A travel agent has described jumping in the shower, drying her hair, then driving to and from the supermarket to do the week’s shopping – all while waiting for a supplier to answer her phone query.

The homeworker eventually had to admit defeat and hang up after being on hold for over two hours because she had other clients to deal with.

She took to the Travel Gossip Facebook group to say: “Whilst on hold to an unnamed supplier this morning, I have managed to have a shower, wash (and dry) my hair, drive to Tesco do my entire shop and drive home!

“They still haven’t answered! Don’t know whether to laugh or cry!”

She told Travel Gossip: “I’m not one to complain – I love my job – and I really rate our trade partners but their wait times are prohibitive.

“I was on hold for the first time for 45 minutes then got cut off, and the second time was on hold for over 90 minutes before I gave up.

“I stayed on hold for the best part of the morning and I had to give up in the end as I have other clients to deal with.

“As agents, what we want to be doing is focusing on growing our business but we can’t because we spend half the day on hold.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to go and do something else while on hold. Another time I drove my car to the garage for an MOT, walked home and when I got back I was still waiting to be answered.”

And judging by comments on the Facebook post, other agents have also fine-tuned the art of doing other things while being put on hold.

One said she went for a facial – and was still waiting for her call to be answered when she finished her treatment.

Another described having to hold during a funeral wake when she had to call a supplier urgently because of a last-minute flight cancellation.

And another reported being on hold while travelling for four hours from Kent to Bournemouth – with the call still not answered on arrival and the line eventually being cut off.