Have you ever wondered what the Dell agent does while you are on hold for 10-15 minutes? You get the same "I'm going to research this for you, do you mind holding for a FEW minutes?".

You then are sitting there listening to hold music (or if it's silent - you have been put on mute) assuming they diligently working on your issue.

This may come as a total surprise to you but half the time the agent just wanted a break from talking to you. They may have already knew how to solve your issue, but wanted to check his ebay account or get a few sips of his or her morning coffee.

Should The Hold Button Be Banned? 

This may sound bad, but why shouldn't they get a break? I mean, they are handling many calls and usually have no breaks between calls to catch their breathe. Maybe they should be more honest with customers and let them know "Listen, I have taken 50 calls today and I really need to stretch and take some deep breathes, is it ok to put you on hold while I do so?"

That isn't something that can be done of course, because they are being audited on their calls. 

Do All Agents Use The Hold Function Inproperly?

Of course not, many agents really need to research the issue and ask others for opinions. There is also a rule in the Dell call centre that you cannot have more than 10-15 seconds of silence. So, if they are researching and it stays quiet for longer than that period, they may get dinged on their next audit. 

There really isn't anything you can do, besides saying you do not want them to put you on hold. That is a legit concern but I don't think they will like that too much. We suggest that you bring it up if you are being put on hold more than once during the call.

Almost All Calls To Call Centres Are Put On Hold Atleast For 1 Minute.

It's a fact of life, we have gotten use to being put on hold to verify, research, double check something or even to use the washroom. It is only a problem if it takes more than 2-3 minutes and you are constantly being put on hold whenever you speak. 

Maybe try putting them on speaker phone (agents hate that!) while you are on hold? This will let you do other things instead of listening to the hold music. Time will go by faster and you will be less agitated.