A woman on TikTok shared a PSA about the importance of putting yourself on mute if you’re ever on hold with customer service.
Anyone who’s been on the phone with customer service is familiar with the phrase, “This call is being recorded for quality and training purposes.” This means that the company is recording the conversation ostensibly to monitor and improve company standards.
Allison (@alliebabie) received almost 9,600 views on her video. She wrote in the text overlay, “A PSA to mute your mic when you’re on hold.”
However, as Allison points out, the conversation isn’t the only thing being recorded. In the short clip, she explains exactly what she means.
“When you hear the message, ‘This is recorded for quality assurance,’ that’s for when you’re on hold too. So if you’re on hold with a company and it’s playing the little hold music, the company can hear that too on the recording,” the TikToker informs her viewers.
Do companies record customers while they’re placed on hold?
According to several news outlets, the probability that customers are recorded while on hold is highly likely. Not only are the on-hold parts of a call with customer service recorded. These recordings can also be used against you in legal proceedings if a company is trying to prove that a customer said or did something.
According to Steve Zansberg, a First Amendment lawyer at Ballard Sparr via ABC Action News, “Whether or not [the recording] could be used lawfully or whether the mere recording of that information is lawful, is an open question.” However, despite the legal ambiguity, millions of customer service calls are monitored every year.
“”People should be very careful when they’re speaking with the company after receiving an initial notice that this call may be recorded for training purposes or otherwise,” says Zansberg.
Viewers didn’t seem as concerned
While Allison’s message is a serious one, most viewers seemed unconcerned. Instead, they shared the silly antics they got up to while on hold.
“Cool, I’m beatboxing (poorly) along to the hold music,” said one person.
“Me on hold today hitting my bong,” laughed another.
“Welp. Today I learned more than one call representative has heard me pee,” said a third.
While most users were amused, one person who claimed to work in customer service online shared another useful bit of information.
“Also when you’re in a support chat, we can read what you’re typing before you send it,” they said.
@alliebabie It just record the entire time you’re on the line, so if you’re mic is on they’re still recording 😅 #phonecalls #onhold #holdmusic ♬ original sound – Allison
The Daily Dot reached out to Allison via TikTok direct message.
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