# Chat support can see what you're typing before you hit send **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132 "2022-01-20T23:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/1 "2022-01-20T23:02:34Z")
Just dawned on me today when I got a very fast and lengthy reply. Of course they can. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/2 "2022-01-20T23:11:18Z")
That, or the “support” you’re talking to is a bot. Or is a collaboration between a bot and a human. One reason companies use typed chat for support rather than phones is so it isn’t obvious when you’re talking to a bot. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/3 "2022-01-20T23:14:09Z")
This one’s a human so far as I can tell. I had to go through a bot to get to her, and she’s been troubleshooting me for a while. ~Maz ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/4 "2022-01-20T23:57:02Z")
While your problem may seem unique, it may be the 10th time _today_ she’s seen it. It’s quite possible they have canned responses ready to go. Whether that’s a formal part of her chat software or she just has a word doc open with 5 or 10 of her ‘usual’ replies & copy/pastes the appropriate one into the chat ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/5 "2022-01-21T00:04:05Z")
Some of them, yes. Not every business uses the same chat software. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/6 "2022-01-21T00:07:22Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > she’s been troubleshooting me for a while. > > ~Maz It’s not working, Maz. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/7 "2022-01-21T00:32:57Z")
If there are common steps to troubleshoot something, they may have canned responses. I staff chat for a library and we can see that you’re typing but not what until you submit. But we have a set of canned responses that we can use when needed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/8 "2022-01-21T00:55:03Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > While your problem may seem unique, it may be the 10th time _today_ she’s seen it. There aren’t enough hours in the day for that to be true. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/9 "2022-01-21T00:55:18Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Just dawned on me today when I got a very fast and lengthy reply. Of course they can "Of course I’ve fucking turned it off and on again, stop wasting my time and get to the real stuff. Yes I know where the damn power button is, do you think I’m a total moron? Thanks I’ve done that now, what is the next step?" ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/10 "2022-01-21T01:00:08Z")
As a customer, I usually pre-type my problem description, attempted fixes, order numbers, etc. before I even open the chat. As a worker in an unrelated field, I have a file of frequent documentation statements so I can copy and paste quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/11 "2022-01-21T01:01:42Z")
I wasn’t saying anything nasty, but lol ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/12 "2022-01-21T01:09:09Z")
> [@susan](#): > > As a customer, I usually pre-type my problem description, attempted fixes, order numbers, etc. before I even open the chat. Hmm, how does that usually work out for you? My experience: > "I have issue X. > > - I know this problem usually arises because option Y is selected. I cannot unselect option Y because it is grayed out > - I have already applied patch 259485" > “Thank you for contacting us about your problem issue X. This is a common problem and I can help you with it today. Please deselect option Y and your problem will be solved. Thank you for contacting us. I have now closed this ticket.” > “As I said, option Y is grayed out.” > “Thank you for contacting us about your problem issue X I now understand that you cannot deselect option Y because it is grayed out. This problem is solved by applying patch 259485. That patch can be found on this web page: xxxxxx Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day. I have now closed this ticket. If you have any other issues I would be very pleased to help” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/13 "2022-01-21T01:13:10Z")
Depends how persistent I am about escalating and evaluating. Typing it out beforehand makes it easy to cut and paste in as many times as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/14 "2022-01-21T01:13:24Z")
True, that ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/15 "2022-01-21T02:06:53Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > While your problem may seem unique, it may be the 10th time _today_ she’s seen it. It’s quite possible they have canned responses ready to go. Whether that’s a formal part of her chat software or she just has a word doc open with 5 or 10 of her ‘usual’ replies & copy/pastes the appropriate one into the chat I don’t do realtime chat, but I do provide technical support in a forum and by a ticket system. I have about 20 text files open at all times, with text I’ve written to address the ~90% of reports that are known issues, or are actually not our problem and best dealt with by others (either in or out of our organisation). If there’s an expectation that each response ought to be custom-written for that user, well, that would just be a massive waste of time and mean I helped fewer users in a day. I do of course amend the text as appropriate for particular circumstances, although “the game is broken” doesn’t leave much room for that! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/16 "2022-01-21T15:27:06Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > This one’s a human so far as I can tell. I had to go through a bot to get to her, and she’s been troubleshooting me for a while. She may _ **seem** _ human, but don’t be fooled; and whatever you do, don’t fall in love. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/17 "2022-01-21T15:29:57Z")
Great. Now I have Fee Fucking Waybill in my ear. [goes for a Q-Tip …] ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/18 "2022-01-21T15:43:49Z")
Better than Quay Lude! ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/19 "2022-01-21T21:46:04Z")
If you really want to figure out whether or not that’s happening, you can open the developer tools in your browser - in Chrome or Firefox you go to the dropdown menu, then More Tools, then Developer Tools. If you go to the Network tab you can see the communication between your browser and the web server. If there are messages going back and forth as you type, then it could be sending your keystrokes. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132/20 "2022-01-21T22:09:52Z")
I remember hearing that _phone_ support can hear you even while you’re on hold, and the similar case that the “quality assurance” recording is ongoing while you’re on hold. In other words, the customer has an open mic, even when there is hold music playing. Web pages can gather mouse position and key presses, including letters typed and then erased from fields. This very one I’m using _right now_ is reading my keys as I type them (it’s nice enough to show them to me). I just have to trust that when I use backspace, those letters I erased are condemned to the bitbucket, not saved for some reason. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chat-support-can-see-what-youre-typing-before-you-hit-send/958132.md?page=2)