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AIBU?

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Original poster

to be fed up with how f-ing difficult everything is?

160 replies

GrinchyScroogus · 15/12/2025 13:15

Maybe I'm caught in one of those phases where everything goes wrong. I feel like everything is such an f-ing hassle if you interact with any kind of shop or goods or services and I'm fed up with it.

I've had a delivery where it was just left in a puddle when it should have been put through a letter box, the box soaked through and the item was damaged - not unusuable but not as ordered. I emailed asking for a partial refund and got sent a £5 gift card. WTF. Never ordered from these people before and had no need for anything else from them. Had another go and eventually they refunded me £20 (about 50%) - so it was worth doing but just hassle. Offering a gift card for something delivered damaged is terrible customer service, so is having to force the customer to raise it again.

Another problem where had to try to get info out of a previous company about what work they'd done to give a new company. No one answering the phone on hold forever. Phoned repeatedly and wasted a lot of time and phone bill money.

Ordered something from Amazon from a 3rd party. what was delivered was not what was described at all. Actioned return but they expected me to pay postage so needed more emails to sort that out as I was not prepared to pay postage to return something that was there complete misdescription.

A (Well known for being incompetent) courier company keep delivering a neighbours parcels to us because they can't read the address apparently (not because they aren't in). Trying to contact them is near impossible.

Just one thing after another. Complaining is stressful and I hate all this but if you don't you lose a lot of money. Leaving the courier which is just a pain, the total cost of not trying to sort out all this would have been about £130 - none of this is just shopaholic shopping either, some of it was serious maintenance stuff.

It just seems that unless you stay at home and do nothing, every engagement with every shop or service causes problems AND then sorting it out is never easy.

Does anyone else have this experience or do most people just suck up the wasted money and let it go?

SO FED UP.

OP posts:
HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 15/12/2025 23:53

Absolutely
@ASimpleLampoon

jojojoeyjojo · 15/12/2025 23:10

The AA…i have sadly broken down three times recently..long story. Each time the only way of getting assistance from AA was via the app…when i tried to call the phone line..it just directs you to app so you can’t actually speak to anyone. Three times the app got my location wrong..the best one was when, after waiting over 2 hours, a patrolman rang to say he was on his way… trouble was he was in Darlington and i was in Essex! When i did get help, the AA man said it happens all the time and the app keeps giving them completely wrong location for the customer. I have cancelled my membership now…spurred on by fact my renewal quote was double what i had been paying despite being a loyal customer for many years and never calling them out before this recent spate caused by a series of unfortunate events. When you have broken down in a vulnerable position all you want to do is speak to a human being not grapple with a bloody, useless app Angry

RaraRachael · 15/12/2025 22:51

Parking apps are the worst. Why the hell can't I pay contactless like I do for everything else. I don't need the Lidl, Tesco or Boots app to pay for their stuff so why should parking be different?

Whoever thought chatbots were a good idea. Going round and round in circles answering the same questions only to be passed to a human because the stupid bloody bot can't answer. That's what I wanted in the first place.

EmeraldDreams73 · 15/12/2025 22:28

And another thing! Paid to park via an app (only option and running too late to find different place) in unfamiliar car park in unfamiliar city last week. Realised I needed longer towards the end of the time. Tried to extend the time. Wouldn't let me. Rang them. Was informed by a bored girl that as I hadn't signed into an account but paid "on a casual basis", it wouldn't let me. Wtf? Kept trying. It let me pay for another hour 15 mins after the first period had expired and both have left my account. I am convinced they'll send a parking ticket because despite trying SO hard, I didn't realise I needed to sign my life away to add more time as nothing made that clear! But they'll nab you electronically the instant you drive in or out. Those systems are precise. Ugh.

EmeraldDreams73 · 15/12/2025 22:22

Oh, I completely agree. It's such a rarity to encounter half decent customer service and we're a good 30-60 mins drive away from anywhere selling anything useful, and in any case the poorly paid staff give no shits and always want to email a receipt.

Outside of shops, I spend SO much of my life (at work and home) going round in circles with nonexistent customer service chatbots, or systems geared to ensure I never get further than multiple people making me repeat myself for an hour while telling me how very sorry they are for the inconvenience. And the endless bloody codes!

Since Covid they've all continued the enraging recorded message about "unusually high call volumes". Not unusual any more ffs, you're just trying to pay nowhere near enough ACTUAL PEOPLE to sort shit out for ACTUAL CUSTOMERS and we've all become used to receiving abysmal help or service with anything.

Menopausal rage is running the show most days here...

DontPokeMe · 15/12/2025 22:20

HMRC won't let me close a business because apparently my address doesn't correlate with their records. When I call they cannot just change the address, or explain why they have a different one on their system.

Funny how they have all of my details INCLUDING THE CORRECT ADDRESS TO SEND ME REMINDERS that it's time to pay my tax bill!!

