Think you've had a frustrating phone experience with a customer service rep? It was likely a breeze compared to the hell endured by Katie Johnson.
The Arizona woman was kept on hold by Target for a mind-numbing six hours, according to local news site AZ Family.
Katie Johnson had ordered an iPod Nano from Target.com for her boyfriend this Christmas, but after the gift never arrived Johnson reached out to UPS. It appeared that the package was stolen from her porch, and UPS said Target would need to file an insurance claim with UPS to replace the product for Johnson.
Johnson was well aware of Target's recent massive data breach and the hectic holidays, so she prepared herself for a lengthy wait time on the company's customer service line. But she could never have expected the quarter-day purgatory that followed.
“It disappoints me because Target is one of my favorite stores and it makes me not want to shop there now because of this situation," Johnson told AZ Family. "And I even went into a Target store and asked them [for help] but they gave me the same number I was on hold with forever and I was, like, not doing that again."
Johnson continued to call, Tweet, and email the company but received nothing more than automated messages telling her to “please wait a few more days." Target representatives say that they are now working directly with Johnson.
"Following the announcement of the data breach, we experienced significantly higher than normal volume to our call centers and REDcard website, causing delays," Molly Snyder, a Target spokesperson, wrote to HuffPost. "We are working around the clock to resolve this issue by continually adding capacity both to our call center and technical systems to meet all of our guests' needs."
Target is still taking a beating over the data breach, which was the second-largest in history and likely compromised 40 million customers' credit and debit card information. The Justice Department is investigating the incident.
The company’s “Buzz score,” a measurement of brand popularity developed by polling site YouGov, dropped by 35 points to -9 on Dec. 20, the day after Target announced the breach.
Watch AZ Family's video on the epic wait time below:
Related
Before You Go
