Would you mind if I put you on hold?

43 minutes spent talking to my phone company’s “care” call-centre in India. It took nine people to answer my ostensibly simple question: What is the status of my order?

No record of the order. No match for the receipt number. “Would you mind if I put you on hold?” For five minutes.

Along the way, inumerable requests for my date of birth. I know for sure that I’ve never given it to them, and I said so. But still they ask because it's in the script. And then, “I’m sorry, sir, nothing is coming up on my computer. Would you mind holding just a moment?” A five-minute wait, then transferred to someone else, and the routine starts again. 

Nine times.

In the end, I was given an email address. I immediately wrote an email and had a response within 30 seconds.