A free app which combats one of the most annoying elements of dealing with call centres – being held in a queue – has been downloaded 10,000 times, on average saving every user £76 a year.
Entrepreneur Matt King, who launched the WeQ4U app in March, says mobile users are flocking to download the time saving app because of its 30p per minute savings.
King said: “The phone is still the most popular channel of communication for people wanting to make contact with a customer advisor in the UK, but lengthy call centre wait times remain a huge problem and customers are paying heavily for the privilege to queue.
“Until call centre operators get their acts together, using the WeQ4U app is really people’s only option if they want to save themselves time and a considerable amount of money too.”
The app works with any phone and is available via ITunes and Android for mobile phone users, connecting them to hundreds of thousands of 08 numbers for free.
It is estimated the average UK consumer however spends 45 hours a year waiting on the phone and 60% of customers say they find it difficult to get through to call centres, according to the Future Foundation.
WeQ4U works with any UK number starting 01, 02, 0800, 0870 or 0500, as well as many thousands of other 087, 084 and 03 numbers in WeQ4U’s database of UK companies, including Sky, British Gas, HMRC, Barclays, BT and The Post Office.
Users get 08 calls included in their regular minutes, saving mobile users about 30p per minute. And if users get stuck in a queue, they just press 9* and their place is held for them until an agent answers, without using up any minutes at all. The average saving is £2.53 for every call made from a mobile phone.
