Alex's Answer

Hi there, 

Thanks for getting in touch with us at Ask Alex.

You pressed the Live Chat button, and got some chat bubbles appearing, and you were told to press the Live Chat button again. That sounds like Live Chat wasn’t working correctly for you, and we are sorry about that.

Once you press the Live Chat button, a message should pop up welcoming you to the online chat (it may take a few seconds), and you can begin your chat by writing a message in the chat box. You should only have to press the Live Chat button once to bring you to starting a chat. 

If it seems like Live Chat is not working correctly, sometimes it can help to refresh your page (if you don’t have the option to write a message). Otherwise, you can send a message in the chat box (even just saying hello), and one of our facilitators will be there to listen to you. Sometimes it might take a couple of minutes if the service is busy. 

Occasionally, there can be glitches with the online system, and we would update the Childline website to let everyone know if there were any big issues that meant the website wasn’t working. 

We hope that makes sense, and that you got to talk on Live Chat or that you will give it another go. You can speak about anything that’s on your mind, and the service is available 24/7, every day of the year. There is also the option to phone us on our free-phone number 1800 66 66 66. This service is also open 24-hours every day.

Hope to hear from you again soon!

Alex