Hilarious And Infuriating Customer Service Fails
We’ve got to call a spade a spade. Customer service is just not what it used to be. These days it seems impossible to get an actual human being instead of a machine to help us. AI customer service isn’t part of the future, from dealing with complaints to helping us pay our bills, it’s our present! Just because we taught programs how to handle problems doesn’t always mean they get things right.
We can’t blame the human customer service reps for vanishing. With fewer people willing to take on the job, there are more and more unqualified and downright unprofessional people filling these positions.
These customer service fails were probably frustrating, but they’re also hilarious!
Hi, How Can I Help You?
One of the benefits of modern technology is the fact that most people can get nearly any piece of info they want, whenever they want. With smartphones and other tech connecting us to artificially intelligent bots, it’s easy to figure things out. The only time it’s inconvenient is when we don’t know how to get them to listen to us!
All this customer wanted to know is if there was a service outage at their place. It seems like the bot wants to help. However, just because it wants to doesn’t mean it’s listening. Is there some sort of magic word this person was supposed to type?
They Never Listen To Us!
Thank goodness for automated and electronic billing. Being able to pay bills online instead of through the mail is a game-changer. Some of us remember having to mail out checks to make monthly payments! For you young people, this may sound weird. Nowadays, people can take care of almost everything over the phone or computer!
Almost, because it seems the one thing you can’t do online is complain to someone. Sure, you can type something to the bot, but it’s not going to care. Sometimes they seem programmed to only respond with confidence and a quick “thanks”! Everything else is background noise to them.
Is Agent Dion A Psychic?
Even when we’re separated by screens, making a human connection with someone is important for great customer service. Despite not being able to look someone in the eye, being a fast typist with a sympathetic ear can help you go far. Listening and responding to a customer’s needs is one thing, timing is another.
Whatever the folks over at Wal-Mart are doing, they seem to be training people to read the future. Whatever this customer needed, Agent Dion seemed prepared with a solution. Well, at least a kind ear and an apology. We’re not sure what he was apologizing for, but darn it, he sure was sorry!
Well That’s Not Very Helpful
Not all customer service chats end up being between you and a machine. Sometimes you’re able to get another person on the other line! How fun! Since you’re both humans you’ll surely get a solution to your problem. Language isn’t that much of an issue anymore. Translators and all sorts of apps exist to help us communicate. All it takes is the dedication to fixing an issue.
Honesty is nice as well. If you don’t know what a customer wants, just transfer them to someone more knowledgeable. It should be that simple, shouldn’t it? That doesn’t mean it is! At least this rep was honest when it came to their skills and abilities. Outside of their scripted greeting, they couldn’t say anything else!
This Sounds Awkward All-Around
Learning to chat with people online has a bit of a learning curve. While the rules of conversation are different, they do mimic the real world. Normally, you wouldn’t scream at the person directly in front of you. Unfortunately, that’s what CAPS LOCK looks like. Things can get even more difficult when the person doing the text-shouting doesn’t realize they don’t have to do it.
Thankfully, this happened in the chat instead of out in the real world. Hopefully, this means these two were able to communicate without worrying about sign language or using all capital letters. At least none of it seemed intentional.
Are There In-Store Demonstrations?
No matter how normal it is and how often people do it, buying condoms can cause a bit of anxiety. The sheer number of choices is already intimidating. Plus, all the different colors on the boxes can make things confusing. Sometimes we just need someone to point us in the right direction. But we’d rather be confused and buy more than needed instead of asking a stranger.
Here’s the thing, nobody should be embarrassed. People at the store are there to help. It’s their job! This pharmacy seems to take things a bit further than that. What type of hand is being lent and how well are those people paid?
What’re A Few Years Anyway?
Talking to bots or service reps can require a lot of patience. Usually, there are wait times, even if you want to leave a complaint. If you just wait long enough, someone will eventually get back to you. It’s just proper customer service to do so. Plus, there’s a log of messages, so you have timestamps for everything these days. The problem is we don’t exactly know WHEN someone will reply to us.
This airline may have experienced a rush, but they weren’t going to leave their customer hanging! No matter how long it took, they were sure to apologize for ruining that flight for this customer and her friends. However, what exactly can you do four or five years after the fact?
