"We're currently experiencing a higher than normal call volumes"

I've noticed that it's really popular to say "we're currently experiencing a higher than normal call volume" before a company drops you on hold.

I've called into many different tech support lines for various reasons and I seem to get this more often than not. Recent offenders include Rogers, Apple and CIBC.

What's the deal? When I call these companies more than once at different times in the day over several days, I get the impression that they don't have enough staff and they are just trying to placate me. They're trying to make it seem like it's my fault that me and my user brethren all broken our phones at the same time.

I would feel much better if they said "there are currently 100 people on hold and 25 reps". At least then I'd know that there is more than 2 reps handling the call volume.