Telus tech support line hold music has CONSTANT ADS! Very annoying. Please stop or reduce this.

[Optikal]

[ Originally and inadvertently posted to "New Ideas" area but likely better in this forum.  Not sure how to remove the other post.]

I was on hold to Telus tech Support (1-888-811-2323) for 16 minutes to try to solve an Optik TV problem. The 16 minute wait was not a problem. And the Telus representative was friendly and helpful.

BUT what IS a problem is the constant advertisements in the hold music. It is very annoying!

I'm only guessing, but I'm thinking it was the idea of somebody in marketing who thought that people calling into Tech Support were a captive audience [Correct!] and they could be exploited by ramming ads down their throat [NOT correct!]

Let me suggest that the people who are calling in are not in the best of moods. They are having a problem and they want it solved.

The fact that they have to listen to a barrage of ads is NOT HELPING! They would only GET MORE ANNOYED!

Let me further suggest that they are made LESS interested in buying any of the products or services being advertised as well as being made overall more angry at Telus.

Think of the poor customer service rep who has to answer the call!

Let me tell you about my specific case. I was on hold for 16 minutes. There was an ad at least every minute. So I listened to more than 16 ads in that time.

I am not mad at being on hold for that long. Tech support people are in limited supply and a bit of a wait is not unexpected.

What I WAS expecting was some unobtrusive music. I would then put my phone on speakerphone and work on something else. Computer work, light reading, solving a problem in my head, etc. There was indeed music but it was repetitive. But much worse was the incessant interruption every minute with ads. --ads that I am not interested in.

I ended up lowering the volume of my speakerphone to a bare minimum so that it would be less disturbing. But doing this comes at the risk of missing the call when the tech support person eventually comes online.

At the end of the tech support call, I told the rep about this and the rep completely understood. The rep mentioned that there were 4 other calls that day where people made the same complaint. One person was apparently on hold for 2 hours and suffered accordingly. The first thing the rep heard was the complaint about the ads. --does anyone in management think this is a good thing?

Maybe a question I should ask is if anyone in management and marketing have been forced to listen to the hold "music-and-advertisement" system for 16 minutes, let alone 2 hours!!!

My request is that Telus stop or drastically reduce the ads during the hold time. Like I said, it's not doing ANYONE any good. Nobody is happy and I doubt anyone is buying the things being advertised.

My suggestion is that gentle music be played and then--and at most--every 10 minutes (approx the time of 3 songs on the radio), a short polite message telling the caller that their patience is appreciated is played.

This way, the person on hold can do other things in relative peace but still be able to tell when someone comes online.

A further suggestion is that the person in charge of this ads-in-hold-music initiative be looked at more closely. The judgment they exhibited is questionable, to say the least. What other decisions were made by the person?

[xray]

You make a good point, the wait itself is trying enough without any added irritations. I was recently on hold with a retailer for 30 min and they played the same annoying music in a 20 second loop which drove me nuts because it sounded like someone was picking up at the end of every loop.

I haven't called in for support in a while but I don't recall this issue previously so it must be a recent change. I use the online Chat most of the time. No music, no ads and I'm free to do other things on the computer while I'm waiting.

[Optikal]

Yes, I don't know how recent it was, but there was a change in the hold music system since earlier this year. 

At that time, I had called in when the pandemic was already in full swing and noted, with some eye-rolling, that the outgoing message was chock full of the derivative ad nauseam "...in these unprecedented times..." corporate drivel that is so well parodied in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM3J9jDoaTA&feature=youtu.be

Like the parody, the outgoing message droned on and on, laying it down super thick.  My call might have been in May or even June and I was "uh, yeah, I know already.  The world knows, Telus.   It's no longer 'unprecedented'..."

BUT at least it wasn't super annoying like the constant ads right now.

As I said in my OP, I wonder if management or, for that matter, anyone with a brain, is listening to what's going on with the hold music.  Nearly anyone without some vested interest is going to feel and would be willing to tell them "it's stupid and it sucks".  

I'd actually like someone from Telus to respond.  Could I be way off-base here?  Maybe they can tell me how wrong I am.  i.e, tell us why all these ads are currently here, how it's somehow a great thing for Telus and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill.