Miscommunication is common in customer-service departments. Both customers and customer-service representatives have horror stories they have accumulated during their chat interactions and are happy to share. So here are five aggravating comments recorded from customers’ chat scripts, and five others recorded from the customer-service rep’s chat script—showcasing difficult, unresolved situations in different industries.

Comments by frustrated customers
  1. Comment made by a customer after waiting for 45 minutes on the chat queue:

“I had to wait so long to talk to a service agent! After waiting so long, you are just providing another contact number. What are you here for?

  1. A demanding customer made this comment when the service rep flat out told her that a money refund was not possible for a particular product purchase:

“I am fed up with your policies. Can I get compensated for this harassment?”

  1. When a customer was transferred from one service agent to another to solve a simple problem related to a high-end, surge-protector switch, he finally blurted out:

       “Are you going to connect me to your staff nuclear scientist to solve this switch problem?”

  1. A customer spent two months trying to replace a defective home appliance with no luck! Finally, he contacted the retailer’s customer-service department for last time and wrote this:

“I have spent substantial professional and personal time trying to get this defective appliance replaced over the last two months, and I am just fed up. I have attached all the previous chat scripts, transcripts of telephone calls, and email scripts related to this one problem, and I demand to get monetarily compensated for the lost time, money and effort.”

  1. A customer begins a video chat with customer service after un-wrapping a sophisticated software application. This is how he began his chat:

“ Hello, the retailer told me the online help of the software application is very well designed, and can walk me through the application, but can you show me how to get to the online help?”

Comments from frustrated customer-service reps
  1. A customer service rep made this comment while dealing with a high-handed customer:

  “If you own a business or are in a position of customer service leadership, ask yourself
if any of your team members would act this way?”

  1. An impatient service rep made this comment after failing to help the customer with a query regarding an electronic product:

“It is your fault that the electronic equipment did not work the way it is supposed to!”

  1. A service rep quickly tried to wriggle out of a situation when confronted by a customer:

“I’m sorry, but that’s our Policy and I’m not connecting you with my supervisor.”

  1. When a frustrated customer in a pharmacy complained that she had been waiting 2 weeks for a medicine and the adverse effects of not taking the medication, the customer-service rep promptly replied to the customer:

 “Maybe you should see a doctor about these new symptoms.”

  1. When an angry customer complained about wrong billing and overcharging to a customer-service rep, came the reply:

“That wasn’t my fault; it was the cash register. I can’t help you”.

As more customer service interactions are done online, the volume of miscommunication between service agents and customers is steadily growing. Remote customer service, while difficult to provide, may be the only viable option for the digitized future. The main purpose of in-person engagements of video-chat programs is to reduce miscommunication or misunderstandings.

If you have stories you wish to share with us, please do. We love to hear and will share with other too.