An automated voice just says try again later
PENSIONERS Neil and Julie Jesse have been trying to talk to a customer service agent at British Gas since January this year.
But after they’ve waited on hold, the supplier continues to keep hanging up on them as an automated voice says they are experiencing ‘technical difficulties’ and suggests callers try again later.
The couple are now at their wits’ end.
They were transferred to British Gas at the end of January after their previous energy supplier — Together Energy — went bust.
Neil, 76, from Braintree, Essex, says: ‘We are on a fixed income so we’re very worried about our energy bills going up.
‘But no one is offering us any support. There is no one to speak to. There are certainly no humans we can speak to.
‘Why are they always hiding behind robotic voices?’
I’m 84 and am full of admiration for this new campaign. I am normally a reasonably respectable old lady until I have to make contact with organisations and am kept waiting and waiting. During that time I take on a different personality for whom unladyke like language is the only release for my in dignation. Friends would not recognise me in this mode and mercifully they have no way of knowing. M.D., Aberdeen.
try calling Virgin Money. you stand more chance of speaking to the Pope. I have totalled six hours, 48 minutes and 22 seconds in the past three days and still not got through. C.S., Lincolnshire.
I WAS nearly in tears trying to get through to ScottishPower recently. I held on for approximately 30 minutes twice and gave up. The next day it took 44 minutes to get through. Notably when I tried the ‘new cusmers’ to mer's telephone number with Scottishower Power they picked up within minutes but put me back on hold when they found out I was an existing customer! M.F., via email.
my PosT office telephone and broadband was taken over by shell. I tried to call regarding the date my contract was due to end. I was on hold for 42 minutes then the line went dead. Not good service from a telephone provider! S.B., via email.
I FIND that all companies are still using the Covid excuse. I’ve held on the phone to my supplier for more than an hour without even an apology. I am so pleased the Mail has taken up this issue. M.G., via email.
I had to hold on so long on santander’s 0800 number to make an important transfer that I was timed out of the online banking system several times, so all the details had to be keyed in again each time. Gave up! I tried again the following morning with the same result. I evenally trully managed to make the transfer by visiting our local branch (thank goodness we still have one). M.C., via email.
ON NOVEMBER 1, 2021, I spent a total of five hours attempting to get through on the phone to British Airways — during which time I was cut off twice — and was charged £87.80 for the privilege, which they refused to refund. I wrote to the chairman, who got one of the customer service advisers to respond, but they really did nothing other than offer a halfhearted apology. P.N., via email.
ThaNk you for your campaign. I am in my 70s and don’t buy anything online. I thought it was just me and my fault for ringing at busy times. If I hear I am ‘very important to them, they are experiencing a high level of calls so go online’ again, I’ll scream. If everyone is online, why are their phones so busy? Might I suggest they employ more people. P.S., via email.
JUST spent 50 minutes waiting to speak to someone at Barclays Bank, then seven minutes while they tried to sort my query. It then took them five more minutes to transfer me to a third person! They should all be back in the office! L.P., via email.
I haVe been a customer of the Cooperative Bank for decades. since the pandemic, the service provided has been diabolical. on average, there is approximately a 30-40 minute wait but lately I have waited for an hour or more. If you happen to ring after 5pm (the lines close at 6pm) and it is busy, they give a message that says ‘you might not get to the front of the queue by closing time’. on two occasions at 6pm on the dot, after waiting for an hour, I got a message that says ‘our lines are now closed’ and was cut off. C.M., via email.