Customer Service Hall of Shame : Anna Tims 2025 List

Why Anna Tims’ 2025 “dishonours list” matters (and why people keep reading it every year)

A lot of “bad customer service” coverage is basically entertainment: screenshots of an absurd chatbot conversation, a snarky tweet, a dunk on a brand.

Tims’ dishonours list is different. It’s built from real consumer complaints, often the kind that drag on for weeks or months, and it highlights the part that most companies don’t want you to notice:

The customer service failure is rarely one rude person. It’s a system.

These annual roundups matter because they show the recurring themes behind the chaos:

• Refunds dragged out until you give up
• “Computer says no” policies used as shields
• Outsourcing hand-offs where nobody owns the outcome
• Vulnerability handled like an inconvenience (bereavement, illness, housing, disability)
• Platitudes replacing solutions (“sorry for any inconvenience”)

And once you see those themes, you can stop treating your case like a unique snowflake and start treating it like what it is: a known failure mode with known pressure points.

What you’ll get from this article:

• A clear framework for what “bad customer service” looks like in 2025
• A tiered “hall of shame” breakdown (Not-so-good → Bad → Ugly)
• Familiar examples tied to common sectors (airlines, telecoms, banks, energy, housing, councils, travel stays)
• A practical escalation playbook: evidence, deadlines, ombudsmen/ADR, chargeback/Section 75, and small claims as a last resort

What counts as “bad customer service” in 2025 (the repeat-offender playbook)

A one-off mistake happens. An item gets lost. A meter read is wrong. A flight is cancelled. A hotel room isn’t clean.

That’s not the real story.

The real story—the stuff that ends up in “dishonours list” territory—is systemic failure: when processes are designed (intentionally or not) to delay, deflect, and exhaust the customer.

Here are the repeat-offender patterns that show up again and again:

• Delayed refunds (money kept “in the system” while you chase it)
• Copy‑paste apologies with no owner, no deadline, no next step
• Unreachable support (phone lines cut, email black holes, chatbot loops)
• Case amnesia (each contact resets your story to zero)
• Passing the buck (brand blames contractor; contractor blames brand)
• Policy fog (terms so vague you can’t tell what you’re entitled to)
• “Computer says no” used as the final answer to something obviously unreasonable

And yes: the corporate anthem of the decade…

“We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

It’s not meaningless because it’s polite. It’s meaningless because it’s often not paired with:

• a resolution timeline,
• clear ownership (“I’m responsible for this case”),
• or a specific remedy (refund amount/date, compensation, repair booking, fee waiver).

Certain sectors dominate these complaints for a reason: they combine high volumes, complex operations, and big power imbalances.

That’s why you keep seeing the same categories: airlines, travel accommodation, banks, insurers/roadside, telecoms, energy, councils, housing associations.

The “Not-so-good” tier: when friction is the product (and customers pay with time)

This tier is the stuff that makes you lose evenings and weekends. It’s “resolvable”… but only if you have the stamina to keep going.

Think:

• long call waits,
• agents with no authority,
• chatbot loops that never reach a human,
• confusing policy wording,
• missing case notes,
• repeated ID checks,
• being told contradictory things by different teams.

Typical triggers include:

• billing disputes that shouldn’t exist,
• cancellation friction (easy to buy, hard to stop),
• upgrades gone wrong,
• promised compensation that “isn’t visible on the system.”

What a good process should look like (but often doesn’t):

• Clear cancellation path (online + confirmation)
• Itemised bills with transparent dates/charges
• Written confirmation of any promise (discount, credit, refund, waiver)
• One case owner (or at least one reference that doesn’t reset)

Practical takeaway: assume you’ll need a paper trail.

• Save transcripts, emails, screenshots, and call logs.
• Ask for confirmation in writing.
• If the company has a formal complaints process, use it early.
• If you hit a wall: request a deadlock letter (where applicable) so you can go to ADR/ombudsman.

Telecoms and subscription support: the endless loop problem (example: Three, Sky)

Telecoms and subscription services are a perfect “Not-so-good” case study because the problems are rarely dramatic. They’re just relentlessly time-wasting.

The loop tends to look like this:

1. You spot a billing issue / contract problem / cancellation that didn’t cancel.
2. You contact support.
3. You’re routed through automated menus.
4. You reach an agent who can’t fix it (wrong department, wrong permissions).
5. You’re promised a callback that never comes.
6. You contact again and start from scratch.