Maybe They Employ Time Lords
Getting someone to come out to our house and fix something used to involve staying on the phone and sitting around waiting for a car to arrive. Fast-forward a few decades and now we can schedule an appointment without all that hassle. But when the person is a no-show, we have to contact the company and figure out what’s going on.
What most people don’t tell you is that the support line has no idea either. What they see in their system is all they know. It’s almost like reading a script, because if they deviate from that then they’re as lost and confused as we are! That or the tech has the power of time travel and they’re not late, they’re still early.
Did They At Least Get Tan?
Leaving bad reviews for businesses is almost like a pastime for people. They get some weird satisfaction when businesses are made to look bad for things that aren’t always their fault. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here, in fact, we have no idea why this person left a 1-star review.
That response is enough for anyone to give them a 1-star rating. There’s nothing wrong with a business owner setting the story straight, but calling someone a “loser idiot” is taking it a little too far. This customer might’ve left that review by mistake for all we know! As a result, they were subjected to some vitriol by this bitter business owner.
They Prefer Simple Questions Only
Just because machines are faster than us doesn’t mean they’re smarter. Modern-day “virtual agents” are just phone trees with visual steps. You need to make sure you know the right words to get you where you need to go. Even though typing in full sentences is usually best, in this case, it didn’t help.
Instead, this customer had to talk as if they were teaching English while trying to get assistance. Oddly enough, that’s basically what happened! What makes it sad is that it doesn’t even look like the complaint got them closer to the end. Too bad you can’t just press 0 to talk to someone like on the phone.
Only Positive Responses Will Count
The customer satisfaction survey is a double-edged sword for any support department. It can help companies know where they need to improve. They can also cause people to lose their job, bonuses, or deal with a disciplinary hearing. Since you can’t please everyone, it can feel like the survey does more harm than good. Since people can fill them out anonymously, people are getting more honest.
But maybe they’re only pretending to invite you to do the survey. It only really counts if the numbers are good. Any other time the message may just get lost in delivery. This must be a great system for the employees, though it’s not going to help the company get any honest feedback.
It’s Like Playing The Waiting Game
One of the lesser-known secrets about dealing with customer service is that persistence is key. It doesn’t matter how long you’re on the line, as long as you stay on you’ll eventually get what you need. That type of dedication shows whoever you’re calling that you mean business. While this works most of the time, calling the airline is a different beast entirely. These businesses are always full of long wait times.
Whether you need gate info or to speak to another human RIGHT NOW, customer service is here to help. It’ll only take them a few hours to reach you! In this frequent flyer’s case, it only took a little over five…before the line disconnected and they had to start over.
Just Say Nobody Can Help
Automated chat systems are getting more and more advanced. Every day they sound more human than before. Part of that is because they’re learning from talking to us. The other part is that programmers have learned to make these things sound nicer. That alone will cause people to interact with them more! However, no amount of politeness can make up for bad info.
Even with a “please” and “thank you”, if a bot tells you to do something, and it doesn’t work, what do you do then? Aren’t these things supposed to be up-to-date with the company that made them? Just being told to call someone else for help isn’t good enough. Plus, the number provided isn’t even in service! Is this the company’s weird way of giving customers the run-around?
Laying It On A Little Thick
Woah, woah, woah, we know the survey at the end is important but come on. A simple sign-off is always better than this. Maybe this type of overly-polite goodbye is the norm for this business. That and perhaps they do send people chocolate over 5G somehow (spoiler: it’s not possible yet). Even if they don’t, this rep wants to let this customer know that they’re appreciated.
Even if it’s preventing them from closing the window they’re going to let you know. They value their customers so much that they’ll keep telling them over and over and over again! It’s that compounding awkwardness that makes the satisfaction survey impossible to ignore. If that doesn’t work, then they’ll just keep talking in the chat!
That’s A Big Ol’ Whoops
No matter how professional they sound, the agent in the chat room is almost always a person. This means that they get annoyed and have opinions just like the rest of us. Since they’re being paid to be polite they can’t really tell customers what they really think of them. It’s also likely that these people have their own chats where they vent about problem customers during the day.
