Where are we in the international rankings for queuing, and is it something to do with the crisis?

In times of crisis we hang around much more in queues. On average, in Bulgaria, we waste almost five minutes waiting in the shop, fast food restaurant, pharmacy or in the bank. These are the results from the fourth mystery shoppers survey of queues, which took place in 2012, organized by MSPA Europe (Mystery Shopping Providers Association). The study covers 24 countries and Bulgaria ranks 16th for waiting in different places.

Juliana Goranova, Client X’s senior researcher, announced that, in 2012, it took an average of nine minutes for a customer to reach the front of the queue, whilst in Bulgaria the time needed was two-times faster - 4.49 mins. Bulgarians wait most at post offices, where the average time is 17 minutes and 4 seconds. Next are Railway ticket desks and bank counters, with an average of 12 minutes waiting.

According to the data, most of the customers seem reconciled to the queuing, but one-in-three are not satisfied with it.

During the study, people were also asked about the quality of the service after they had queued. The most helpful employees were those in clothing stores and fast food restaurants. There the mystery shoppers were greeted with a smile and more often received an apology for the wait. The least-smiling employees were those in the post offices, where the time waiting was the longest, over 17 minutes on average, and the customers’ numbers were the greatest.

To find out which country is the longest-waiting, where employees are most helpful and whether the crisis has something to do with big queues, you can read the articles on the topic (in Bulgarian).