Three and Sky are useful reference points here because they’re the sort of big brands that can generate exactly this kind of consumer complaint narrative: lots of customers, complex account systems, multiple teams, and scripted support.

And sometimes the “script” is worse than useless. One particularly jaw-dropping example linked to Three-style complaints: a customer allegedly being advised to “kill off” a sick parent to change contract ownership—an interaction so outrageous it became the story. The important bit isn’t just the shock value; it’s what it reveals: processes that don’t handle real life (illness, vulnerability, bereavement) with basic competence.

Typical pain points in this category:

• Billing disputes that require multiple calls to correct
• Cancellation friction and “we can’t see the request”
• Upgrades gone wrong (new contract starts, old one doesn’t end)
• Promises not recorded: “No notes on the account”

What good would look like:

• A single case reference that carries across teams
• Itemised bill corrections in writing
• Clear cancellation confirmation (date/time/effective date)
• A named owner or team mailbox accountable for the resolution

Practical steps that work:

• Use webchat/email where possible so you can save a transcript.
• After any call, send a short follow-up message: “Confirming you said X will happen by Y date.”
• If unresolved after a reasonable period, move to the formal complaints route and ask for a deadlock letter.
• For telecoms, ADR is often the lever that finally gets movement.

The “Bad” tier: money trapped in the system (refunds, claims, and billing chaos)

This is where customer service stops being “annoying” and becomes financially harmful.

Key feature: the company controls the timeline, and you carry the cashflow burden.

This is why these stories escalate. It’s not just the money—it’s the uncertainty, the time, and the feeling you’re being managed into giving up.

The most common “Bad tier” sectors in consumer complaint columns:

• airlines,
• insurance/roadside,
• banking,
• energy,
• travel platforms.

Airline disruption and “where’s my money?” disputes (examples: Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic)

Airline complaints are hall-of-shame staples because disruption is inevitable—and the real test is what happens after the disruption.

Typical triggers:

• cancellations and schedule changes,
• baggage issues,
• delays that trigger compensation,
• refunds that take far too long,
• pressure to accept vouchers instead of cash.

In Anna Tims-style complaint narratives, you often see the same passenger experience:

• You’re bounced between channels (web form, chatbot, phone).
• You’re told different things by different agents.
• Timelines are vague (“within 28 days” becomes “soon” becomes silence).
• You’re subtly nudged toward vouchers because it’s better for the airline.

Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic are familiar reference points for these themes, without needing to claim every individual case is identical. One Ryanair-flavoured example that captures the vibe: a doctor helping an injured passenger, then being charged an admin fee to rebook—met with the logic that punctuality is the passenger’s responsibility. Whether or not you agree with the rule, the customer service “tone” is the point: rigid policy, minimal discretion, and low empathy.

What protections matter (UK/EU context):

• UK261/EU261: compensation rules for delays/cancellations in qualifying situations.
• Right to refund or re-routing when flights are cancelled (and in certain disruption cases).
• Airlines often have strict evidence requirements—so assume you’ll need receipts and written confirmation.

Actionable steps:

• Put requests in writing. Be specific: “I am requesting a refund to the original payment method.”
• Give deadlines: “If not received within 14 days, I will pursue chargeback/ADR/small claim.”
• Keep evidence: booking confirmation, disruption notice, screenshots of app changes, receipts.
• If you paid by card and the airline drags its feet: consider chargeback (debit/credit) or Section 75 (credit card, qualifying purchases).
• Small claims is a last resort, but the mere fact you’re willing to use it changes the tone.

Roadside, insurance, and outsourced handling (example: AA, Capita)

This is where “outsourcing” becomes more than a business decision—it becomes a customer-service trap.

The pattern:

• You bought the service from Brand A.
• Brand A uses Contractor B for parts of the delivery.
• When something goes wrong, Brand A says “it’s with the contractor.”
• Contractor B says “we follow Brand A’s process.”
• Meanwhile, you’re the project manager of your own crisis.

The AA is a classic example category here because roadside recovery often involves networks of approved garages and third parties. One especially wild AA-type story: a car towed to an approved garage and returned months later with bird dirt, a parking penalty charge notice, and thousands of extra miles. It’s the kind of complaint that sounds unreal—until you remember how many handoffs exist in the chain.

Capita appears in consumer complaint conversations for a similar reason: large-scale outsourced administration where the customer experiences the system as a maze, not a service.

