Andrew is trying to cancel Vonage, but the hold message is driving him insane. After the 6th minute on hold, the smooth jazz went away and now Andrew is being forced to listen to the same chanting “call volume” message over and over again. He’s awash in a sea of his own rage—which will no doubt be directed at whatever CSR finally picks up.

Attention companies: Hold messages are infuriating even when they aren’t repetitive…when they are, they cause rage. Andrew writes:

The experience wasn’t too bad since I left the phone on speaker with the crappy hold music playing in the background and watched some TV and browsed your fine site… until minute number 6. Up until then the annoying recorded voice only interrupted the bliss of soft jazz once every minute to let me know that I was still indeed on hold. After the 6th minute, the message started looping:

“We are experiencing larger than normal call volumes. You are welcome to stay on hold or you may call back at a less busier time. All calls are answered in the order they are received. Thank you for holding!”

Imagine that repeated non-stop over 42 minutes, with each repetition making you question more and more the existence of God and if he could be so merciful as to send a comet screaming right at my home. By minute number 42 on hold, I wanted to kill myself. Instead of a pleasant disconnect, Vonage has now made it my mission to make sure none of my family and friends are customers.

Good job, Vonage! Andrew now wishes you ill.

(Photo: Wikipedia)

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