Hold the line: Best and worst government agency wait time survey a shocker for some

Three Government agencies received "honourable mentions" for quick responses - but others did not. Photo / 123rf

A consumer group says people calling government agencies sometimes get hung up on, given the wrong numbers, or have to wait more than two hours to speak to a human.

Consumer watchdog Consumer NZ said it called 16 agencies, with all calls made on a weekday between 9am and 5pm.

The worst performer was Immigration NZ, but that agency said it was dealing with an unprecendented number of complex calls, and was trying to do better.

“We were surprised that we had to call some government departments multiple times because either the first number we tried wasn’t the right one, or we were hung up on,” Consumer NZ head of content Caitlin Cherry said.

Consumer NZ said some departments, such as Inland Revenue, picked up the phone in less than two minutes.

“At the other end of the spectrum, Immigration NZ was frustratingly hard to contact, and Work and Income kept Consumer’s caller waiting for over 90 minutes.”

Consumer said Immigration NZ provided the incorrect number for calls from mobile phones.

“On our second attempt our call dropped out after about an hour and a half on hold. On our third attempt the call centre was not accepting calls,” Cherry said.

“Finally, after a fourth attempt, and another hour and 10 minutes on hold, we got through to an operator.”

She said the total hold time for Immigration NZ was more than two and a half hours.

The Herald approached Immigration NZ about the long wait times.

The agency’s engagement and experience GM, Suzanne Boslem, said the immigration contact centre was taking an unprecedented number of phone calls.

Callers wanted to know about issues including the border reopening and the status of visa applications.

“The calls have been more complex meaning they have been taking longer to answer,” Boslem said.

“To meet this demand, we have recruited additional people into the service centre which has significantly improved our service in recent weeks.

“We have also extended our opening hours from 8am to 10pm to 6am to 12am to better meet demand.”

Boslem said average wage times had fallen from 90 minutes to half an hour across all the agency’s lines.

“Callers phoning priority lines have less time to wait, so calls from New Zealand businesses about the accredited employer work visa are one minute and calls from licensed immigration advisers are 11 minutes.”

Boslem said some answers to immigration queries could be found on the agency’s website as well.

Consumer said the average wait time for taxpayer-funded agencies was about 25 minutes, double the average wait time experienced when calling private businesses.

Consumer added: “The Human Rights Commission was the only agency where we couldn’t reach a human.

“We tried two different menu options in our efforts to speak to someone, but we were advised to leave a voicemail.”

But Consumer said Inland Revenue, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT NZ) and NZ Customs Service deserved honourable mentions for picking up in less than two minutes.

Consumer NZ said some agencies were upfront and transparent on websites about likely wait times.

“The accuracy of the estimated call wait times varied, with only one agency overestimating the wait time,” Cherry said.

It said NZTA, StudyLink and Work and Income all underestimated call wait times, with the caller on hold at least 10 minutes longer than anticipated.

Consumer said having identifier information at hand, such as a client number, could greatly shorten the time on hold.

“We understand these government contact centres’ services are in demand, but we don’t think it is acceptable for New Zealanders to have to put their lives on hold to access essential services.”