Call centre call times are worst in Australia – an average of 1.8 hours (Consumer Advice)

Call Centre call times to get customer service have blown out to an average of 1.8 hours, according to US digital workflow company ServiceNow.

It also found that the average Aussie waited 11.1 hours during 2024 (up 5%) with the message ‘We have been experiencing longer than normal wait times due to higher than usual call volumes’.

This is pretty well all larger telcos, government, banks, insurance, airlines/travel, hotels, and almost all call centres, whether on or off-shore.

Its main 2024 message is, ‘While customers’ expectations continue to rise — driven in part by growing familiarity with AI and applications — their overall experience is still lacking’.

There is a significant gap between what customers expect and what agents can deliver, driven by disjointed systems, staff shortages, and mounting workloads.

This expectation gap comes at a steep cost. When faced with slow or poor service, customers are increasingly likely to move to competitors.

ServiceNow found issues that should have been solved long ago

  • Call wait times are significantly higher
  • Call abandonment due to high wait times meant thousands of lost sales and missed service opportunities
  • Call disconnects happen frequently, especially when put on hold and the process starts over
  • Call centre agents are unable to solve the issue
  • Call transfers to multiple people unable to solve the issue and the need to repeat information several times
  • Customers’ expectations of a reasonable time (<30 minutes) to solve the issue don’t match the provider (5.2 days)
  • Repeat calls to solve the same issue are higher. This leads to far higher requests for compensation (80%) and leaving a negative media review rating (62%).
  • 45% insist on speaking to a call centre agent rather than using web bot chat.
  • 57% will turn away from a business that is hard to contact

Feel sorry for the service agents, and you start to see why there is a disconnect

  • 80% of calls are from angry customers
  • Most call centres are understaffed and suffer from very high turnover due to burnout
  • Most onshore staff receive the bare minimum wage. Those in overseas call centres may only receive a few dollars a day.
  • Most staff try to help but lack the resources to do more than listen and react using tightly worded scripts that never admit fault.
  • The scripts often include advertisements for brand services. Only 19% of an agent’s time is actively resolving customer issues.
  • Service Metrics are primarily based on the number of calls handled per hour. They are not measured on the number of successful calls.
  • Only 23% of Australian call centres have integrated systems. Some agents must log into over five systems to get a result.

Is AI the answer?

Of course, ServiceNow says it is, with 63% of callers preferring ‘prompt’ AI interaction before being passed to a human agent (if necessary). Only 12% of Aussie call centres have any form of AI. One major food retailer says AI pre-screening has significantly reduced human agent intervention and increased customer satisfaction.

ACXPA (Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association) says key elements are getting worse, and AI is not the answer to all issues.

  • Empathy and engagement scores are plummeting, pointing to a critical soft skills gap. ❌
  • The Car Insurance sector fell to last place, struggling across multiple CX metrics. ❌
  • Complex IVRs Remain a Problem with multi-layered menus and long forced messages still frustrate customers before they even reach a live agent. ❌
  • Performance inconsistencies remain, with significant gaps between top and bottom performers. ❌

CyberShack’s view: Call centre call times are worst in Australia resulting in new lows in customer satisfaction.

A prime offender is Telstra. Trustpilot shows Telstra has reached an all-time low with over 3,000 one-star ratings. But let’s not forget Optiu at one star, Vodafone at 1.5 stars and TPG at 1.4 stars.

Telstra charges premium prices and still can’t get the service right. In 2022, Telstra made a big noise about relocating its overseas call centres to Australia and employing 2000 Aussies. Still, this is largely a mirage, as the first-response consumer call centres are in the Philippines and India. Only when you get frustrated and demand escalation might you get an Aussie. Onshore call centres are for ‘business clients’.

Telstra will say that it impacts the lives of millions of Australians and is the biggest target. This is even more reason to expect sterling service. Interestingly, it is a ServiceNow call centre client.

The TIO report makes interesting reading TIO Complaints report Q4/2024 – the usual suspects let you down.

Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au

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