Being left on hold too long can cause our blood to boil
A beeping noise, old-dated music or a classical song are what usually awaits us when we're put on hold. I can already feel my blood starting to boil as I write this.
Now it's been proven, experts believe that callers waiting in a queue are at risk of soaring stress levels and rising blood pressure as they become frustrated with the delay.
Does this sound familiar?
The survey of over 2,000 adults showed that people lost their patience after six minutes hanging on the phone, 64 per cent say their frustration is incresed further by music that is supposed to calm them down.
Stress expert and newspaper columnist Dr Roger Henderson says: "We live in an age where for many peoplpe, time is the most valuable commodity of all. The research has found an increasing unwillingness to wait in queues, a phenomenon I call 'speed greed' that reflects our growing demand for instant gratification and access to information and service.
"Although it is part human nature to rarely be satisfied with what we have in life, our expectations are now such that is we do not get the service we expect very quickly, our stress levels increase quickly and significantly."
The study, by mobile telephone network giffgaff, also revealed that people lost their patience after 11 minutes of waiting for public transport and 13 minutes waiting to be served in a restuarant.
Almost a third of those feeling annoyed by long queues or waiting times admitted they felt stressed.
Robbie Hear of giffgaff, says: "Six minutes waiting in a call centre queue is enough to make anyone's blood boil, especially if you don't get the right answer when you do eventually get through."