre. Customers needed help trying to locate their credit, may have multiple credits they want to combine or use with a different type of payment.
''While we have been recruiting into our contact centre since December last year, we just can't keep up with the number of calls. At the moment, it's taking us a lot longer to respond to customers than we would like, with some waiting hours to speak to someone,'' Geraghty said.
''This is frustrating for our customers and stressful for our teams and we'd like to thank everyone for their patience."
The airline operated 200 international flights last week, about 40 per cent of its pre-Covid network and was relaunching other destinations during the coming months.
"The fact that travel is rebounding quicker than we expected is a really positive thing but that comes with its challenges."
For many customers, these trips will be their first in more than two years, and it's different to what it used to be, said Geraghty.
''The new travel environment is complex, and what we're hearing from our customers is that they have a preference to speak to a person rather than booking online or using an app."
Training of new recruits would take two months.
May 15, 2022, 2:22 pm
#21
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,422
Nearly 3 hours on hold for me (elite status) the other week for something that could not be done online or in the app.
Last edited by Kiwi Flyer; May 21, 2022 at 3:47 pm
May 15, 2022, 7:51 pm
#22
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: VA Silver, NZ Gold
Posts: 327
Yea it's pretty poor that you are only allowed to apply for 2 flight credits per booking online. If you need to use more you need to call and wait, which is a very inefficient use of the call centre for something that should be simple to do online. If you can combine two why not three or four... but hey why make it easy for people to use their credits?!
Jul 5, 2022, 5:11 pm
#23
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,645
They are now publishing the wait times in the site:
https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/travel-alerts
Need to scroll down a bit
https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/travel-alerts
Need to scroll down a bit
Jul 5, 2022, 8:28 pm
#24
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: New Zealand (when I'm home!)
Programs: Air NZ Elite
Posts: 1,218
Just to throw out my most recent experience, a family member had a flight that needed to be changed so I called on her behalf as an elite member since I was used to getting picked up within 15-20 minutes. Over an hour later I had to hang up. My family member then called and got picked up within 40 minutes, so right now, the times are varying a lot, although the one common element is no matter what your wait time is, it will inevitably be LONG.
It is terrible but one thing you can do if you have a lot is to call up and then ask for all credits to be combined into a single credit, if you haven't already.
Strangely, once they do that, it can take up to a week for them to actually go in and combine them. It was one annoying long phone call + wait, but I ended up combining a huge number together into a single credit which was very convenient.
Yea it's pretty poor that you are only allowed to apply for 2 flight credits per booking online. If you need to use more you need to call and wait, which is a very inefficient use of the call centre for something that should be simple to do online. If you can combine two why not three or four... but hey why make it easy for people to use their credits?!
Strangely, once they do that, it can take up to a week for them to actually go in and combine them. It was one annoying long phone call + wait, but I ended up combining a huge number together into a single credit which was very convenient.