Consumers don’t hold back

TELEPHONE intercept technology and being kept on hold remain the biggest bugbears of Australian consumers. A survey in December by Marketing Focus found 600 Australian consumers also ranked queues, long response times, rude staff members, poor product knowledge and lack of authority among service providers high on the frustration list.

And a related study in January found that more than half the companies in Australia using on-hold systems that broadcast music – either from radio, cassette or compact disc – were breaking the law. It found 59 per cent of those companies did not have the relevant Australasian Performing Right Association or Phonographic performance Company of Australia licences.

This means either organisation can prosecute them for breach of copyright.