Next swear blind they have refunded me. I've chased for weeks to get a transaction number for said refund. Can't bring myself to ring my bank because I know it will be a barrage of passwords I have forgot, and then be told to do it through the app with the bot who has no idea what I'm talking about! 🫩

ForFluentLimeFatball · 15/12/2025 22:19

Tried to pay for street parking. Ringo app would not download. Called them. Omg, I have changed cars. What a palaver.Eventually sort but FFS, also have a new payment card. I gave up. All to try to pay to park. Oh to stick change in a machine and get a ticket. It's not just you. The above sums up my life

Katemax82 · 15/12/2025 22:17

ASimpleLampoon · 15/12/2025 14:17

I see your goods and services

I raise you - The SEND system.

Omg yes! I'm trying to get my autistic 7 year old into a special school. You would think I was trying to pass a new law or make Tesco change it's think 25 policy

CherryBlossom321 · 15/12/2025 22:08

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 15/12/2025 21:21

Last week I ordered a serum, package contained a travel adaptor. Amazon customer service couldn’t get past thr fact that the order had been delivered, and there was proof of delivery - yes, but the parcel had the wrong item in it! I got there in the end but bloody hell, it was SO annoying, and I still had to reorder the thing I wanted and get a refund rather than them send a replacement. (But if anyone is off to the States and needs an adaptor, holler.)

Show quote history

It’s such a convoluted process! Apparently they can’t acknowledge my empty parcel that arrived for 48 hours?! It’s a Christmas gift too 🤦‍♀️

Attempt333 · 15/12/2025 22:07

I've just 💭 of another one. Well known french soap company. I made an order online, waiting ages for delivery, wasn't in a rush. It said on my account online that it had been dispatched but when nothing showed up I contacted them and they said. One of your items is not in stock so it's sitting on the side waiting for you to confirm. What did I want to do?. I said my word did you not think to contact me ? Apparently they emailed me but I have no such email and when I said so what were you going to do nothing ? Try and contact me since you had no heard anything ? You have my money and have not sent my order and why does it say dispatched when it hasn't been ? They said to create a postal label they have to push it to dispatched. I said is that not misleading!? I looked at it and it said you item is on its way but it's not ; they got pretty arsey about it..soap was good though

Baahbaahmutton · 15/12/2025 22:04

Oh and going to bank branch only to be directed by staff to the machine. I was the only person in that branch!

Theseventhmagpie · 15/12/2025 22:03

Totally agree OP and don’t even get me started on useless bloody AI chatbots 😡

Baahbaahmutton · 15/12/2025 22:01

I agree with you. I am currently mentally preparing to go to my CC to get money back for wrong product where the company simply doesn't communicate and are very obtuse over a phone if I manage to get through.
It's like 5th thing in last month that got fucked and took waaaay too much time for me to sort. Like whole day waiting for engineer because job kept being pushed back only to find out it wasn't even them I needed.

Then to not shop online I go to physical shops. Who don't have the thing I need anyway and suggest to me I order it from their websites. Afternoon wasted because I needed it that day...

Get fucked with "We ArE lOSInG StOrEs, YoU nEeD tO uSe Us Or lOsE Us".

Thechaseison71 · 15/12/2025 22:00

the80sweregreat · 15/12/2025 14:25

Most of the banks in our town have gone.
They rely on the apps now , which is just another way of fobbing you off.

Last one in my town shuts on Saturday. They say people weren't using them when open but trouble was they started opening shorter and shorter hours so no one could bloody get their in opening times

Attempt333 · 15/12/2025 21:58

Omg yes! I ordered a few times to collect from Argos, I order 3 items. They all have different f number and PIN codes and all sorts to collect..dear god who do they think is showing up to collect my items. Can't I just tell you my address ?!!. Anyway DH came back with 1 item due to the confusion.
Can't remember the last time I actually had good customer service tbh

Also delivery from Amazon, apparently delivered to my safe space which is the back door. They took a picture looked like it was behind the bins. Checked everywhere could not find it. Ordered a replacement and a day later reversed out of my drive and the parcels were under my bloody car

RaraRachael · 15/12/2025 21:55

Trying to get a rail refund for nearly 4 months. Been in touch with at least 5 people, have given them the correct information. Next day get an email from a different person who says I haven't given them enough information.

Trying to cancel a washing machine policy today because they can't send anybody out until the 30th. "We have no record of that policy". Three times. Finally forwarded them their own email with same information.

Can I speak to a human? No chance.

Drives me round the bloody bend.

JasmineTea11 · 15/12/2025 21:45

Avoid online shopping wherever possible?!

Daygloboo · 15/12/2025 21:40

GrinchyScroogus · 15/12/2025 13:15

Maybe I'm caught in one of those phases where everything goes wrong. I feel like everything is such an f-ing hassle if you interact with any kind of shop or goods or services and I'm fed up with it.

I've had a delivery where it was just left in a puddle when it should have been put through a letter box, the box soaked through and the item was damaged - not unusuable but not as ordered. I emailed asking for a partial refund and got sent a £5 gift card. WTF. Never ordered from these people before and had no need for anything else from them. Had another go and eventually they refunded me £20 (about 50%) - so it was worth doing but just hassle. Offering a gift card for something delivered damaged is terrible customer service, so is having to force the customer to raise it again.

