Customer service is the frontline of any business, shaping how customers perceive and interact with a brand. Good customer service is attentive, empathetic, and solution-oriented—staff listen actively, respond promptly, and go the extra mile to ensure satisfaction. It builds trust, loyalty, and positive word of mouth. In contrast, poor customer service often feels dismissive or indifferent, with long wait times, unhelpful responses, or a lack of accountability. This can lead to frustration, lost business, and a damaged reputation. Ultimately, the quality of customer service reflects a company’s values and commitment to its customers.
Well, as a web designer for over 25 years, I have called many customer service lines by phone, via chat, and by email. And now, AI is taking over the first contacts for many businesses (which I hate by the way). I tend to roll with the punches until I contact a company for an issue, and I get the feeling they really don’t care. AI is excellent for many things, but when the bot hasn’t been programmed to answer every question on the planet in every possible way, the results are usually poor. What is worse than that is when a company you need to contact does not pick up or get back to you at all.
Here is a list of companies that I have tried to contact with the worst customer service (or lack of). Please take a look and vote below for the hardest company to contact.
- Google: 45 Minutes wait, useless when a human finally picked up.
- Google: 93 Minutes wait, useless when a human finally picked up.
- DHHS Maine: 97 Minutes on hold for a 1-minute conversation.
- DHHS Maine: 118 Minutes on hold for a 1-minute conversation.
- Facebook: Good Luck, I think Skynet runs this company now. (Terminator Reference)
- X: No Luck at all. Do they even have humans that work there?
- Apple: Quick Connect, No Results. They always push the Apple Store. I feel bad for the employees who work there.
- PayPal: Email requests take 24 hours to get a canned reply.
- Instagram: See Facebook above.
- Microsoft: Oddly quick most of the time, with a human, but when it’s bad, it’s bad.
- Spectrum Business: Good, unless you want a lower bill.
- HP: Endless “Press 3 for or Press 2 for” menus.
- YouTube: 5 Days and still waiting.
- IRS: One number to call for an entire region. Wait times are over two hours most of the time.