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Customer Service vocabulary · Phone & Chat Phrases

Put on hold

Meaning in customer service, with examples

phraseCore term

In customer service, put on hold means: To make a caller wait on the line, usually with music playing, while you check something or speak to someone else.

In Turkish: hatta bekletmek, beklemeye almak

How it is used

Polite agents ask before doing it and say how long it will take: "Can I put you on hold for a moment?" The customer is then on hold. When you come back, thank them: "Thank you for holding." An order or a project can also be put on hold, which means delayed.

Example sentences

  1. Would you mind if I put you on hold for two minutes while I check with the warehouse?

  2. I was put on hold for twenty minutes, and then the line went dead.

Common collocations

  • put someone on hold
  • be on hold
  • thank you for holding
  • hold music
  • hold time
  • transferTo connect a caller to another person or department, so that the call continues with them.
  • bear with meA polite request asking someone to wait a moment or to be patient while you do something.
  • thank you for your patienceA polite expression used to thank a customer for waiting, for example after being on hold, after a delay or during a long investigation.
  • wait timeHow long a customer has to wait before an agent answers their call or chat.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Phone & Chat Phrases

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