Dear LPG,

 I wanted to make an appointment with my doctor one day not so long ago.  I am sure that I am not the only person who needs to be at the telephone at eight in the morning to have any chance of getting one of the few appointments on offer on any given day.

I made a point of being ready to make the call on the dot of eight o’clock and, when I dialled the number, the ringing tone was followed with the predictable ‘Your call is important to us’ recording which I expected I suppose, but I was still listening to it at 25 minutes past.  I continued to listen to the dial tone for another 20 minutes before I finally got an answer.  When in this position many of us wonder how many people put the phone down and give up just too soon to be answered so we wait until the bitter end.

It appears to me that regardless of if you phone, stand in a queue for long periods on a relatively cold morning or try to use the internet to get an appointment, the success rate of being answered without a serious wait is still not very high.  Let’s face it, getting through to any company by phone, be it your energy company, your telephone service provider or your catalogue’s order-line is a challenge unless you are willing to spend long periods of time listening to the recorded message interspersed with music. 

But I would like to tell readers of one way to make the wait a less frustrating experience regardless of who has left you hanging on the line.

I firstly suggest that, if you don’t have one of those cordless phones with a hands free facility, you get one.  I often need to get GP appointments and have learned to use the time that elapses preparing or having breakfast, doing a bit of tidying up, opening my post, doing a bit of washing up or putting a load of washing on. Basically I will attempt to do anything which I can leave quickly and which will not be interrupted when the continued ringing tone stops and is replaced with a person offering the anticipated help.

As long as you have the account or relevant reference number on a bit of paper by the phone this works.  I have now learned to leave it on the windowsill, kitchen worktop or table while I get on with my day.  You will have to turn the telly down so that you can hear the instant you are answered and, of course you have to be using the speakerphone facility so that when you are answered replying in a loud voice will be effective wherever you are in the room.

The only other thing to remember is not to leave the phone in one room while you go to another, no matter how quick you think you are going to be because you bet that the moment you do, the telephone advisor will choose that very moment to answer you.   Pockets are good if you are moving around because once the hands free speaker is working; you will have time to shout a loud answer as soon as you get a telephone response and, with practice, you may even be able to talk without interrupting whatever else you are doing.    

 TF, Lee