If you've tried to reach HP support — for a printer or PC — by phone in the last few days, chances are you've had a very long wait. The Register has seen a memo from the manufacturer dated February 18 and sent to its call centers in France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom (and possibly elsewhere). This involves imposing a 15-minute customer support time limit, even if an agent is available right away.
Wait or search online
“The goal is to encourage customers to adopt more self-service online solutions”, justifies the communication, because “[em][they] offer a faster response to their support questions.” The message sent to the customer warned him of a longer than normal waiting time of about fifteen minutes, but that to resolve his problem, he could visit online support.
This policy has caused some discontent among HP employees and call centers, and for good reason: they are on the front lines to wipe away customer anger. "Those who make the decisions don't have to face the customers affected by these choices," laments one of them at The Register.
However, common sense eventually prevailed: the mandatory deadline was indeed waived, assures an HP representative to ArsTechnica. “The move was intended to provide more digital options to reduce the time it takes to resolve requests. We found that that many customers were unaware of the digital support solutions available,” she explains.
But here it is, “early feedback indicates that the ability to quickly speak to a live agent is essential.” It only took HP a few days to realize this! “Therefore, we will continue to prioritize rapid access to live phone support to deliver an exceptional customer experience,” the representative concludes. Phew!
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