Current wait times

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Current wait times

Sheagae

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#171007 1-Apr-2015 19:13

What is the deal with wait times, I have called up three times over the past week and all times the wait time has been 40 - 60 minutes. One time eventually got through and then got hung up on!

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#1275640 1-Apr-2015 19:24

Same here, 60 minutes or so when I called recently. At least they'll call you back rather than make you stay on hold. They're getting towards Vodafone levels of wait times, maybe even higher.

mattwnz

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#1275646 1-Apr-2015 19:30

I thought their call centre was overseas now, so no excuse for long wait times, as overseas staff are a fraction of the price of NZ ones.When I have called spark, I haven't had any hold time, but haven't called for at least 6 months.

Sheagae

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#1275650 1-Apr-2015 19:31

timmmay: Same here, 60 minutes or so when I called recently. At least they'll call you back rather than make you stay on hold. They're getting towards Vodafone levels of wait times, maybe even higher.

Calling tonight, there was no offer of a call back, and had to call twice.

Virgil

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#1275653 1-Apr-2015 19:33

Make sure to officially complain about the wait time to the operator when they do answer, and ask them to ensure that the complaint is passed on. Of course make it clear it is not a personal complaint against the operator, and then continue with the original reason for your call in a wonderfully pleasant manner.

Lurking ...

Jase2985

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#1275724 1-Apr-2015 21:20

last 2 times, sunday night at 830, i had about a 4 minute wait, and today at 130 it was 7-11 minutes and i opted or a call back and got one in about 10 minutes.

i suspect its to do with the time of day you call

michaelmurfy

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#1275789 1-Apr-2015 23:20

Come on guys, this is nothing.

1) I had to wait for 40mins the other night to Snap - this was during peak time.
2) I actually had to call up Vodafone around a porting issue, ended up giving up after 3hrs, 44mins (had it on speakerphone the whole time to amuse myself).
3) When I've called Spark they've normally answered within 10mins during off-peak times and the longest I've ever had to wait was 55mins to log a fault in our area (which ended up being more widespread). They've also got a chat service on their website and often the people behind it are more than happy to help.

I would say that if it is under 1hr hold during peak they're doing well. If you try to phone any telco of this size or greater you're normally holding much longer (looking at you Telstra AU!).

You're calling during peak times - be prepared to wait as everyone else has the same idea. It is hard to get a call centre just right - if they answer immediately they've got more staff than they need (staff are often, in this case under-utilized) however you can't also gauge on network problems, general customer nubness (have you rebooted your device is actually a needed question, trust me) and other things happening and always have the right number of staff to accommodate for it even if the call centre is overseas.

Spark also have call centres here in NZ and overseas and to be perfectly honest I think they've got among the best service of a NZ Telco - they're helpful, and also they do answer the phone within the "sanity" timeframe.

Edit: The callback service kicks into action if you're calling from a mobile phone IIRC. If you're calling via a Landline / VoIP then you don't get the option of a callback.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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richms

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#1275792 2-Apr-2015 00:01

Really? You accept an hour of hold time as being ok for a telco?

Staff can be processing non urgant things when they are not taking calls. its not like they have them there sitting around doing nothing waiting for the phone to ring.

Richard rich.ms

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michaelmurfy

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#1275794 2-Apr-2015 00:25

richms: Really? You accept an hour of hold time as being ok for a telco?

Staff can be processing non urgant things when they are not taking calls. its not like they have them there sitting around doing nothing waiting for the phone to ring.

I actually do since I've been there - done that. They attempt to keep hold times as short as possible however it is impossible to actually correctly guess the correct staff ratio for a single night, they can only guess.

I know Spark do have a bucketload of call centre operators and they handle ~10,000 callers a day and also get far less complaints than most other telcos given their size - this is a bonus. I've experienced wait times from all providers due to my job:

Slingshot: between 10mins (off-peak) to 1hr, 30mins (on-peak).
Callplus: Around 30mins almost every time I've called them.
Orcon: I've had 5mins then I've also had 1hr+, I've also experienced very unhelpful staff on the other end.
BigPipe: They're legends - hold time is the wait for a reply to your query often sorting it out and I've normally had 20mins.
Snap: Between 5mins to 1hr depending on time.
Solarix / Unleash: Instant, you're not talking to a call centre rep - you're actually talking to a tech (unless if there is a network meltdown).
Vibe Communications: Longest hold time has been 5mins.
Spark: Between 10mins to 1hr depending on time.
-- Spark Business: 15mins average time.
Vodafone: Don't get me started.
-- Vodafone Business: Still terrible...
Woosh: Only ever called them twice - logging a fault for one for a customer caused them to "ban" my number, was an interesting experience...

So yes - for residential ISP's especially due to Spark having ~40% market share (making them the biggest ISP in NZ) they actually do have very good support. My recommendation is take advantage of the systems they've got in place to prevent holding on the phone, the online chat, the callback service (if called from a mobile), not many (if any) providers have actually implemented things like this. They also seem to be pretty good at answering on social media.

Jase2985

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#1275832 2-Apr-2015 07:32

richms: Really? You accept an hour of hold time as being ok for a telco?

in a peak time, highly probable

but then a peak time isnt the same time every day so hard to ensure you have the right amount of time every day.

timmmay

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#1275876 2-Apr-2015 09:10

Wait time was a few minutes today, I called right after they opened at 8:05.

xpd

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#1275885 2-Apr-2015 09:29

richms: Really? You accept an hour of hold time as being ok for a telco?

Staff can be processing non urgant things when they are not taking calls. its not like they have them there sitting around doing nothing waiting for the phone to ring.

I remember us sitting around and doing nothing at IHUG...... ;) Especially during the times (always happened when a server fell over affecting authentication) the phone system fell over (What was the trigger for that... something like 30 calls hit the system waiting to be answered and it would die) and it took them 2 hrs to get it back online....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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PeebZ

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#1276827 3-Apr-2015 17:49

michaelmurfy: ...., the online chat, the callback service (if called from a mobile), not many (if any) providers have actually implemented things like this.

Hi I just wanted to correct this. There are no filters on the virtual hold/ call back system sans International numbers.
VoIP, PSTN, and mobiles from any NZ network are all valid.
We also have in the queue for on-line the 'call back' widget, witch of course will let you book a call back via the comfort of your keyboard!

richms

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#1276839 3-Apr-2015 18:10

Biggest problem with the call back service is that the calls come back from a random unrelated number or anonymous so you have no idea if its the call back or just some clown from nigeria wanting me to let them into my PC.

Richard rich.ms

Jase2985

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#1276844 3-Apr-2015 18:16

richms: Biggest problem with the call back service is that the calls come back from a random unrelated number or anonymous so you have no idea if its the call back or just some clown from nigeria wanting me to let them into my PC.

and answering the call when your are expecting one (a call back) is going to let them into all your bank accounts?

pretty silly excuse not to answer the call dont you think

richms

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#1276849 3-Apr-2015 18:31

I dont answer calls without knowing who it is.

They have no reason to hide their ID when returning a call other than lazy phone system admin. If a company cant tell you what number they will be calling from then they are IMO clueless.

Richard rich.ms

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