In our esteemed publisher’s blog earlier this week, he talked about being in “a loop of telephone holding that lasts for an eternity.” Has anyone  noticed that messages and music you get when you’re on hold seem to be getting more annoying, too? Or at least, it seems to be more message and less music. In the last 24 hours I had occasion to be put on hold by both an airline and a bank. In both cases, after the first message–you know the one, it tells you that all the representatives are busy assisting other customers and will be with you soon–the music starts. That’s normal. Then the music is interrupted by some promo–the airline’s new service, the bank’s super new account–and then there’s music again. So far, typical. But in both cases, I timed it. The music played for only THREE seconds, and then the promo repeated. That cycle went over and over again — three-second music, five-second promo. Even if you’re only on hold a minute, you hear the promo seven or eight times. I was on hold with the airline for three minutes and I had to hang up because I knew the promo by heart and couldn’t stand to hear it one more time. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this lately; it’s just that two such occurrences in short order brought it home. There’s probably some research out there about the number of impressions it takes to get a message across. Or maybe the research said that music that went on too long makes those on hold feel abandoned. I gotta tell ya, five seconds, or even 10, of music isn’t going to make me think they’ve forgotten about me.  Hearing the message over…and over…and over again, on the other hand, makes me think dark, evil thoughts about the company I’m calling. And don’t tell me that if I don’t want to hold, I can check your Web site, either. Because I already tried that! I’m calling because I couldn’t get any satisfaction from the Web site! I’m calling the number the Web site told me to call! If I hear a soothing voice say doubleyoudoubleyoudoubleyoudot etcetera one more time, I’ll scream! Whoever had the bright idea to amp up the advertising and cut down the music didn’t consider one thing: keeping the customer happy. I’m already annoyed that I’m on hold; don’t make it worse!  There. I’m better now. –Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer