Citizens Advice asks UK services to restore human support

When support becomes a barrier

Chatbots are now used across energy, banking, phone and broadband services. Citizens Advice says people often get trapped in an endless loop without resolving their problem. Almost half of those forced to use a chatbot described it as useless, and some concluded that the systems were designed to make them give up.

The charity wants providers to establish a new customer right: the ability to contact a human employee.

Its research found that people who struggle with online systems, or lack full access to them, receive support more slowly and less reliably. As phone, face-to-face and paper channels disappear, the result is a two-tier service system.

Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said that going round in circles with a chatbot is “not just frustrating” but a barrier to essential services. He said overreliance on chatbots and online forms leaves people unable to correct billing errors, deal with debt or obtain help to prevent homelessness. MacInnes added that chatbots have a place in customer support, but that the gradual disappearance of face-to-face and phone channels leaves too many people without help.

The cost of removing offline routes

A faulty online process can turn a routine task into a prolonged crisis.

Submitting an electricity meter reading to correct an inaccurate bill can take less than an hour online when the system works properly. Without full digital access, the same process offline can take up to six weeks, exposing the customer to further problems.

Citizens Advice also found that applying for a social broadband tariff has become harder in some regions. The service is intended to reduce digital inequality, yet requiring applications to be made online creates another obstacle. The charity collected evidence from its advisers and reviewed hundreds of case descriptions.

One adviser said people who struggle to submit a digital application for homelessness support remain without housing for longer, lose money and fall into debt. The adviser said the situation could ruin many people’s lives.

The users are already voting with their behaviour

The warning comes as frustration with AI-based customer support grows. Online forums now carry discussions with titles such as “I’m so tired of AI chatbots in customer service” and “Has anyone actually managed to solve a problem through a company chatbot?”

In several discussions, users describe trying to bypass phone chatbots by repeatedly shouting “human”.

Only 20% of adults surveyed in the UK for Citizens Advice in July said chatbots were their preferred way to communicate. Phone calls, email and instant messaging were more popular.

The broader pattern is more revealing than the chatbot complaint alone. Among people who found it difficult or impossible to speak with a human about an essential service:

The missing test for digital inclusion

Chatbots are not the only obstacle. Citizens Advice also points to multi-factor authentication, which can require users to manage several devices quickly and accurately, and time limits for completing transactions.

The UK government has previously said it will invest £11.9 million in a digital inclusion innovation fund, supporting local projects that help people access the internet. But around 1.7 million British households do not have a laptop, tablet or desktop computer.

I think the central failure here is not that chatbots sometimes perform badly. It is that providers are treating digital access as a customer preference when, for millions of people, it is a constraint. A human channel is therefore not simply a premium alternative to automation; it is the fallback that keeps an essential service usable.

The announcement is quiet about the mechanism that would enforce this proposed right. The government says companies are already legally required to provide contact information in a clear and easily accessible form, but Citizens Advice’s evidence suggests that having contact information somewhere is not the same as giving people a workable path to resolution.

Until that distinction is addressed, automation can lower the cost of handling a customer while shifting the cost of failure onto the person least able to absorb it.