All of that is fine and expected. But it can be problematic when they get those chat windows mixed up. One simple mistake and this person went from helpful to groveling for a good review in seconds! Let this be a lesson to everyone: always double-check which window you’re typing in.
Does Dexter Live There Too?
Not all customer service agents live near the company or place where customers visit. Thanks to virtual and remote work, many may never see the business during their time with a company. It’s probably hard for them to fully imagine what some people get upset about. However, judging by this description, we figure this agent may be feeling a little nervous.
It also reads like they were renting out a crime scene to this traveler! While being as helpful as they could, they probably have to be safe too. If that means ending the chat early to avoid being the next victim then so be it!
Just Use The Magic Words
Phone trees and online support systems have a lot in common. While they operate differently, they both exist to infuriate anyone who gets lost in their many options. Little-known tip: you don’t have to speak in full sentences with these. If you know the correct keyword you can reach a real person in seconds! It may sound sneaky (and it is) but that’s the way of the world.
To get an actual human on the line you may have to look outside your preferred department. Even when the bot was telling them to call, this person refused to give up. With a little pressing, they were able to fool the system into giving them an actual employee to talk to!
Who Is Cutting The Line?
Don’t you hate those juvenile rules from school about regular and backward cuts in line? It’s just a sham system designed to let people’s friends avoid waiting for stuff as long. We’re glad that kind of nonsense was left behind in grade school. Okay, it was MOSTLY left behind. Some companies are built on this idea that just anyone can cut in their lines. This can even happen when people are lining up virtually!
This must have been rage-inducing to see happening in real-time. This person was minding their own business, waiting patiently, and then BAM! They go from being in the top three to fourth…then fifth! Is this company like the ER? Do some people get to receive priority treatment if there’s an emergency?
That Fee Was Applied Because
Unlike face-to-face conversations, talking to someone online means you may randomly get disconnected. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe the agent thought they were done with their explanation. Perhaps there was nothing else to say. That or maybe the company you’re complaining to doesn’t want to be helpful. As rude as it is, it happens every now and then.
There are also freak occurrences where a huge power issue forces a conversation to end prematurely. We’re pretty sure that’s (probably) what happened here. Instead of explaining and being helpful, this agent didn’t want to be caught delivering bad news. Instead, that pesky power outage helped them finish the chat early!
It’s Timed To The Exact Second
When you’re waiting for a delivery it’s always important to note the time. Some places are real sticklers for adhering to their specific time frames. It can be down to the second, if a place has time to spare they’ll use it. That’s why it doesn’t always help when you need an update on the same day as delivery. The customer service rep will probably just pull whatever this one did.
Yes, they said 6:00 PM. However, until it’s 6:01 PM they still technically have time! Of course, once that extra minute is added, this person most likely went off. Sometimes it’s irritating when a company is going by the exact letter (or number).
Contact Us Again Real Soon
Tech support is a thankless job that’s never fully prepared to assist the common consumer. It’s not always the company’s fault. Sometimes people just don’t understand how to operate a piece of technology. There’s usually a learning curve with most systems. Most of those are designed with the knowledge that a customer will understand basic tech situations. It’s not ridiculous to assume they’d think people know to turn on devices before reporting a problem.
Working on the assumption that people aren’t clueless is never a good idea. That assumption leads to unhelpful interactions like this! When the customer can’t be helped, what is the rep supposed to do? In this case, it’s pretending that everything is fine and moving on to the next problem.
We’ll Be With You Shortly
Time is a funny thing. No matter how much we claim to measure it the same way, one person’s “soon” is wildly different from another’s. It even changes depending on what company you’re talking to! What exactly do they mean when they say they’ll be with you shortly? There’s got to be some standard of measurement. If not, then perhaps waiting a few days for an agent is normal.
It’s not completely unheard of to be on hold for hours at a time. Maybe this is the new normal now that we all live in chat rooms? Two days is NOTHING in Internet time! We hope they eventually got someone to help them.
It’s Too Upsetting To Discuss
Don’t you hate it when you order food and it arrives with something missing? Usually, it’s small and doesn’t ruin the meal. But this situation couldn’t be ignored. This time the spinach dip is missing and everything is terrible. This isn’t an overreaction. Do you know how much some places charge for that dip? This was probably a good part of the customer’s bill!
