Customer service

Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI

Turns out people would rather talk to other people.

Artificial Intelligence AJ Dellinger May 11

This L.A. Influencer’s Whole Gimmick Is Not Tipping Service Workers

The influencer is driving interest in his accounts by refusing to tip baristas and waiters.

Internet Lucas Ropek Jun 26

Call Centers Introduce ‘Emotion Canceling’ AI as a ‘Mental Shield’ for Workers

SoftBank and First Horizon Bank planned to inject emotional support AI systems into their call centers.

Artificial Intelligence Maxwell Zeff Jun 18

‘Guilt-Tipping’ Has Hit the Self-Checkout Aisle

Tipping at self-checkout has come to airports, stadiums, and cafes, with some prompts requesting a 20% tip from customers who haven't interacted with a human.

Tech News Kevin Hurler May 9

Unionized Apple Workers Say Tip Your Genius Bar-Tender

As part of contract negotiations, staff at a Maryland Apple store have asked for higher wages, more time off, and overtime pay. They've also floated tipping.

Tech News Lauren Leffer May 4

Amazon Sued for Allegedly Stealing Driver’s Tips, Launches New Gamified Tipping System

A new lawsuit from the Washington D.C. attorney general accuses Amazon of misleading consumers for years over its handling of FLEX driver tips.

Commerce Mack DeGeurin Dec 7

Amazon Must Pay Thousands of Flex Drivers an Average of $422 After Tips Were Withheld

The payout comes as a result of a settlement with the FTC which alleged Amazon had withheld $61.7 million worth of tips between 2016-2019.

Tech News Mack DeGeurin Nov 3

App Delivery Workers in NYC Are Underpaid, Mistreated, and Often Injured, New Report Finds

42% of workers reported not getting wages or tips when they're supposed to, and 49% reported getting hurt on the job.

Tech News Ed Cara Sep 14

Netflix Has a Funny Idea of How Digital Assistants Should Work

No one actually wants to have a relationship with their robots.

Artificial Intelligence Victoria Song Jul 2

Amazon Will Have to Pay Back the $61.7 Million It Swindled From Drivers’ Tips

Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced it’s settling charges it levied against Amazon alleging the company had skimmed $61.7 million in tips from its contractor delivery drivers. The fine, fittingly, is for the full amount and “will be used by the FTC to compensate drivers.” You love to see it. As a refresher, Amazon Flex…

Commerce Victoria Song Feb 2

Nintendo Cracked Open Its Secret Game Boy Stash to Help a 95-Year-Old Fan

Nintendo is known for its excellent customer service, but now and then the company will go above and beyond the call of duty for special cases. When technicians couldn’t fix a 95-year-old Japan woman’s dead Game Boy, the company replaced it with a brand new one, leading us to wonder just how many original Game…

Games Andrew Liszewski Feb 25

Southwest Airlines Publicly Tweeted a Passenger’s Personal Flight Number—and Then Doubled Down

When it comes to getting a customer service issue resolved as quickly as possible, publicly tweeting at a company can be quite effective. You’d certainly hope, however, that the company wouldn’t respond by publicly sharing your sensitive data—as Southwest Airlines recently did on Twitter. Ars Technica first reported on the privacy violation experienced this week…

Tech News Catie Keck Aug 9

Man Says He Spent Thousands on Bitcoin Mining Rig and Got Boss Baby DVD Instead

The Boss Baby is one of the finest films of 2017, and on Tuesday it received an Oscar nomination that settles any further debate. But one man in Britain doesn’t seem to be a fan. The poor guy recently described a nightmarish scenario where he was shipped a DVD of the animated masterpiece instead of…

Commerce Rhett Jones Jan 23

Comcast Blames Customers After Apparent Hack

Comcast is one of the most hated companies in America. What’s worse is that it can’t stop doing infuriating things. This week in Reasons Comcast Sucks, an apparent hack led about 200,000 customers accounts showing up for sale online. Comcast says it was not hacked. Rather, the company is “blaming the incident instead on unsuspecting…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes Nov 9

This 1750 BC Babylonian Tablet Is An Ancient Customer Service Complaint

The ancient Babylonians may not have had Yelp or customer service call centers, but they still recorded their complaints. They just had to do it on clay tablets, like this one, in which a buyer complains about receiving the wrong grade of copper ore. Top image from the British Museum. After reddit user tbc34 shared…

io9 Lauren Davis Feb 26

Dear Valued Asshole: Do You Have a Cable Bill Insult Story?

