A Perfect Way to P**s off an Otherwise Happy Customer - as Taught by JB Hi-Fi

OzyBe on 02/07/2025 - 18:39
Last edited 02/07/2025 - 20:58 by 1 other user

I generally find JB Hi-Fi to be OK (before someone accuses me of having an axe to grind).

While waiting on the 135244 phone line (which is the only way to contact JB Hi-Fi online apart from chat), and getting a slow count down from 'you are number 15 in the queue'; when it reached number 3 (after 1 hour 7 minutes of hold music) a new message came up stating they were taking a large number of calls and to call back later. The call then disconnected.

It appears when that department knock off for the day at 6pm, they just turf the waiting customers. I am guessing there were at least another 15 waiting behind me.

It is kind of funny, as it really is the perfect way to upset a customer. Waste their time and then make that waste of time completely worthless by cutting them off.

A lot of effort for me to get an $8.95 overcharge fixed up.

Maybe that is why they do it.

(And the wait time for chat is just as slow, but does not cut off at 6pm).

Electrical & Electronics

Related Stores

JB Hi-Fi
JB Hi-Fi

Comments

  • dinglejerry on 02/07/2025 - 18:45
    +14

    This is how dictatorships start.

  • Potatohead82 on 02/07/2025 - 18:55
    +1

    I also found the JB chat support below average in general, they seem to be always in a rush, I guess they are used to people wasting their time. I have never used the phone service before. On the other hand, I've found the face-to-face service at my local JB is great, they seem to bend over backwards to give me the best deal possible, also great when it comes to warranties.

  • spackbace on 02/07/2025 - 19:02
    +6

    Get product help from our sales team.
    Available Weekdays 9am – 8pm AEST Weekend 9am – 6pm AEST.

    I would expect that they would close when they say they're going to close

    Same as many businesses do

    • OzyBe on 02/07/2025 - 19:10
      +3

      Yes, but when you call at 4:50pm, you don't expect that you will not get to speak to someone before they knock off at 6pm.

      Customers are expected to be patient, so customer support should simply do the right thing and answer the waiting calls before knocking off.

      Doing this to customers, is part of the reason why they have to play you a start message stating that if you become abusive, they will terminate the call.

      That Friends episode wasn't that far off.

      • spackbace on 02/07/2025 - 19:20
        +1

        so customer support should simply do the right thing and answer the waiting calls before knocking off.

        You have no idea how long the queue was. It could've been just a handful of people, it could've been 30+, you have no idea

        Should every business operate this way? Only close up once there was no sign of life of customers?

        Maybe go take a second to breathe and not take your anger out on online forum posting… See the bigger picture

        • MrFrugalSpend on 03/07/2025 - 00:00
          +4

          There are solutions - It would make more sense for them to estimate when to cut off the queue based on average call serving times and play a message to call back the next day because the wait list is full. It might be at 5pm based on wait times for a 6pm knock off but if they have to stay to 6:10pm so be it, some days maybe they get an early mark or JB just pays overtime.

          A bit like how queues are managed at many tourist attractions and shops in real life - they stop people queuing then serve those already in the queue.

  • Nutrino on 02/07/2025 - 19:20
    +1

    Un council for human rights. Call tbem.

    • spackbace on 02/07/2025 - 19:22
      +3

      Maybe Dennis Denuto as well?

  • MeesusEff on 02/07/2025 - 19:26
    +3

    So if it moved up 12 places in 1 hr 7 minutes, do you expect them to stay an extra 1.5hours behind for the 15 people you estimated in queue behind you?

  • OzyBe on 02/07/2025 - 19:47
    -7

    To those that have asked whether it should be expected that staff stay back to answer calls from the patiently waiting customers - it's a definite YES.

    Why should a customer be treated like they do not matter?

    If a customer has to wait 1 hour or longer on the phone, whatever needs to be done to answer that call should be done - no excuses.

    Otherwise, manage things better to avoid this outcome.

    Just hanging up is not a reasonable or acceptable solution, and anyone that thinks it is, hasn't had this happen to them (or maybe works for JB).

    If it is not possible to clear the backlog of phone calls, the call back later message should come up earlier, or they should offer a call back option.

    • askbargain on 02/07/2025 - 19:55

      Have you started looking for lawyers?

    • p1 ama on 02/07/2025 - 23:10
      +2

      Why should a customer be treated like they do not matter?

      Because you literally don't matter.

      Call centre jobs are some of the worst jobs out there, people clock in when they need to, they clock out when they're done.

      They have things to do, family to tend to, other commitments to go on with. Nobody is going to say, "oh, I have to stay back an extra hour to make sure this OzyBe guy is happy".

    • MrFrugalSpend on 03/07/2025 - 00:03
      +3

      Not sure why you are being so negged - its not suggesting they don't get paid overtime for this. JB should be cutting off the queue with a recorded message when they pre-estimate people will no longer be served, and pay staff overtime to see out the rest of the queue (or if it happens regularly, literally advertise it closes earlier and have people employed to cover longer permanently) - simples

      OR

      Have those people still waiting get assigned a callback priority the next day by leaving a message or getting assigned a ticket number or something.

      Solutions available.

      PS - there's an AMA https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/913469

      • p1 ama on 03/07/2025 - 01:01

        Not sure why you are being so negged - its not suggesting they don't get paid overtime for this. JB should be cutting off the queue with a recorded message when they pre-estimate people will no longer be served, and pay staff overtime to see out the rest of the queue (or if it happens regularly, literally advertise it closes earlier and have people employed to cover longer permanently) - simples

        What knowledge, expertise or experience do you have that suggests this would be "simple"?

