Frustrated customers who fell victim to Target's massive credit card breach this holiday season didn't get much relief in terms of wait times on the company's phone lines.
According to data from StellaService, which rates retailers on customer service, wait times spiked after news that the accounts of 40 million customers had been breached, as panicked consumers reached out to the retailer for answers.
(Read more: Customers paying the price after data breach)
Following news of the breach, which broke on Dec. 18, StellaService callers were disconnected from the line during three separate calls it made on each of two days. In two other instances, the caller waited on hold for 20 minutes before ending the call.
This follows StellaService's protocol. Every day of the year, the company's representatives place one call, send an email and live chat with retailers to gauge their responsiveness. If the call is disconnected, the line is down or the caller gets a busy signal, they abandon their efforts after three tries.
A Target customer prepares to sign a credit card slip.Getty Images
In Target's case, on each of the four days StellaService failed to get through, the average wait times for other mass merchants maxed out at 5 minutes and 6 seconds on Dec. 20, and they collectively posted their quickest average time of 1 minute and 20 seconds on Dec. 22.
StellaService was attempting to reach Target on its standard customer service number, which is posted on its website. However, affected customers also had access to a hotline set up following the breach, and StellaService did not test that line.
Target also saw spikes in its email support, particularly from Dec. 18 to 25, with the longest response time being two days and 18 hours on Dec. 23. By comparison, the retailer's average response time over the past three months was below eight hours, according to StellaService.
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"This is just a major lesson to retailers that if they don't have a fire drill policy in place for this type of event, Target is a great example of how things can catch you by surprise," said Ty McMahan, StellaService's director of content.
Despite the long wait times, McMahan commended the company for making an effort to staff up and connect with customers.
