We are beyond that, it has been escalated and escalated. It has nothing to do with extra verification. This post is about how poor the service is, not the problem itself 
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Out of interest, how do they do this?
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I know, but I was hoping that maybe we could get to the bottom of the problem as well!
I canāt remember the exact phrasing, but they tell you they really need to keep the lines free for those suffering hardship from COVID. It is a complete cop-out - this isnāt something new that happened last month any longer.
If you call the number, you will hear the message before you enter the menu system.
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Itās not a cop-out. The effects of COVID-19 continue to be felt, and people who may have had job last month may yet find themselves made redundant, as companies continue to cut jobs. And as local lockdowns continue to be applied, people in different areas of the country may find themselves in difficult circumstances at different times.
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I didnāt mean that. What I mean is that this isnāt something that has caught customer support off-guard like it did six months ago. Almost all companies have adapted - telling people to hang up unless it is extremely urgent has not been a thing for quite long time now.
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EE, BT, Halifax, Hastings, and Citizenās Advice have all told me (on their pre-recorded messages) of various expectations, including using other forms of communication if Iām not suffering hardship, within the last 4 weeks.
Do they then disconnect your call, telling you that they canāt help you?
If youāre determined to find fault with Monzo, you most definitely will.
Who, or what is that aimed at?
It is surprising how many people are happy to put up with sub standard service. If this was happening with Revolut, you would be complaining louder than I am here.
It has been well documented over many months that Monzo support is not great (they even admit they are hiding Contact Usā buttons after all). They donāt let you talk to them on the phone, and if you manage to manipulate the menu options to get into a queue to talk to someone, they deliberately disconnect you after ten minutes of being on hold (I have not tried this myself, but it has been stated by many on here). They close tickets after you say the problem is not resolved, use a āchatā system (which is actually a messaging system, not chat) whose AI lacks awareness. So yes, I guess I can āfind faultā. What is more alarming is that people are defending the service provided. I guess they have never travelled abroad to see the vast gap between service in the UK and in some parts of the world.
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This hits the nail on the head for me. N26 in the EU, specifically Germany and France provide a service to those regions so far beyond the best options we have available to us. A shame they screwed up their UK approach as bad as they did.
Looking at the US, Chime, Simple, and potentially even Robin Hood are in a league all their own. App quality, experience, and functionality all excel beyond whatās available in the UK. It almost feels like our fintechs are second class knockoffs of those in the US.
Itās easy to draw parallels between Monzo and Simple, and Freetrade and Robin Hood, as they are clear inspirations for these U.K. offerings. Those UK offerings, now having built their inferior versions of the US products are floundering because they donāt know what to do next or to make the idea profitable.
The UK is a competitively weird and frustrating fintech market. Weāre flooded with competition, but nothing really excels or stands out alone just yet. The fact Robin Hood got more sign ups in under a year prior to launching than Freetrade have acquired in customers ever really highlights that.
We need the US players to come here and compete, more than the US needs Monzo. At this point, thatās the only way I see this sector getting the shakeup it needs and the motivation to go beyond the good enough standard most seem to settle for. Either that, or one of the big tech companies. And what would the future be like for Starling or Monzo if big tech decides it wants to be a bank? Well, who remembers Pebble?
Iāll digress because this verges way off the topic of customer support. 
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I 100% agree with you that this isnāt acceptable from a bank but I felt I must mention IKEA as their support is something else.
You go online to the chat and are greeted by a message along the lines of āDue to high support volumes this option is not currently available. Please call 08xyzā
You dial the number and an automated voice says due to high call volumes you canāt be connected and hangs up. No queue on either so itās luck or the draw if you can get through to anyone
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Quite a few companies were stuck in this loop during the first wave. Mostly resolved now, and most remained responsive on social media and were happy to deal with issues on this platforms too.
Monzo is also happy to provide support over messenger too in some cases, and is much more responsive than other formats.
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Over messenger? Facebook?
Yep!
Do not like.
Iād much rather in app support became excellent again and was available to all (especially those who are using Monzo as their main account).
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Completely agree. In the meantime Iāve found messenger to be the most effective method for non-account related queries. A shame itās via messenger, but at least the avenue for timely and responsive help exists somewhere.
Iāve suggested it to people whose emails go unanswered when their port of calls are limited due to being locked out of the app or unable to sign up. Querying them on messenger tends to get the ball moving. I suspect itās the same on Twitter via DM too.
In fairness all of those companies are saying that now and have been for some time.
Monzo however have been saying donāt call us and disconnecting callers after a few minutes since the very beginning and have been ignoring customers calling them out on it for years. COVID or not - itās poor service.
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