As I’m sitting here waiting for my new washer/dryer to be dropped off — They are still within the not-at-all-narrow 6-hour window of delivery — I stumble upon this new study that attempts to put a dollar value on the time spent idling while waiting for everything from cable installers to home deliveries.

According to the study, 58% of Americans will sit and wait for some type of service call during a year, and they wait an average of four and a half hours for a service call — 2.5 hours longer than they expect sit around doing nothing.

Between the various service calls you’ll wait for during the year, it adds up to an average cost of $250 a year. In total, the study claims a total cost of $37.7 billion a year.

“It’s clear from this year’s survey that customer service needs to be a top priority for businesses in the current climate, not only because it can negatively affect a company’s performance but because poor service around wait times has financial penalties for a company’s own customers,” said Yuval Brisker, co-founder and CEO of TOA Technologies, the company behind the survey.

TOA Technologies’ “Cost of Waiting” Survey Uncovers $37.7 Billion Economic Impact of Waiting for In-Home Services [TOA Technologies via CNBC.com]

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