We’d be upset too! Good thing they got customer support on the line. They’ll know what to do. What? They just abandoned this person in their time of need? Maybe the news was too upsetting for even the employee to handle.
The Solution Is Positive Reinforcement
Despite being easier than ever to talk to people, chatting online isn’t as fun or helpful as we imagined. When you’re online it can be a lot harder to detect tone, sarcasm, and other things that make communication with another human simple. We didn’t even know McDonald’s had customer support! What could someone possibly complain about? This wasn’t a case of the McNuggets being cold…
We’d be mad if our Happy Meal never arrived and we still had to pay. Instead of ticking off the burger gods, this person had an idea. Just play nice. Even if the sarcasm couldn’t be detected, maybe it’ll work. Guess what? It did! They got someone on the line! Though it doesn’t seem like they were very helpful.
Think Micro With The Macros
Here’s a fun bit of insider tech knowledge: a lot of responses are automated. When you’re dealing with a high volume of issues, it can be easier to program a computer to handle the initial messages. That way you can devote your time to the real issues. These handy messages (also known as macros) are usually set to respond to keywords and start a conversation. The issue is that they’re never personal enough to be helpful.
While it looks like this support agent just needs to collect info, this wasn’t the right message to send. All they did was ask for information the customer already gave! That’s going to make the inevitable customer success survey a bit uncomfortable to read.
At Least They’re Being Honest
Even in the virtual world, it can be tough to figure out when a business or service is open. Much like banks and post offices, some businesses have random hours. One day they’re open for a couple of minutes, the next they’re only open for hours divisible by three. The rules never make sense and it’s always impossible to get answers.
Why can’t all companies be like this chatbot here? Keep things simple and tell your customers exactly when you’re open. Even if the answer is never, it’s nice to see it on the screen in front of us. That way we have something to shout at because our problems never get fixed anyways.
And It Is The Best
It’s a bit confusing how some services can remain on top for so long. Even with a myriad of problems, some streaming giants never appear to fix anything. That and it always seems like their customers are happy despite all the issues. Why do you think that is? Well, the satisfaction survey only shows the best of the best responses! It’s not that these businesses are cherry-picking the results.
Instead, they’re just making the surveys work in their favor! You can’t have unhappy customers if nobody knows they’re unhappy. With this system, everyone gets their voice heard (and then translated to suit Netflix’s needs).
Someone Didn’t Read The Instructions
At the end of the day, a lot of virtual agents are programs trying to do their best. To work with them we have to understand the language they think in. A lot of the time that boils down to asking the right questions at the right time. It may seem infuriating and downright unhelpful, but having a bit of reading comprehension can get you wherever you need to be.
It may seem odd that the computer is happy this person got scammed. However, in its defense, it has no idea what they mean. The instructions were to ask a question. We don’t see a question mark in this person’s initial issue. If anything, this is the customer’s fault for not reading things correctly.
Maybe They Were Really Excited?
Working in the gaming industry is not as glamorous as it sounds. Telling people what you do may be fun, but the actual work is a nightmare. Even when they’re not programming games, dealing with players can feel like a marathon session all its own. Everyone seems to have different issues they need assistance with. Every complaint feels both personal as well as run-of-the-mill.
With so many different issues it can be a bit mind-boggling how people don’t freak out behind the keyboard. But it appears that they do sometimes. Partha has had enough. Instead of dealing with another pre-order issue they just slammed their hands on the keyboard! Maybe this is their resignation letter (or password).
Service Doesn’t Always Mean Politeness
Twitter has somehow become the platform for people to air their grievances, start drama, and respond to strangers with as much sarcasm as possible. There are thousands of people with anger issues on that app to keep the planet warm with disdain for centuries. Not even professional businesses are immune to the power that anonymous posting gives someone. It’s so easy to set up an account and pretend to be someone.
We’re not saying this is fake. If it isn’t then it makes it all that much better. Usually, when an employee snaps, they get escorted out of the building so they’re not bothering anyone. On the Internet, that’s harder to do. Instead, they’re just left to rant and rave until they tire themselves out (or get blocked).