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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

Telephone wait times

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Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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8 minutes and still waiting. I think they’ve gone home.

make that 9

However much I would like to end my day listening to da Viv’ I gave up after 14

edit, trying again the day after, same client, 7 minutes so far.

This will be my last update; should I update the sheer misery of the same 10 bars of the four seasons for probably the seven millionth time I fear I will finally crack.

8 minutes and I’m through

[ Edited: 24 Sep 2015 at 10:21 am by Dan_Manville ]
ASH
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Welfare officer - St Christopher's Hospice, SE London

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I would vote on the periodic change of music.  Can we request it as a good will gesture to hard done by advice workers?  I have a vision of my future in the care home staving off the dementia having to hum Vivaldi all day and muttering about implicit consent.  Actually it won’t just be kindness to advice workers - think about the staff in the care home - they need a break too. 

But HMRC is far worse.  I gave up after 35 minutes last week. 

Advisor_1
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Byker Community Trust

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yea, I had a 42 minute wait for HMRC this week. 42 minutes I will never get back.

JFSelby
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Benefit caseworker (SDAIN project) - Selby CAB, North Yorkshire

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Two calls to PIP this morning ( also covered in the ministers answer) 6 minutes the first time and over 15 the second time (new claims)

HOWEVER Tax credit call yesterday in less than one minute ( so quickly I didnt have the stuff i usually have open and ready)

Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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Advisor_1 - 24 September 2015 12:23 PM

yea, I had a 42 minute wait for HMRC this week. 42 minutes I will never get back.

I value my hold time; it gives me chance to catch up on here.

Surrey Adviser
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Benefits and debt adviser - Esher CAB, Surrey

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The trouble is if you put the phone on loudspeaker the “music” disturbs everyone else in the office.  If you don’t do that you have to sit there holding the phone- which rather limits what work you can get on with.  Or do you use a headset?

I also had an almost instantaneous HMRC Tax Credit response this morning & the adviser was very helpful.  Almost like old times before they decided the advisers helpline was too good & tried to drag it down to the general level of their service.

1964
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Deputy Manager, Reading Community Welfare Rights Unit

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Odd isn’t it Derek? We experienced similar towards the end of last week- in fact, we have a theory that one of them must have brought in a batch of (actual) hash brownies. Either that or they’ve been taken over by aliens (a sort of ‘Stepford Call Centre’).

Jac
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Welfare benefits adviser - Melville Housing Association, Midlothian

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Waiting for HMRC 28 minutes and still waiting…....

Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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8 minutes on hold to Income Support, got through, said “Hi I’m Dan” and our fire alarm went off unexpectedly.

Shoot me now!

Mr Finch
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Benefits adviser - Isle of Wight CAB

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13 minutes on hold to income support and they immediately hung up on me.

During this time it occurred to me that the combination of the nerve-grating acoustic distortion to Spring, frequent voice-over lectures about calling at the wrong time and reminders to go away and look for work, followed by a short ring before the music frustratingly loops, could not have been better designed to make you want to hang up if the worlds leading nudge-psychologists had designed it that way.

MaggieB
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Dorchester CAB

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I have advised my collegues that ( should I meet an untimely death) I would like my coffin to go out to Vivaldi on the basis I have spent half my working life on hold to the DWP listening to it..
Do you think if we clubbed together and bought IDS a box set of compilation CDs for Christmas he could arrange for them to be put on the phone system? I’m happy to contribute! Any suggestions?

1964
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Deputy Manager, Reading Community Welfare Rights Unit

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‘Always look on the bright side of life’
‘I want to break free’
‘It’s a wonderful world’

Jac
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Welfare benefits adviser - Melville Housing Association, Midlothian

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Income Support this morning - 22 minutes. Then told they would not speak to me. DId change their mind when I asked to use implicit consent, but no trace of mail sent twice in Aug and Sep. Now have to wait 3 hours for a call back!

1964
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Deputy Manager, Reading Community Welfare Rights Unit

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...Which you’ll either miss (and they’ll leave garbled message with a colleague which won’t bear any resemblence to what you need to know) or won’t happen at all…

Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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1964 - 07 October 2015 06:29 PM

‘Always look on the bright side of life’
‘I want to break free’
‘It’s a wonderful world’

‘Eat the Rich’