        The issue, as with most things, is that it comes down to a cost benefit analysis for the retailer (and also for the customer, let me get back to this point).

        One of the core oxymorons in retail (and I've worked extensively on the business / strategic side of retail for many years, including for several major retail chains in strategy, growth, store planning, and operations roles) is that everyone says they care deeply about customer service, but nobody actually wants to pay for it, and amongst things that customers actually end up willing to pay more for, customer service is bottom of the barrel.

        Much of the work I did earlier on in my career involved trying to understand what is the "ROI" on various store-level activities that led to improved sales. For example, if you were a retailer, several things you could spend money on would be more displays, a more modern storefront, better location or real estate footprint, more / less visible advertising, more staff, various different layout philosophies, more displays…etc.

        We would go out, A/B trial these different things over the course of months, and analyse the data against benchmarks to see where we would want to spend money to drive more sales. Consistently, metrics associated with customer service (increased staffing, reduced queueing, increased customer interactions…etc.) yielded close to the bottom on driving sales. What we consistently found was that customers were more driven by a nice, modern looking store, and more displays (for example) than increased staffing.

        Even in surveys, customers consistently rate price as a higher determinant of whether they would purchase something or not vs. either pre-sales or after-sales customer service. As such, as a retailer, you are never incentivised to offer better customer service. You either compete on price, or on other factors, but competing on customer service often does not work.

        There's a reason why "old fashioned" customer service is dead. Yes, the corporate overlords are greedy…etc., but if there was a genuine market for traditional "mum and pop" style customer service, then someone will serve that market. However, what the evidence shows consistently is that customers are after low prices and no-frills service. That means barebones call centres which are understaffed and no overtime. You just have to use the chat.

        Also worth remembering that JB HiFi is a "discount" retailer, similar to something like Chemist Warehouse. I still remember the first JB HiFi in Keilor back in the day - they compete on prices and over time, the more traditional retailers who focused more on customer service have all gone (e.g. think Clive Peters, Retravision…etc.), only Harvey Norman remains, but they're not really a large-scale electronics focused retailer anymore, and JB's closest competition is arguably TGG, who utilise the same "discount" model.

        • dinglejerry on 05/07/2025 - 10:54

          I would also argue, Harvey Norman’s customer service is complete shite

    • brendanm on 03/07/2025 - 07:49
      +1

      Some poor bastard who's been taking calls from numpties all day for $3 an hour, should stay back for an infinite amount of calls after hours? I wouldn't be doing that, I don't expect someone else to do so.

      • MrFrugalSpend on 03/07/2025 - 19:49

        So what if you got paid time and a half to do it and you signed up for it and you can do it from home with virtual PABX…

        There's no suggestion here it has to be the employees volunteering their time - just better management from JB.

        • brendanm on 04/07/2025 - 00:26

          $4.50 an hour wouldn't tempt me.

      • Muppet Detector on 04/07/2025 - 09:27
        +1

        How about blocking calls an hour before knock off time?

        How about JB paying to man phones for an hour after closing?

        When I worked in kitchens, we stopped accepting new food orders about an hour before the kitchen closed and then payed the staff to clean up after the business was closed for the day.

        Can't see why same principle can't apply here if JB wanted to.

        • brendanm on 04/07/2025 - 09:58

          No idea, I was only replying to the person who thinks they should just work back forever to sort out some guys $8 overpayment.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 02/07/2025 - 20:30

    Low key Jb is worse then Harvey Norman and that is a low low low bar

  • Protractor on 02/07/2025 - 20:45

    Years ago, Garmin Australia support did the same thing to me trying to unlock a crucial mapping software (for the company I worked for at the time.) It was like 5 minutes before the process would have been finished. Cut off the call.AH.
    Even getting to the support dept took hours of failed attempts
    I ended up going to USA HQ for a resolution. I've had several dramas with Garmin.Their support systems and rules around software are shit.

    • tenpercent on 02/07/2025 - 22:22
      +4

      I ended up going to USA HQ for a resolution.

      That's a long trip. You must have been really peeved.

      • FireRunner on 03/07/2025 - 08:18
        +1

        He went to fight the boss

      • Muppet Detector on 03/07/2025 - 08:35
        +4

        Really long trip if he had no mapping software.

        • Protractor on 05/07/2025 - 11:12

          Navigating to today's America only requires a working olfactory system. No GPS required

  • try2bhelpful on 02/07/2025 - 21:12
    +1

    Frankly I would just prefer they give me an email address so I can detail my issue and what resolution I want and they can contact me back. Waiting in queues sucks canal water.

  • JimmyF on 02/07/2025 - 22:09
    +1

    It appears when that department knock off for the day at 6pm, they just turf the waiting customers. I am guessing there were at least another 15 waiting behind me.

    Yeah they don't pay overtime…. So if your call wasn't answered by 6pm, you have to try again.

  • tenpercent on 02/07/2025 - 22:24
    +2

    They should at least have an automated system to give you a ticket number you type in when you call back tomorrow and you instantly jump to the front of the queue.

  • Sammy2000 on 03/07/2025 - 10:33
    -1

    OP expects the call taker to stay back with no OT paid because they represent the company as a whole. This just doesn't happen any more.
    Employees do not represent the company when they are on the bottom of the food chain, not being paid penalties and treated poorly or more likely third party contractors who have no interest in the company, just type out their scripts to placate the public.

  • suzta on 03/07/2025 - 11:18
    +1

    It turns out pissing the customer off may be deliberate & it has a name: sludge.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/customer-s…

  • cashless on 03/07/2025 - 21:18

    So you gave up on JB & came over jv chat line to resolve your problem.

  • Brucet on 04/07/2025 - 16:10

    boycott them
    end of stories.

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