your call is important to us

cliché A stock expression used by an automated voice service when a customer on the phone has been put on hold. Often used humorously or satirically. Please continue to hold. Your call is important to us. A sales representative will be with you as soon as possible. A: "God, the insurance company's customer service is so useless." B: "I know, right? Your whole house could have been blown over in a storm, and they would just be like, 'Your call is important to us.'"

your call is important to us

One of the frequent maddening phrases one hears over the phone when one is put on hold and is asked to wait “for the next available agent/operator/representative.” It is often augmented with “We thank you for your patience,” a quality that the person on hold is generally running out of. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the call concerns an order, complaint, or a question; allegedly all calls are equally important. These usages date from the late 1900s, when waiting for calls to be put through became a kind of art form. Laura Penny used it as the title of her 2005 book, Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth about Bullshit.