Typical issues:

• claim delays with no clear ownership,
• missed appointments and repeated rescheduling,
• repeated form-filling,
• conflicting decisions from different teams,
• no proactive updates (you do all the chasing).

What good looks like:

• One point of contact responsible for the end-to-end outcome
• Written service levels (what will happen, by when)
• Proactive updates when timelines slip
• Clear escalation path that doesn’t loop you back to the start

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Banking and admin errors that spiral (example: TSB bank)

Banking failures feel uniquely maddening because the stakes are basic: access to your own money, your ability to pay bills, your credit record, your life functioning normally.

Common failure modes:

• account blocks and slow fraud checks,
• payment reversals that take ages to unwind,
• bereavement admin delays,
• complaints that “reset” each time you call.

TSB works as a recognisable example category for “admin error + slow resolution”: where the original issue might be fixable in a day, but processes turn it into a multi-week saga.

A key lesson from these cases: documentation beats emotion. You can be 100% right and still lose momentum if you can’t present a clean timeline.

Practical steps:

• Keep a dated timeline of events (what happened, who you spoke to, what they promised).
• Keep reference numbers and names.
• Ask for written confirmation of any action (account unblocked, reversal initiated, complaint logged).

Escalation routes:

• Use the bank’s formal complaint process.
• If eligible, take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
• Don’t be shy about asking for compensation for distress and inconvenience—where appropriate and supported by the ombudsman framework.

Energy billing issues: when the numbers don’t add up (and neither does support)

Energy complaints have a special flavour: you’re not just disputing a bill, you’re disputing a mini universe of meter reads, estimates, direct debits, account transfers, “final” bills that aren’t final, and credit balances that vanish.

In the hall-of-shame ecosystem, energy firms often show up for:

• incorrect meter reads / estimated bills that never get corrected,
• “phantom accounts” and billing psychodramas,
• credit balances not returned,
• direct debit chaos (too high, too low, changed without explanation),
• slow complaint cycles with multiple back-office teams.

The bigger theme: customers are forced to become auditors just to get basic accuracy.

Consumer rights angle (practical, not legalese):

• Photograph your meter reads (with date).
• Demand itemised statements when numbers don’t make sense.
• Use the supplier’s complaint process and track the clock.
• If unresolved, use the Energy Ombudsman route (where applicable).

The “Ugly” tier: when vulnerability meets bureaucracy (bereavement, housing, and public bodies)

This is where customer service failures stop being “inconvenient” and start affecting dignity, health, and safety.

These stories hit hard because the power imbalance is extreme:

• You can’t easily switch housing.
• You can’t opt out of a council.
• You shouldn’t have to fight after a death.
• You’re often dealing with illness, age, disability, or stress.

Bereavement customer service issues: “sorry for your loss” shouldn’t be followed by a fight

The bereavement version of bad service tends to follow a cruel pattern:

1. You notify an organisation of a death.
2. They offer condolences.
3. They ask for documents (sometimes repeatedly).
4. They delay closing accounts, issuing refunds, or ending contracts.
5. You chase while grieving.

Common scenarios:

• closing bank accounts,
• ending utilities and subscriptions,
• travel cancellations and refunds,
• insurance policy changes.

What goes wrong:

• repeated requests for death certificates,
• insensitive scripts,
• fees not waived,
• months-long delays,
• premiums increasing after a policyholder’s death because of “increased risk” (yes, really—some insurers treat bereavement as a burglary risk factor).

What good practice looks like:

• a dedicated bereavement team,
• a clear checklist,
• minimal repetition (“we won’t ask twice”),
• fast refunds,
• one case handler.

Practical guidance:

• Keep copies of documents and a log of when you sent them.
• Ask explicitly for the bereavement team (not generic support).
• Escalate early if you see repetition or delay.
• Request written outcomes: what will be closed, refunded, waived, and by when.

Housing association failures and “can’t reach anyone who can fix it” (example: L&Q housing association)

Housing complaints are different because they’re not about convenience. They’re about living conditions: damp, mould, repairs, leaks, safety issues, contractor no-shows, and communication breakdowns.

An L&Q-type example (housing association category): residents left without running water for days while a leak was fixed. Or long-running damp and mould issues that never reach a real resolution because the system is built around tickets, not outcomes.

Why it’s uniquely serious:

• Housing is essential.
• Delays affect health (especially children, older people, respiratory conditions).
• Tenants often feel powerless and ignored.

