If you didn’t know already, I work in customer service and have done for over 30 years. So, it’s important to me and I understand when something is badly wrong.
So, to wrap up 2025 I’m going to mention the companies that I’ve had the pleasure or displeasure of dealing with in my personal life (and nothing to do with work).
Best Customer Service of 2025
⭐️ Elgato
This has to go to Elgato, the company behind the Stream Deck products.
My Stream Deck Pedal was very much out of warranty when it suddenly died, so I contacted them, not expecting anything other than them hopefully giving me some advice on anything I could try to revive it. Instead they replaced it.
Other than some confusion over how to return my old one to them, it was very much above and beyond service.
Why was it good? Because, realising that my product was faulty and it wasn’t down to just “wear and tear”, they replaced it, no questions-asked
How could they improve? The return of my old one was confusing due to a flurry of emails and a not-very-good explanation as to what to do. I ended up going to a local UPS office, and they sorted it for me.
Best Customer Service of 2025 after a Rocky Start
⭐️/🪨 Shark Ninja
That goes to Shark Ninja. I have a Ninja Multi Air-Fryer which was making an odd noise. For some time they started sending my in circles between email and phoning them before I eventually put everything they could ever want (video and audio evidence, receipts, photos of serial numbers, etc) into a shared folder and sent them that.
At which point they sent me a brand new Air Fryer, with no need to send back the old one.
Why was it good? This was a product well within warranty and with an obvious fault. They didn’t argue and replaced the product.
How could they improve? They are customer agnostic, in that someone in their customer service doesn’t “own” your issue – every time you answer it could be responded to by totally different people. Sadly, that communication was not “joined up” and they ended up going around in circles. It was down to me to realise this and put a firm end to it.
Worst Customer Service of 2025
This is a joint one.
💩 Manhattan TV
Manhattan TV are UK makers of TV recorders and receivers. I have one of their latest recorders and I’ve been reporting numerous issues to them. Without fail, it’s someone elses fault.
Keeps disconnecting from the Wi-Fi? That’s my fault for having a mesh router.
Subtitles often don’t come on until I turn the device back off and on? That’s the TV channels.
Audio often doesn’t come on, despite it working if I switch to another source? That’s the TV (this has since resolved itself… after the Manhattan device received a firmware update. I’m sure they’ll say that’s a coincidence).
The one time I had the displeasure of speaking to one of their engineers, he was incredibly rude.
Why is it bad? Whilst “the customer is always right” is not a truism, this is a rush to the other side of this. Telling me, repeatedly, that the issue is mine, telling me I need to install special software so they can gather diagnostic data (without giving me any idea as to how to do this), does not a happy customer make.
How could they improve? They didn’t recognise the technical ability of the customer. They had no idea who I was when asking me about supplying diagnostic information – I could have been totally tech-illiterate. Equally, when I spoke to their engineer he just assumed I was, even when I think I made it quite clear I wasn’t – as a result he told me thing I knew was simply rubbish. So, bridging that gap will be essential. But then, no, telling a customer that everything is down to their TV or HDMI cable when the customer is able to prove otherwise… I’ve got no idea what’s going on there, but if they believe they are correct, they really need to be able to convince the customer. In this case the attitude was “we know better. Just accept it”.
💩 Lumie
Lumie, were also rude. My alarm clock stopped.. well… alarming. Kind of. It would intermittently not sound the alarm, which isn’t great for something you’re relying on to wake you up. Their only attempt at a diagnosis was accusing me of forgetting to have turned off the alarm and they were argumentative in emails.
It was well within warranty but it was a return-to-base one, where I had to pay to send it.
I decided against it and told them they’d lost me as a customer instead – I’d buy elsewhere. So, they relented and paid for my clock’s return, before sending me out a refurbished model. That one has worked without issue.
Why was it bad? Urgh. Rude support, a disinterest in a major and rather fundamental flaw in their product and expecting me to cough-up for postage for a replacement, whilst still within warranty.
How could they improve? Well, not being rude is a start, and show some empathy – an alarm clock that doesn’t alarm isn’t a great look. Also, get rid of that RTB warranty.
Most Over-Hyper Customer Service of 2025
🤪 Zen Internet
Every year Zen Internet it wins all-the-ISP-awards, particularly for Customer Service. Yet, every time I have to deal with them I get stuck in a long phone queue which I eventually give up on. By the time I get through to anyone my issue has usually self-resolved itself.
Their status pages, which they have 2 of, are confusing and seem to only post up issues after they’ve been resolved.
I don’t get the love. I assume most people voting for them haven’t had a need to get hold of them.
A long time ago, the first time I was a customer of theirs, it was different, and I could quickly get through to someone knowledgable on the phone.
How could they improve? When my broadband goes wrong I want to get hold of someone, knowledgable, quickly. Unless, of course, it’s a known issue, in which case I need a clear way of seeing that’s the case. They have an app, for instance, which would be an ideal way of showing known issues for me at that moment.
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