The World’s Best Support Line

Now this you HAVE to do:
Dial the free line to Hostgator.com (1-866-96-42867) during peak business hours and get put on hold!

Learn how to handle support calls.

I dialed at 11:28 a.m. this morning, chose Tech Support, and was rewarded with a recording that said “There are 16 callers ahead of you.”. Now normally that’s enough to make me postpone the call until, say, 3 a.m., but the music that clicked in was soft classical music, soothing to the worried brow.
And what a tension-wracked time this is - I need to transfer eight domains from scattered (and scatter-brained) servers across the face of the earth to one site. Not a task I perform regularly, and so a task in which I fear making any kind of mistake.
Less than a minute later the pleasant voice came on again this time to say “There are 14 callers ahead of you. Your estimated wait time is 10 minutes”.

Think about that!

I can leave the ‘phone on the desk and go pour myself a cup of coffee.
Less than a minute later the pleasant voice came on again this time to say “There are 12 callers ahead of you. Your estimated wait time is 10 minutes”.

Think about that!

If their previous experience is correct, I can leave the ‘phone on the desk and go pour myself a cup of coffee AND water the rhubarb on the balcony.
Less than a minute later the pleasant voice came on again this time to say “There are 12 callers ahead of you. Your estimated wait time is 9 minutes”.

Think about that!

HostGator is working WITH me to help me to get the most out of my day.
Time In line Wait (minutes)
11:28 16
11:29 14 10
11:30 12 10
11:31 12 9
11:32 11 9
11:33 10 9
11:33 9 8
11:33 8 8
11:34 7 7
11:34 6 7
11:35 5 6
11:35 4 5
11:36 3 4
11:36 2 4
11:37 1 NEXT
The table above logs the story.
I must tell you that around 11:35 when I was 5th in line, a frisson of excitement shot through me; I felt much as I did in high school at examination time when the examining teacher would announce “In two minutes time you may turn your papers over and start work”.
I was not under test, of course, but “the moment of truth” was drawing close.
If anyone from HostGator reads this, I’d appreciate it if you could track down the extremely patient and helpful “Barbara” who listened to me, and gave me the information I needed.

I was tempted to offer her a job in my office.