My phone has a "hold for me" option 🤷🏻

Pretty much. Paid by the hour, I've sat on hold on purpose just to catch a break. I know how their shit works

hours later when just waiting would have only been 20 minutes

But there's no way to know that

How do you know it would have only been twenty minutes?

Just watch out, some phone providers will disconnect you after a few hours on a call. During the pandemic when there were a lot of people unemployed and there were long waits for unemployment insurance offices, there were stories of people waiting on hold for 6 hours or more, and then getting disconnected, losing their place in line.

I’ve worked in two different inbound government call centre-type environments and can confirm that callbacks are always queued as per their place in the queue. This is using Genesys, which is a very commonly used virtual contact centre software, and using different iterations of the software at both jobs.

If you don’t get a call back at all that could be due to call screening/blocking (most call centres call out from a ‘no caller ID’ number) and if you have to wait longer than the expected time, that’s likely due to the existing calls taking far longer than the average or median call length or a number of people needing to be off-phones for a period (due to breaks, emergency, a planned/unplanned meeting, or to catch up on overdue admin tasks).

Many times my inbound work has been a callback and the person who requested the callback either doesn’t pick up or it goes straight to voicemail. Depending on the service, the worker may be trained not to leave a message, as is the case for many banking/financial institutions or crisis support services such as domestic violence or child protection hotlines, as voicemails can cause a security or personal safety threat.

Same for me, but it’s usually Burnt Turd INC or whatever internet service provider’s number.

It's a boring dystopia we live in.

I guess not every place does this, because I swear the last few times I've been on hold I got transferred 2 or 3 times and had to re-explain my entire issue all over again to each person.

CEO: Yes, Mr. Jackson, I am the CEO! Please stop cursing.

I'll have to check that out I use a cheap unlimited data plan but I think they use T Mobile towers that might be it!

In place you work when phone picks up it rings you!