Recently,we’ve been hearing about a slew of cable customers ending up with less than flattering names at the top of their cable bills. And since this is apparently something that happens quite a bit—we want more. If you’ve ever changed a customer’s name, or known someone who has changed a customer’s name, or if you’ve…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg Feb 5

More Comcast Customers Report Name Changes to “Whore” and “Dummy”

Remember a couple days ago, when the world learned Comcast had changed a customer’s name from “Ricardo Brown” to “Asshole Brown?” Looks like our Ricardo might not have been the only one. More Comcast customers have reported similar incidents to Elliott.org. The name changes range from “dummy” to “whore” to the slightly confusing “Fakoe Bez”…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jan 30

FCC Launches Slick New Public Complaint Site

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) famously botched the record-breaking public comment period on net neutrality thanks to its crappy technology. Now, the agency has launched a slick new system that suggests this won’t happen again. Too bad they’re about eight months late to updating the technology. The new, easy-to-navigate site (a.k.a. the Consumer…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Jan 5

Not Just Comcast: 19 Stories From Call Center Hell

Recently, Comcast and its call center habits have been thoroughly lambasted from all sides—and for good reason. But what many of us keep forgetting is that it’s not just Comcast. The call center system as a whole is broken. And as you’ll see from the tales below, it’s breaking its employees along with it. As…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg Jul 28

Comcast Internal Memo: That Service Rep From Hell Was Following Orders

Remember that agonizing phone call Ryan Block recorded last week, when a Comcast rep spent 20+ minutes trying to will Block not to cancel his account? Even a Comcast executive thought the call was “painful;” but also that the rep was doing just what they’d asked him to do. In an internal memo posted to…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich Jul 22

Customer service

Klarna Hiring Back Human Help After Going All-In on AI

This L.A. Influencer’s Whole Gimmick Is Not Tipping Service Workers

Call Centers Introduce ‘Emotion Canceling’ AI as a ‘Mental Shield’ for Workers

‘Guilt-Tipping’ Has Hit the Self-Checkout Aisle

Unionized Apple Workers Say Tip Your Genius Bar-Tender

Amazon Sued for Allegedly Stealing Driver’s Tips, Launches New Gamified Tipping System

Amazon Must Pay Thousands of Flex Drivers an Average of $422 After Tips Were Withheld

App Delivery Workers in NYC Are Underpaid, Mistreated, and Often Injured, New Report Finds

Netflix Has a Funny Idea of How Digital Assistants Should Work

Amazon Will Have to Pay Back the $61.7 Million It Swindled From Drivers’ Tips

Nintendo Cracked Open Its Secret Game Boy Stash to Help a 95-Year-Old Fan

Southwest Airlines Publicly Tweeted a Passenger’s Personal Flight Number—and Then Doubled Down

Man Says He Spent Thousands on Bitcoin Mining Rig and Got Boss Baby DVD Instead

Comcast Blames Customers After Apparent Hack

This 1750 BC Babylonian Tablet Is An Ancient Customer Service Complaint

Dear Valued Asshole: Do You Have a Cable Bill Insult Story?

More Comcast Customers Report Name Changes to “Whore” and “Dummy”

FCC Launches Slick New Public Complaint Site

Not Just Comcast: 19 Stories From Call Center Hell

Comcast Internal Memo: That Service Rep From Hell Was Following Orders

Google Nest Doorbell (Wired, 3rd Gen) Hits Its Cheapest Price, Making Home Security More Affordable

Mint Mobile Takes on Big Cable With One Simple Plan, Bundle Internet and Wireless for Just $45/Month

Toshiba 43-Inch Smart Fire TV Crashes 53%, Now Costs About as Much as a Small Portable Monitor

Tom Holland Teases New Tweaks for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Reshoots

Bose SoundLink Home Speaker Quietly Falls to an All-Time Low After Months of Stable Pricing, No Major Sale Event Needed

Artemis 2 Day 8: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Watch Two ‘For All Mankind’ Legends Figure Out Its Future (Exclusive)

Samsung Drops Galaxy S25 FE to Its Lowest Price Yet to Clear Out 2025 Smartphone Lineup

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

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