Timing is Everything (Part I)

Get time on your side, and improve difficult conversations.

We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received . . .

“I’ve been on hold for 43 minutes now. This is the last thing I have time for. Ridiculous.”

“So frustrating,” I added, trying to ease the tension. “Do you think it would be better to call back next week, during regular business hours, so you don’t waste any more time with this right now?”

It was a holiday weekend, around 9 p.m. My friend was waiting to talk with an airline’s customer service department to negotiate a couple of details — items needing correction due to a prior company error — on a flight scheduled for months away. During that weekend, a winter storm was causing massive flight delays, and a COVID-19 surge had forced an overwhelming number of additional cancellations.

Not a good day to be flying. And not a good time to be dealing with an airline’s customer service department unless you absolutely have to.

Consider: When the airl…