3h29: the time French people sacrifice for a home service call
- 17/08/2026
- 14:23
Reading time: 7 min
Content Marketing Manager
According to the OpinionWay survey for Nomadia conducted from June 9 to 17, 2026 among 1,160 French people, a technical home service call ties up an average of 3h29 in the customer’s schedule. This time is not limited to pure waiting: it covers the entire blocked window around the appointment, from advance planning to the technician’s departure.
The problem is not the duration of the service call itself, often limited to a few dozen minutes: it’s the provider’s inability to announce a reliable time. And this imprecision has a measurable cost, for the customer as well as their employer.
Sommaire
3h29 Lost: A Mass Irritant, Not an Isolated Case
The survey figures reveal a widespread phenomenon, not a series of isolated incidents:
For an employee, sacrificing half a day for a service appointment is not just a logistical inconvenience: it's a direct opportunity cost, reflected in the survey's professional-impact findings: 52% of working respondents report an impact on their job .
Did you know?
The blocked-out time climbs to 4h09 on average for installing new equipment, versus 3h04 for scheduled maintenance. Not all appointments are equal, and the survey compares them one by one.
Download the full study
Discover all the findings of the OpinionWay survey for Nomadia on the French experience of at-home service visits.
Our solution: short time slots that are actually kept
Announcing a one-hour time slot and keeping it requires routes built around the real constraints of the field. Nomadia Field Service Management factors in more than 200 business constraints (skills, travel time, parts, emergencies) to produce reliable schedules and keep customers informed in real time about the technician's progress.
Assessments and installations: the appointments that cost the most time
How much time customers commit varies significantly depending on the reason for the visit:
- Assessments and diagnostics: 37% of customers spend half a day or more on these;
- New equipment installations: 36%;
- Average across all service visits: 29%.
Part of this gap has a technical explanation: a diagnostic visit carries inherent uncertainty (nature of the fault, part availability), while an installation involves multiple steps.
But that explanation isn't enough: even the simplest visits are still associated with scheduling uncertainty. The determining factor isn't the complexity of the task — it's how the company plans and communicates around it.
Dissatisfaction sets in before the technician even arrives
The top two sources of frustration cited by French respondents aren't about the technical service itself, but about how the appointment is organized:
- A time window announced too broadly: 32%, the top source of frustration;
- Lack of information about the actual arrival time: 28%.
In other words, a company can address most of this dissatisfaction without changing anything about its technical work: by tightening announced time windows and keeping customers informed while they wait.
That's exactly what the survey's expectations show: 90% of French respondents want to be notified as soon as a delay reaches 15 minutes
Conclusion
With 3h29 tied up on average, customer time is no longer a minor organizational detail: it's a deciding factor, weighed from the moment the appointment is booked.
Companies able to announce short time slots — and keep them — turn the industry's number-one irritant into a competitive advantage, before the technician even rings the doorbell.
FAQ
3h29: the time French people sacrifice for a home service call
What is “blocked time” during a home service call?
It’s all the time the customer must set aside in their schedule around the appointment: preparation, mandatory presence during the announced window, possible wait after the service call. According to the OpinionWay survey for Nomadia (June 2026), it reaches 3h29 on average in France.
Which service calls take up the most time for the customer?
Inspections and diagnostics (37% of customers devote half a day or more to them) and new equipment installations (36%), compared to 29% on average. In average blocked time, installing new equipment ranks first at 4h09.
How can a company reduce this blocked time?
By optimizing route planning (business constraints, travel time, actual availability) to offer short, reliable time slots, then giving the customer real-time visibility on the technician’s arrival rather than a multi-hour window.
