What the #$&%!!??: “Please Hold...”

Rants by Michael Greenwood
feedback@buzznews.net

If there are two things I cannot stand, it’s being put on hold abruptly and the impatient tone of a phone person who makes me feel as though I am imposing with my food order. Nothing can detract more from the happy mood I am in while ordering my dinner. Often I find myself looking forward to that very moment only to have it destroyed by hearing “Thank you for calling...please hold” and being transferred to waiting music before I even get the chance to speak. Infuriating to say the least – flat out rude. At least give the paying customer the chance to verbally acknowledge with an “Ok” or “Sure thing”. In fact, such a greeting should never be a statement, it’s a question: “Can I please put you on hold?” Is that so hard? Is it worth saving that 3 or 4 seconds to upset a customer? I understand that I may be calling right smack in the middle of the restaurant’s rush, but a phone person’s job is to answer the phone, be pleasant and take the order. I don’t even mind being put on hold as long as they’re polite about it.

Sometimes, to make matters worse, after waiting on hold to either bad music or a commercial, the phone person sets in with a rather irritated manner, making me wish I never called the joint in the first place. And God help me if I ask a question on a dish or inquire about their nightly specials. The agitation in their voice grows with my every query. This is just bad business, yet for some reason I continue with my order – probably because I don’t want to go through the trouble of scouting and calling another place and mostly because I like their food. Of course there is also the fear in the back of my mind of what happens to the food of those who complain.

Restaurant managers should be more aware of this, and work to correct the situation, because it has become all too common where I can almost expect rudeness at the other end of the phone whenever I call. Ordering should be a pleasant experience with phone people ready and willing to service me – the customer – the person who indirectly pays their salary. After all, I believe the term is “customer service” not “How quick can we get rid of the customer?”