HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025) • Hacker News Board

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#11

Post by InitialLastName » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:19 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #10

philipallstar wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is a common practice, and another I think will be just a static set of times that they play the "higher than average call volumes" message, rather than anything dynamic. I think call centre stuff is incredibly basic, even though the domain isn't that complicated.

Even in my internal company tech support line they play that "higher than expected call volumes" message, but their website also has counter on it that tells you just how many people are on hold and even when it is just one (me) it plays that message.

Easy for that to be true: just set your expectations to zero.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#12

Post by alnwlsn » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

jqpabc123 wrote: post #2

Just further cements HP's position as one of the most anti-consumer multi-national companies in existence.

You would never suspect they once made some of the world's finest test/scientific equipment.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#13

Post by eviks » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:28 PM UTC

> and offering digital self-solve solutions as an alternative

But you don't have those as a real alternative! Yes, you do have some "digital", but it's of the same awful quality as this mandatory 15min rule.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#14

Post by bombcar » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:28 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #10

philipallstar wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is a common practice, and another I think will be just a static set of times that they play the "higher than average call volumes" message, rather than anything dynamic. I think call centre stuff is incredibly basic, even though the domain isn't that complicated.

Even in my internal company tech support line they play that "higher than expected call volumes" message, but their website also has counter on it that tells you just how many people are on hold and even when it is just one (me) it plays that message.

The only ones I believe are the ones that tell you the estimated wait time or number ahead of you (most of which offer to call you back).

It is funny to hear "our wait times are higher than average, your wait is estimated to be zero minutes".

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#15

Post by archerx » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:29 PM UTC

fancyfredbot wrote: post #5

Someone presumably pitched this idea within HP and other people agreed it was something they should try. I guess probably HP didn't put its best and brightest in charge of call centres but still, isn't that sort of amazing? I wonder if it's the same people who eventually decided it was a bad idea after all, or whether some other group discovered what was happening and got them to stop.

Let’s not kid ourselves, they knew exactly what they were doing. They were hoping people would just hang up and give up. This would save money in the short term but lose money in the long term but that’s what you get when the current quarter is all that matters.

Anyway my experience with HP has taught me to never buy their products ever again.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#16

Post by Symbiote » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:29 PM UTC

philipallstar wrote: post #7

john_strinlai wrote: post #6

> the wait times aimed to “influence customers to increase their adoption of digital self-solve, as a faster way to address their support question. This involves inserting a message of high call volumes, to expect a delay in connecting to an agent and offering digital self-solve solutions as an alternative.” > Even if HP’s telephone support center wasn’t busy, callers would reportedly hear: We are experiencing longer…

I think it is a common practice, and another I think will be just a static set of times that they play the "higher than average call volumes" message, rather than anything dynamic. I think call centre stuff is incredibly basic, even though the domain isn't that complicated.

It can't be that complicated.

My doctor's office phone manages "You are number two in the queue". Somewhere, maybe it was a previous doctor, added "and should expect to wait about 5 minutes".

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#17

Post by sharkweek » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

john_strinlai wrote: post #6

> the wait times aimed to “influence customers to increase their adoption of digital self-solve, as a faster way to address their support question. This involves inserting a message of high call volumes, to expect a delay in connecting to an agent and offering digital self-solve solutions as an alternative.” > Even if HP’s telephone support center wasn’t busy, callers would reportedly hear: We are experiencing longer…

There’s no doubt this is true in my mind.

I honestly bet 75% of the time I hear “We are currently experiencing high call volumes” someone answered within a minute or two.

In some sense that has the befit of a “surprise and delight” moment too because the consumer might be prepared to wait longer and then “whoa nice, that wasn’t so long!”

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#18

Post by cjs_ac » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

The danger in assuming that all your customers who request support are the sort of person who couldn't empty water from a boot with instructions written on the heel is that all of your competent customers will seek out your more respectful competitors, leaving you with only those who couldn't empty the boot, thus maximising your support costs.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#19

Post by whizzter » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:31 PM UTC

fancyfredbot wrote: post #5

Someone presumably pitched this idea within HP and other people agreed it was something they should try. I guess probably HP didn't put its best and brightest in charge of call centres but still, isn't that sort of amazing? I wonder if it's the same people who eventually decided it was a bad idea after all, or whether some other group discovered what was happening and got them to stop.

Optimizing the wrong thing, probably wanted to shave customer support costs by having lower call volumes, but those that need support probably were hanging onto the calls since nobody that can fix things calls support (so no savings) AND reduced customer satisfaction.

Re: HP trialed mandatory 15-minute support call wait times (2025)

#20

Post by dfxm12 » Fri, Mar 20, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

fancyfredbot wrote: post #5

Someone presumably pitched this idea within HP and other people agreed it was something they should try. I guess probably HP didn't put its best and brightest in charge of call centres but still, isn't that sort of amazing? I wonder if it's the same people who eventually decided it was a bad idea after all, or whether some other group discovered what was happening and got them to stop.

It depends what your goal is. If HP gets charged per call answered, then their goal is to minimize the number of calls they answer. If they see a most of their calls are like "my internet is slow" or the laptop won't turn on because it's not charged up, it's easy to see how this could be approved. Same thing if they've just spent a ton of money on some AI chat agent that they need to justify as well.