Why tech support is purposely unbearable

The most egregious offenders are cable and mobile service providers, which typically have little competition and whose customers are bound by contracts

You may consider yourself even-keeled, the kind of person who is unflappable when those around you are losing their cool. But all that goes out the window when you call tech support. Then you fume. Your face turns red. You shout things into the phone that would appall your mother.

It's called tech support rage.

And you are not alone. Getting caught in a tech support loop - waiting on hold, interacting with automated systems, talking to people reading from unhelpful scripts and then finding yourself on hold yet again - is a peculiar kind of aggravation that mental health experts say can provoke rage in even the most mild-mannered person.

Worse, just as you suspected, companies are aware of the torture they are putting you through.

According to a survey conducted last year by the industry group International Customer Management Institute, or ICMI, 92 per cent of customer service managers said their agents could be more effective and 74 percent said their company procedures prevented agents from providing satisfactory experiences.

Moreover, 73 per cent said the complexity of tech support calls is increasing as customers have become more technologically sophisticated and can resolve simpler issues on their own.

Many organisations are running a cost-per-contact model, which limits the time agents can be on the phone with you, hence the agony of round-robin transfers and continually being placed on hold, said Justin Robbins, who was once a tech support agent himself and now oversees research and editorial at ICMI.

"Don't think companies haven't studied how far they can take things in providing the minimal level of service," Robbins said. "Some organisations have even monetised it by intentionally engineering it so you have to wait an hour at least to speak to someone in support, and while you are on hold, you're hearing messages like, 'If you'd like premium support, call this number and for a fee, we will get to you immediately.'"

The most egregious offenders are companies like cable and mobile service providers, which typically have little competition and whose customers are bound by contracts or would be considerably inconvenienced if they cancelled their service. Not surprisingly, cable and mobile service providers are consistently ranked by consumers as providing the worst customer support.

AT&T, Comcast and Verizon Communications did not respond to requests for comment.

Especially frustrating when talking to tech support is not being understood because you are trying to communicate with machines or people who have been trained to talk like machines, either for perceived quality control or because they don't speak English well enough to go off-script.

"It's utterly maddening because the thing about conversations is that when I say something to you, I believe I'm having influence on the conversation," said Art Markman, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and co-host of the podcast "Two Guys on Your Head." "And when you say something back to me that makes no sense, now I see that all these words I spoke have had no effect whatsoever on what's happening here."

When things don't make sense and feel out of control, mental health experts say, humans instinctively feel threatened. Though you would like to think you can employ reason in this situation, you're really just a mass of neural impulses and primal reactions. Of course, companies rated best for tech support often charge more for their products or they may charge a subscription fee for enhanced customer care so the cost of helping you is baked in, as with Apple's customer support service, AppleCare, and the Amazon Prime subscription service.

© 2016 The New York Times News Service