What to do when you’re stuck:

• Keep a written log of every contact attempt and response.
• Take dated photos/videos (damp spread, leaks, damage, insects).
• Follow the organisation’s formal complaint stages (don’t rely on informal chasing).
• Use the Housing Ombudsman route where applicable.
• If urgent and you’re not being heard: involve councillors/MPs (it shouldn’t be necessary, but it can unlock action).

Councils and the public-sector maze: fines, forms, and dead ends (examples: Wandsworth council, London borough of Ealing)

Public-sector complaints often feel colder because the system is procedural. There are statutory stages, strict deadlines, forms that time out, and decisions that appear to ignore evidence.

Typical pain points:

• disputed parking fines (PCNs),
• incorrect permits or registration details,
• website form loops,
• slow responses,
• evidence ignored.

Wandsworth and Ealing come up as example councils in public complaint conversations. One Ealing-style scenario that captures the theme: a driver fined because the parking app entry confused “O” with zero—despite payment having been made—and a lack of discretion even where guidance suggests discretion should be applied. The takeaway isn’t “apps are bad.” It’s: when enforcement becomes automated, discretion often disappears unless you force it back in through the appeals process.

Practical steps:

• Keep proof: permits, receipts, screenshots, photos of signage.
• Follow the statutory appeal stages exactly (don’t freestyle it).
• Meet deadlines.
• Where independent adjudication applies, use it—because it’s often the first time a human actually weighs the evidence.

Travel and accommodation problems: when “hospitality” turns into a support ticket

Travel complaints don’t end when the transport ends. In 2025, accommodation disputes have their own hall-of-shame ecosystem: cleanliness, cancellations, refunds, misleading listings, and the slow-motion blame game between guest, host, platform, and property manager.

The complexity is the point:

• You paid on Platform A.
• The property is managed by Company B.
• The host is Person C.
• The refund rules are buried in Policy D.
• Everyone can say “not my department.”

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Hotel hygiene problems and service recovery (example: Premier Inn)

Chain hotels are supposed to be predictable. That’s the deal: you trade uniqueness for reliability.

So when hygiene fails, it feels like a betrayal of the basic brand promise.

Premier Inn is a useful example category because it represents that mainstream expectation: clean room, functional facilities, reasonable response when something’s wrong.

Some of the most viral-sounding complaints are also the most instructive. An especially disturbing Premier Inn-type story: guests returning to find evidence that strangers had sex in their room while they were out. The reason this matters in a customer service context isn’t the shock—it’s the recovery: apology, ownership, refund, and what it took to get there (in some cases, intervention helps push action).

What good service recovery looks like:

• Immediate room change (not “tomorrow”)
• Transparent apology that acknowledges the issue
• Partial refund/comp offered proactively
• Written follow-up confirming what will be refunded and when

Consumer tip:

• Report immediately (don’t wait until after checkout).
• Document with photos/video if appropriate.
• Ask for a manager decision on the spot.
• Follow up in writing the same day to lock in the record.

Platforms and holiday rentals: refunds, cancellations, and who’s accountable? (Airbnb, Vrbo)

Holiday rentals have become a customer service minefield because the “product” is real-world messy (properties, people, weather) while the dispute process is digital and policy-driven.

Common disputes on Airbnb and Vrbo:

• last-minute cancellations,
• misleading listings,
• cleanliness issues,
• host non-responsiveness,
• refund delays.

You also get bizarre-but-real scenarios: an oak tree falling on a gîte, a property becoming unusable, and the customer having to fight for a refund that seems obvious. Or Vrbo-style refusals to compensate for extreme cleanliness/hygiene issues until external pressure appears.

The underlying lesson is very Anna Tims: the system is designed to de-escalate payouts unless you persist with evidence.

Practical steps:

• Keep all communication on-platform.
• Document issues on arrival (photos/video + time stamps).
• Push for written outcomes and deadlines.
• If the platform delays, escalate within the platform’s process—and be explicit about remedy (partial refund, full refund, rehouse).
• If paid by credit card, remember Section 75/chargeback options may exist depending on how the payment was processed.

Why these failures keep happening: incentives, outsourcing, and “lowest-cost support”

It’s tempting to treat these stories as moral failures (“companies don’t care anymore”). Sometimes that’s true. But the more useful view is structural:

Many organisations have built customer service as a cost-minimisation machine, not a resolution machine.

