The platform’s helpdesk is currently taking “much longer than usual to answer your calls and respond to emails”, according to its website.
One Twitter user complained: “30 minutes on hold – market is now closed – is the best service you can offer? I need a reliable broker.”
Co-founder Peter Hargreaves recently called on the firm to drastically cut costs, saying it has 1,000 staff members it did not need, but criticised the use of AI in place of using human staff.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the billionaire lambasted the company’s recent strategy to implement automated advice to meet the advice needs of the baby boomer generation.
While some see robo-advice as the key to solving the UK’s “advice gap”, others argue that supplementing human experts with automated advice could cause problems, including pushing clients into riskier investments.
It is expected investment platforms and banks will increasingly automate their customer service in order to slash costs. Call centre workers are among those whose jobs are expected to be at risk due to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
A spokesman for Hargreaves Lansdown said: “We’re building our capabilities and improving the client experience by using AI technology to route people to the teams best able to help them. Over 95pc of client transactions are completed digitally and where clients need more help, in those moments that matter, our expert helpdesk is there to support them.”