Another problem where had to try to get info out of a previous company about what work they'd done to give a new company. No one answering the phone on hold forever. Phoned repeatedly and wasted a lot of time and phone bill money.

Ordered something from Amazon from a 3rd party. what was delivered was not what was described at all. Actioned return but they expected me to pay postage so needed more emails to sort that out as I was not prepared to pay postage to return something that was there complete misdescription.

A (Well known for being incompetent) courier company keep delivering a neighbours parcels to us because they can't read the address apparently (not because they aren't in). Trying to contact them is near impossible.

Just one thing after another. Complaining is stressful and I hate all this but if you don't you lose a lot of money. Leaving the courier which is just a pain, the total cost of not trying to sort out all this would have been about £130 - none of this is just shopaholic shopping either, some of it was serious maintenance stuff.

It just seems that unless you stay at home and do nothing, every engagement with every shop or service causes problems AND then sorting it out is never easy.

Does anyone else have this experience or do most people just suck up the wasted money and let it go?

SO FED UP.

Absolutely 100%. Life is too fast, too chaotic, not at human pace and people cant cope. I genuinely think we need to go back to a slower pace of life. Everone is under so much pressure that nobody iscreally able to do their job properly, hence all the cock ups and bad service. And everybody passes the buck.

mydaughterisademon · 15/12/2025 21:36

Try having a child with SEN. EHCP’s and the LA/NHS are a joke. Constant battle, tribunals to get anything done. And even when it is done, schools don’t fucking follow it & the LA do nothing. Bane of my entire life!

Theyreeatingthedogs · 15/12/2025 21:30

Fluffyholeysocks · 15/12/2025 13:38

Dare I mention HMRC? I paid nearly 1500 pounds too much in PAYE tax last year, in July I rang them (on hold for 45 minutes) to confirm they had all my P60's so could they refund the overpayment. A completely disinterested call handler explained that they were waiting on one of my savings providers to report back on how much interest I had earned on one of my savings accounts. I said I had those figures on my app - I'd earned 30 quid. Sorry - they need the bank to inform them. I asked why did I have the figures months ago and not HMRC? I was told not to worry, it would be repaid by November! I have just received my repayment - 9 months after the end of the tax year. Presumably I will be going through the same painful process next year.

You're lucky. When I log into my HMRC account it says my tax hasn't been calculated yet. It appears they have a backlog. Good thing I'm not desperate for the refund.

WonderingWanda · 15/12/2025 21:25

Also sick of the endless chat bots that cannot solve your problem. The millions of different options that don't solve your issue.

Whilst I get that banks need to check for fraud I recently had to spend 40 mins doing security checks because I'd lost my bank card after moving house. There were so many questions and I'd clearly got something wrong which is why they kept going I can't remember the bloody number I was given to set up my online banking....which is different from the number I use to log in. I was genuinely starting to wonder what would happen, how would I ever get my money out of this bank if I couldn't pass the online security? They don't have highstreet branches. Would there be somewhere I could go with my passport to prove I am me? Or would they just keep my money forever. I'm starting to see the appeal of hiding it under the floorboards.

Jewelbeetle · 15/12/2025 21:23

This post has spoken to me today!

  1. Currys let me order an item and then it just never turned up. No tracking. All online help useless. Forced to phone to be told it’s ’probably out of stock with the third party supplier, I can wait or cancel’. Why do I have to call to find this out?
  2. Evri. Tried to refuse delivery because I knew (too late) the item wasnt genuine. Driver forced a photo as I was saying ‘No, NO!’, then took it away to start the ‘returns’ process. Of course it’s now lost and I am out of pocket.
  3. Amazon today, my initial fault, used an old Amazon account to keep a gift secret and accidentally sent to old address (same village). Managed to accost Amazon driver who assured me had the parcel and would get it to me but had to show it had gone to the listed address first. Lo and behold, photo of item delivered to old address outside of closed door, new residents don’t have it. My husband laughed as I organised a little gift for the driver on his mythical return. What a mug.
Judystilldreamsofhorses · 15/12/2025 21:21

CherryBlossom321 · 15/12/2025 21:12

YANBU. I received a fully sealed and intact, yet flat and completely empty Amazon parcel yesterday. I’m baffled as to how it left a warehouse like that. You could tell it was empty just by handling it, thin as paper.

Last week I ordered a serum, package contained a travel adaptor. Amazon customer service couldn’t get past thr fact that the order had been delivered, and there was proof of delivery - yes, but the parcel had the wrong item in it! I got there in the end but bloody hell, it was SO annoying, and I still had to reorder the thing I wanted and get a refund rather than them send a replacement. (But if anyone is off to the States and needs an adaptor, holler.)

Incelebration · 15/12/2025 21:16

Offering a gift card for something delivered damaged is terrible customer service, so is having to force the customer to raise it again.

Yes, totally agree. Having to chase a company to put right their error is infuriating. It's clear in some cases they hope you're just going to give up.

CherryBlossom321 · 15/12/2025 21:12

YANBU. I received a fully sealed and intact, yet flat and completely empty Amazon parcel yesterday. I’m baffled as to how it left a warehouse like that. You could tell it was empty just by handling it, thin as paper.