I’m currently on hold with BMO Mastercard, again. I recently had my corporate credit card stolen, and I’m trying to activate my new card. This is the sixth time in the past few days I’ve called, and I have never actually managed to talk to anyone.

Apparently they are experiencing “higher than usual call volume, with wait times in excess of 20 minutes”. Normally I’d be a little upset at the inconvenience, but the nice lady on the message keeps saying how important I am and they apologize for the delay, so I guess that makes everything O.K.

I know it’s cliché to complain about the airlines, but Air Canada does seem to have some problems. On Sunday, they only had one agent taking bags at check-in, leading to a really long line. When questioned about the lack of agents, he said “Yeah, it’s always busy on Sundays”. If it’s always busy, then a reasonable person might decide that more staff are required. Unfortunately, logic seems to be lost on these people.

On the actual flight to Vancouver, we didn’t get a drink until three hours into the flight. Three hours! I have been on hour-long flights where they come around twice, and these guys can’t walk the length of a plane in 180 minutes? It’s not like they’re making lattés and martinis for everyone, they’re giving people a glass and a can of pop.

Well, I’m still on hold, and the music BMO is subjecting me to is negatively affecting my usually sunny disposition. I’m tempted to hang up, but I think that’s what they want me to do. Is it still called customer service if you never actually have to talk to the customer?