Which? want to see firms offering more approximate delivery times

Gas and electricity firms keep people waiting for the longest time on average, closely followed by builders.

Fewer than one in 10 firms gave their customers an approximate time for delivery or for work to be carried out.

In retailing, computer and electrical firms were the worst for keeping customers waiting at home.

AVERAGE TIME SPENT WAITING FOR WORKMEN Gas and electricity engineers 4.6 hours Builders 4.3 hours Plumbers 3.5 hours Telephone, cable and satellite engineers 3.3 hours Boiler engineers 2.9 hours Electricians 2.7 hours Source: Which? magazine How long have you had to wait?

At the other end of the scale, supermarkets were found to be best at promising an approximate time for the delivery of goods and then sticking to it.

Online shopping

Which? magazine said the number of home deliveries was on the rise because of the growing popularity of online shopping.

They added that few firms delivered outside the hours 8am to 5pm, despite the fact that half of homes are empty between 9am and 4pm.

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"It's high time retailers and the UK's workmen raised their game to meet the needs of consumers in the 21st century," said Which? editor Neil Fowler.

"We'd like to see firms offering narrower delivery or appointment time slots.

"If the supermarkets can do it, we see no reason why other retailers can't do the same."

Which? researchers questioned more than 2,000 people.