The Postal Service’s customer care centers suffer from “long hold-times for customers, abandoned calls, and customer frustration,” an IG white paper has said.

The centers, which supplement online information, receive calls about specific matters including tracking a package or scheduling a delivery, as well as for general information and for dealing with complex matters. Of some 60 million calls in 2017, 19 million opted to speak to a service agent but of those only 11.5 million ultimately spoke to one, with an average hold time of 13 minutes.

It added that while customers who reached an agent generally were satisfied with that person, a third of callers were not satisfied with the overall experience.

It recommended steps including decreasing wait times by increasing staffing and expanding use of call-back technology and keeping staff better trained on products changes that might trigger calls.

Source: FedWeek.com