HP today abruptly ditched the mandatory 15-minute wait time that it imposed on customers dialling up its telephone-based support team due to "initial feedback." As The Register exclusively revealed yesterday, HP introduced the minimum time that PC and print consumer would need to wait before they spoke to a human being. This was to lean on customers to use alternatives such as social channels or live chat.
This came into force for consumers phoning up the call center in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy on February 18. It went down like a lead balloon internally at HP, with some staff on the front line unhappy that they were having to deal with a decision taken by management, who didn't have to directly interact with customers left hanging on the telephone..
. for at least 15 minutes. Now HP has abandoned the policy, and in a statement issued today, said: "We're always looking for ways to improve our customer service experience.
This support offering was intended to provide more digital options with the goal of reducing time to resolve inquiries. "We have found that many of our customers were not aware of the digital support options we provide. Based on initial feedback, we know the importance of speaking to live customer service agents in a timely fashion is paramount.
As a result, we will continue to prioritize timely access to live phone support to ensure we are delivering an exceptional customer experience." We're tempted to say it wos The Reg "wot won it," but it.