Is there anything more annoying than live chat customer service?

[buckeejit]

I know it will be annoying but is the customer service level just lower in comparison to e.g. a phone call?

I've just been on another one of these for a missing robot vac & there is a note at the top of live chat saying the rep may be dealing with more than one query at a time. How is that ever efficient? And I find it really rude as I'm then left there sitting waiting for them to respond for 3-5 minutes when it's a simple query they've not answered at the start, so it takes 30 minutes for something simple!

Any advice on coping with this frustration would be great! Perhaps I need to stop shopping online totally

I quite like it for simple issues!

My web chat experiences have been pretty good - I like the option.

(Except Hotel Chocolat - gave up in the end)

Every morning I log on to our bank account at work and there's a pop-up box with the 'Hi, how can we help you today?' message in it.

If I want help I'll ask for it. In the meantime your stupid message is covering up part of the screen I want to look at, so kindly bugger off please.

I actually like it. I love it when you get someone that goes off script and is genuinely really nice and goes the extra mile! I always get offered gift cards/account credit etc for really minor issues for some reason.

I get what you mean about waiting ages though. Vodafone is the worst for this.

I mean, I can see why handling multiple queries at once would be more efficient for the company. Live chat is generally used for simple issues.

Yes - answering the live chats we have to deal with up to 5 at a time across a few businesses simultaneously, it can be very stressful at this time of year! Doesn't excuse poor service but it's definitely not uncommon for your agent to be dealing with more than one thing at a time.

I love it!! So much better than trying to explain things over the phone. If I know a company has live chat customer service it makes me actively more likely to use them.

Totally with you. It took me two hours to sort an issue with my phone provider out on Tuesday as they have absolutely no other contact details available. It would've taken a maximum of ten minutes on the phone, if that. Needless to say I filled in the survey they sent me straight after and was immediately sent a complaints phone number

I had a great one at the weekend. He kept typing 'yeah'.

I actually had a good experience with one last week for Virgin broadband. He solved the issue and was hilariously deadpan. We had a brief exchange about spaghetti while I tried to figure out something about a wallbox. I'd have gone for a drink with him.

Due to lockdown/COVID I imagine them lying in bed on their laptops.

They're good if your the persons sole customer they're helping. Clinique are always great. British Gas drove me bananas, it took hours to finish the conversation as there was massive pauses in between the operators reply

Mine was on WhatsApp, how modern.

The advisor won't just be on the one chat with yourself. They may be on two or three and juggling replies as quickly as they can.
As has been said before, poor service isn't on but allow a little time especially at this time of year

I really like it because
a) I hate talking to strangers on the phone and
b) I either save the chat or take screenshots

Having to call and talk to a person is annoying. I love the live chat option.

@Sparklingbrook

Mine was on WhatsApp, how modern.

Mine too. He also sounded horizontal. He was called Harry. I think I developed a minor crush for all of about ten minutes.

@weshallneversurrender that's mad. I can understand if it's quiet but is there no way you can stick more to one company at least rather than presumably flick through lots of open tabs?

Looks like I generally get landed with unhelpful people then. I used to see the little dots that they were typing & then they disappeared & the rep wouldn't come back for another 5 minutes & I'd think they were just doing something so their system thought they were active & ignoring me for a while longer!

My employer ditched the majority of staff on its UK IT staff telephone help desk & replaced it with an offshore live chat service last year.

It’s worse than useless. Most people just let their IT problems pile up as it takes forever to resolve anything. You get a response maybe every few minutes before the offshore worker gives up and refers you back to the remaining onshore IT helpers (who invariably solve the problem within seconds on the phone).

Apple’s live chat is brilliant though, they recently arranged a replacement product under warranty with minimum fuss.

I've got mixed feelings about it, I guess it depends on how many chats the person you get through to is dealing with really as to how long you wait for answers. As someone else said, Vodafone isn't great, the customer service once you get through and get the issue dealt with has been good, but waiting is frustrating and there's no notification sound to let you know they've replied and sometimes my phone times out and goes to lock screen 🤦 my broadband provider was appalling, kept getting cut off and put to the back of the queue, it was to pay an overdue bill - overdue because they have suddenly stopped taking the payments. I managed to get a phone number and it was sorted it 5 minutes.
Though I've had a couple of really good experiences with my energy provider and another company, got connected fast, got replies fast and got sorted fast, faster than when I've phoned in the past. They also had notification sounds when the agent replied which was really helpful and meant I could keep doing stuff and knew when they had.
Like anything customer service related, a lot depends on the company standards and the expectations they have on those answering the chats.

Yes @SlightDrizzle, my one with his 'yeah' every 5 minutes seemed nice. But my Dad in his 80s would have been less than impressed with all the typos.

Excellent live chat with EDF way better than being on the phone!

Yanbu. I hate it.
I want to send an email so they can sort it in their time. I don't have time to wait on web chat.

My god as an introvert live chat instead of a phone number is a dream come true

I had a live chat with NS&I and assumed it was a robot - it wasn't! I found out when I asked it if it was a robot - he replied no and told me he was sitting in an office and told me what the weather outside was doing! Lovely chat, and yes he answered my question quickly and accurately.