123m hours on hold: Worst customer wait times revealed

The amount of time frustrated Australians are spending waiting on the phone for issues to be resolved has soared. See which industries are the worst and take our poll.

Exclusive: The amount of time frustrated Australians are spending waiting on the phone for issues to be resolved has soared to a staggering 123 million hours a year — an average of 11.1 hours per person.

Telcos were the worst offenders in 2024, with fed-up customers left hanging on hold for an average of 1.8 hours, a report by digital workflow company ServiceNow has revealed.

Government services and banks were also outed for having atrocious customer service, with retail and healthcare on the list as well.

Australians are spending more time waiting on hold.

Transport and industry, taking in trains, buses and airlines, was the best performing industry, taking customers one hour on average for an issue to be resolved.

The latest report found brand loyalty among budget-conscious Australians is on the wane, with 79 per cent of consumers stating they would take their business elsewhere if they received poor or slow service.

Still, overall, the amount of time on hold is up by about 15 per cent or 16 million hours compared to 2023 levels. It is the fourth year in a row that time spent on hold has increased, despite a 5 per cent decline in the number of consumers contacting customer service teams.

ServiceNow customer service vice president Simon Bowker said the rise in wait times was “concerning” and that angry customers were prepared to ditch their providers or retailers if they weren’t getting the service they needed.

“Australians are disgruntled and frustrations will see businesses’ bottom line impacted. In a cost-of-living crisis where spending is already under-pressure, this is the last thing businesses can afford,” Mr Bowker said.

The retail industry has been quicker to adopt the right tools and tech to cope with high volumes, he said, with customers spending 30 minutes less time trying to resolve an issue compared to telcos.

Simon Bowker, from ServiceNow, says the rise in wait times is “concerning”. Picture: Supplied

He said businesses needed to listen to what frustrated customers were actually saying, “which is they want to have one conversation with one person”.

“People tend to pick-up the phone but they’re often wasting their time. Simple issues can now be resolved with self-service online,” Mr Bowker said.

“Aussie leaders need to wake up to the fact you can’t throw people at the problem – otherwise they’re short-changing their teams, their organisations, and their customers.”

The leading consumer advocacy group Choice has previously highlighted that customers are commonly having to spend long periods on hold and many feel the standard of support provided by businesses is getting worse

Telco consumers, in particular, are often passed from one person to another, without their problem being fixed, the group said.