Guardian readers across the US shared their customer service battles with big companies, highlighting the time, expense, and emotional toll exacted by businesses prioritizing profits over people.
The Top Takeaway: People Hate AI Customer Service
The main complaint isn't that it's impersonal—it's that AI chatbots don't work for anything beyond basic tasks like checking balances or making payments. Readers describe them as "endless doom loops" and a massive time suck.
"It’s the bots. Daily battle with stupid, useless, brain-dead bots on the phone, trying to reach a human being... Infuriating, exhausting, debilitating, depressing, enraging. Ugh." — Communications professor near Boston
Overlapping Failures Create Nightmares
Many readers cited multiple company failures that led to lost money, days of effort, and even health risks.
- Melanie Cooley (Arizona educator): CVS couldn't fill her prescription for six weeks. After tracking down a pharmacy in another state, the express delivery arrived days late and went to the wrong mailbox. She was off medication for two weeks.
- Carol Murdock (Nashville): Spent an entire day trying to resolve a fraudulent $629 charge on her AT&T bill for a line she doesn't own. The bill is still outstanding.
- Josh Dayberry (Indiana): His Samsung oven broke soon after purchase. After hours on the phone and a no-show repairman, he bought a cheaper range for Thanksgiving. The Samsung still sits in his garage.
Hope and Despair Among Older Americans
Many respondents in their 60s and 70s dread retirement marked by pinching pennies and battling companies. Carroll Strauss, 77, said: "Even the Veterans Administration where I get my healthcare is impossible to get on the phone... I have never felt so hopeless in my life."
A Call for Political Change
Some readers are doubting the entire economic system. A 35-year-old software engineer wrote: "There is no compelling reason to want to stay in this country any more... Everything is a cash grab or a scam." Another reader suggested: "If someone ran for the presidency on the single issue of protecting consumers from predation... they’d be elected."
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