I called Australia from Switzerland and was on the phone for more than 1 hour. 90% of that time I was put on “hold” until someone could answer. It was a landline call. Swisscom charged me for every minute even for the time I was put on “hold”. I always thought when one is put on “hold” then its not charged for?
Are you blocking a line during all the time you are on ‘hold’? Of course you are therefore you are charged for it.
It is why I am quite sad that Skype was shut down..it was the cheapest way to ring landlines. For private users, there is very little option to ring OS landlines cheaply. Now I strategically use my work account to ring Oz when I need to…
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What are you talking about? I am put on hold until a line is free. Customer service. There are other callers who would also be put on “hold”. I am not blocking a line. I am simply “put in the queue”.
Overview with AI: In Germany, telephone hold times for landline calls are generally free of charge. This is enshrined in the Telecommunications Act. The free service applies from the moment the call is initiated until it is actually processed, although charges for the initial connection (e.g., flat rates for landline calls) still apply.
So you are disconnected until a customer service agent is free and then they call you back? I doubt it.
All the time you are on hold you are using the services of your telecommunications provider. All they know is that that particular line is being used and they don’t care whether you’re speaking to somebody or not, you are using their services therefore you pay for it.
Are you calling from Germany? No you aren’t so what happens in Germany is irrelevant.
BTW: Skype still works if you had a balance left. Try calling.web.skype.com.
Really the cheapest way to call landlines, after like 20 years of using the $20 I once put in still $9.30 left.
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What BelgianMum said. You (the calling party) are connected to organisation XY (the receiving party). If XY puts you on hold, that is not the fault of the telecom provider, and you are using their resources.
Blame XY, not Swisscom. Sorry, but it is an expensive way to listen to elevator music.
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I was not disconnected.I was put on hold.
So what did your call cost?
Overview with AI: In Germany, telephone hold times for landline calls are generally free of charge. This is enshrined in the Telecommunications Act. The free service applies from the moment the call is initiated until it is actually processed, although charges for the initial connection (e.g., flat rates for landline calls) still apply
You were not calling from Germany so that’s totally irrelevant.
21CHF for 10 minutes speaking time. Was also charged for hold time. At 25 Ruppen per minute.(Swisscom)
Its relevant to show the ripoff of the Swiss telephone companies.
Well that is nothing new. Only in the last year are they finally coming on board with decent international data roaming. My Salt abo finally includes unlimited EU, Singapore and Australia data roaming.
I can remember landing in Sydney 10 years ago with my wife when she still had a Netherlands mobile. She got an SMS saying roaming cost 0.02EUR per MB. I got one saying it was 2.00CHF per MB.
“Hold” times-a gold mine for the telephone companies!
I use a Hong Kong plan in Switzerland, that says all.
My mobile plan in Spain costs less per month as it would cost per day in Switzerland, 3 EUR. It works all over Europe except Switzerland of course. It is digi prepaid so I only pay when using it.
No idea what happened to skype with Microschrott, but mine still works. Cheapest way to call international landlines.
Since the end of skype I’ve been using viber. But, I can only make calls, I don’t have a number in other country to receive “local calls” over there. Call quality is lower than skype. And there’s scammer bothering in the viber chat regularly.
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When you are on hold, the call is still running, the call timer on your mobile is still running for example - the only thing is the company are making you wait for an available agent. As far as the phone company are concerned, it is all a call, how do they know you are on hold on the internal phone system?