Common drivers behind dishonours-list style failures:

• cost-cutting and understaffing,
• poor training and high turnover,
• fragmented tech stacks (multiple systems that don’t talk),
• support channels designed to absorb volume, not solve cases,
• outsourcing where contractors optimise KPIs that look good on a dashboard but feel terrible to live through.

Outsourcing is especially tricky because the contractor may be measured on:

• call handle time,
• number of tickets closed,
• deflection rates (keeping people out of human support),

…while the customer cares about:

• first-contact resolution,
• time-to-refund,
• complaint reopen rate,
• vulnerability handling standards.

What to look for before you buy (quick litmus test):

• Are policies written in plain English?
• Is there a real contact option (phone/email/postal), not just a bot?
• Do they publish refund timelines?
• Is the complaints route clearly explained?
• Do they mention ADR/ombudsman membership where relevant?

How to protect yourself in 2025: a practical escalation playbook (that actually works)

You can’t prevent every failure. But you can prevent a lot of “I’ve been chasing for three months” outcomes by escalating like someone who has done this before.

Here’s a framework that works across airlines, banks, insurance, energy, hotels, councils, and platforms.

Step 1: Build a paper trail from day one

• Dates and times
• Names (or agent IDs)
• Reference numbers
• Screenshots (especially of app changes, cancellations, chat)
• Photos (accommodation issues, meter reads, damage)
• Receipts (replacement travel, essentials, alternative accommodation)

If it isn’t documented, it’s negotiable.

Step 2: Make a clear written request (one paragraph, not an essay)

Be specific:

• What happened
• What you want (refund amount, reversal, repair, compensation)
• By when

Example structure:

• “On [date] I was charged £X incorrectly.”
• “I am requesting a refund to the original payment method.”
• “Please confirm in writing that this will be completed by [date].”

Step 3: Use the formal complaints process early (not as a last resort)

Informal chasing is where cases go to die.

Once you lodge a formal complaint, clocks start, obligations trigger, and escalation routes become available.

Ask for:

• written acknowledgement,
• a complaint reference number,
• and a timeline for resolution.

Step 4: Use the right external lever

Different sectors have different “big levers.” Use the one that fits.

• Financial services (banks, many insurers): Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
• Energy: Energy Ombudsman
• Housing associations: Housing Ombudsman
• Telecoms: ADR schemes (and request deadlock if needed)
• Card payments: chargeback (debit/credit), Section 75 (credit card, qualifying criteria)
• Parking/PCNs: statutory appeals → independent adjudication where applicable
• Last resort: small claims (especially for clear contractual/refund disputes)

Step 5: Be specific about compensation (not just “a gesture”)

Where appropriate, ask for:

• the refund itself,
• consequential losses (if valid and evidenced),
• compensation for distress/inconvenience (where the framework allows it, e.g., via ombudsman routes).

This is not about being dramatic. It’s about reflecting the real cost of delay and mishandling.

What “good” would look like: the standards companies should be held to

If you want one simple standard to remember, it’s this:

Fast access. Clear ownership. Transparent timelines. Fair outcomes.

That’s it.

Good customer service is boring because it prevents stories from existing:

• You can reach a human when it matters.
• Your case doesn’t reset every time you make contact.
• Policies are clear (and don’t hide behind ambiguity).
• Evidence isn’t requested repeatedly.
• Refunds happen quickly when fault is clear.
• Vulnerable customers are handled with dignity, not scripts.

When you’re choosing where to spend money, evaluate brands on process transparency, not marketing promises. The real “award” is trust—and trust is ridiculously easy to lose.

Wrap-up : the 2025 Hall of Shame lesson (and how to avoid becoming the next case study)

Anna Tims’ dishonours list resonates because it reflects what a lot of people quietly experience: refunds that drag, accountability gaps, and vulnerability mishandled.

Across the sectors that repeatedly generate these complaints—airlines (Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic), telecoms (Three, Sky), travel stays (Premier Inn, Airbnb, Vrbo), banking (TSB), insurance/outsourcing (AA, Capita), councils (Wandsworth, Ealing), housing (L&Q)—the themes rhyme even when the details change.

If you take one thing from this hall-of-shame recap, let it be this:

• Document early.
• Escalate correctly.
• Use external levers without apologising for it.
• And reward the companies that make resolution easy—not just the ones with the slickest sales funnels.

Good service is boring—and that’s the point.

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