Report estimates the annoyance economy costs Americans $165B a year

In short: A new report estimates Americans lose at least $165 billion each year to robocalls, spam, junk fees, healthcare paperwork, and time wasted with customer service.

What's going on

A February 2026 report from the Groundwork Collaborative puts a dollar figure on what it calls the “annoyance economy.” It is the time and money people lose dealing with things like robocalls, spam texts, surprise fees at checkout, and customer service that is hard to reach.

The report estimates the total cost is at least $165 billion per year. That number includes both direct losses, like extra charges, and the value of time people spend trying to fix problems (similar to putting an hourly price on your time).

Junk fees make up the biggest chunk at about $90 billion a year. The report also estimates $21.6 billion in lost time from healthcare administrative work, like insurance paperwork and waiting for appointments. It points to rising customer service delays too, saying time on hold has increased over the past 20 years as some companies reduce support and make refunds or cancellations harder.

The report includes robocalls and spam texts as well. It cites more than 130 million scam or illegal marketing calls per day and about 20 billion spam texts per month.

A key claim is that some companies benefit when problems take longer to solve. The report says this can include the use of AI chatbots, which are automated chat systems, when they act like a barrier instead of a helper.

What to watch

This estimate could add pressure for stricter rules around junk fees, robocalls, and customer service practices. It also raises questions about when AI chatbots should be required to hand people off to a human more quickly.

Source: NYTimes