Hold the Phone

A survey of customer service representative service levels reveals how quickly—or not so quickly—various companies respond via phone or email.

Image: File photo

Looking to get a customer service rep on the phone? Best not to call on Monday or Friday, finds a survey from StellaService, a New York City-based online customer service ratings provider.

Analyzing the Web’s top 100 retailers and more than 1,200 calls, emails, and mystery shopping interactions, StellaService concluded that Barnes & Noble kept customers waiting the longest to get a rep on the phone, clocking in at just over an eight-minute hold time. Macy’s customers had to wait an average of seven minutes—hardly magical.

As far as email responses are concerned, CrateAndBarrel.com took more than 88 hours (that’s just under four days), followed by Fingerhut.com (79 hours, three days), Dell (65 hours, or nearly three days), SwissColony.com (52 hours, or two days), and MarketAmerica.com (39 hours, or just over a day and a half). The average response rate was approximately 17 hours.

The findings come after Consumer Reports released a scathing report finding that 64 percent of consumers have walked out of a store due to poor service.

So now that we’ve talked about the worst, who does it the best?

Office Depot and Sierra Trading Post barely let customers wait, getting them to a customer service rep within six seconds, according to the survey. And when it comes to answering calls and emails in a timely fashion, DisneyStore.com is the only company that ranks in the top 10 in both categories, earning speediest email support honors with less than a two-hour turnaround time and getting calls answered within 12 seconds.

“With prices and product selection no longer a key differentiator among online retailers, customer service has become the dealmaker or breaker for today’s shopper,” said StellaService CEO and cofounder Jordy Leiser.

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