diff --git a/lib/components/user_tile_chats.dart b/lib/components/user_tile_chats.dart
index 5e21bfc..0a53e99 100644
--- a/lib/components/user_tile_chats.dart
+++ b/lib/components/user_tile_chats.dart
@@ -72,12 +72,14 @@ class UserTileChats extends StatelessWidget {
         if (snapshot.connectionState == ConnectionState.waiting) {
           return const CircularProgressIndicator();
         } else if (snapshot.hasError) {
-          return Text(
-            'Error: ${snapshot.error}',
-            style: const TextStyle(color: Colors.red),
+          return Expanded(
+            child: Text(
+              'Error <last message>: ${snapshot.error}',
+              style: const TextStyle(color: Colors.red),
+            ),
           );
         } else if (!snapshot.hasData || snapshot.data == null) {
-          return const Text('No messages yet');
+          return buildMsgDetails('No messages yet', '', null);
         } else {
           Message lastMessage = snapshot.data!;
           msgDateString = formatTimestamp(lastMessage.timestamp);
@@ -90,50 +92,55 @@ class UserTileChats extends StatelessWidget {
             outgoing = false;
           }
 
-          return Expanded(
-            child: Column(
-              crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
-              mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.start,
-              children: [
-                // user name
-                Text(
-                  headerText,
-                  style: const TextStyle(
-                    fontSize: 20,
-                    fontWeight: FontWeight.w500,
-                  ),
-                ),
-                const SizedBox(height: 4),
-                Text(msgContent, overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis, maxLines: 1),
-                Row(
-                  children: [
-                    if (outgoing == true)
-                      const Icon(
-                        Icons.call_made,
-                        color: Colors.green,
-                        size: 16,
-                      ),
-                    if (outgoing == false)
-                      const Icon(
-                        Icons.call_received,
-                        color: Colors.blue,
-                        size: 16,
-                      ),
-                    const SizedBox(width: 4),
-                    Flexible(
-                      child: Text(
-                        msgDateString,
-                        overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis,
-                        maxLines: 1,
-                      ),
-                    ),
-                  ],
-                ),
-              ],
-            ),
-          );
+          return buildMsgDetails(msgContent, msgDateString, outgoing);
         }
       },
     );
   }
+
+  Widget buildMsgDetails(
+      String msgContent, String msgDateString, bool? outgoing) {
+    return Expanded(
+      child: Column(
+        crossAxisAlignment: CrossAxisAlignment.start,
+        mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.start,
+        children: [
+          // user name
+          Text(
+            headerText,
+            style: const TextStyle(
+              fontSize: 20,
+              fontWeight: FontWeight.w500,
+            ),
+          ),
+          const SizedBox(height: 4),
+          Text(msgContent, overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis, maxLines: 1),
+          Row(
+            children: [
+              if (outgoing == true)
+                const Icon(
+                  Icons.call_made,
+                  color: Colors.green,
+                  size: 16,
+                ),
+              if (outgoing == false)
+                const Icon(
+                  Icons.call_received,
+                  color: Colors.blue,
+                  size: 16,
+                ),
+              const SizedBox(width: 4),
+              Flexible(
+                child: Text(
+                  msgDateString,
+                  overflow: TextOverflow.ellipsis,
+                  maxLines: 1,
+                ),
+              ),
+            ],
+          ),
+        ],
+      ),
+    );
+  }
 }
diff --git a/lib/services/chat/chat_service.dart b/lib/services/chat/chat_service.dart
index e40c733..f896074 100644
--- a/lib/services/chat/chat_service.dart
+++ b/lib/services/chat/chat_service.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import 'package:cloud_firestore/cloud_firestore.dart';
 import 'package:firebase_auth/firebase_auth.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart' show debugPrint;
 
 import '../../constants.dart';
 import '../../utils/helper.dart';
@@ -58,28 +59,35 @@ class ChatService {
   }
 
   /// Retrieves the last message of a chatroom.
-  Future<Message> getLastMessage(String chatRoomID) async {
+  ///
+  /// Returns [null] in case of an error.
+  Future<Message?> getLastMessage(String chatRoomID) async {
     String senderID = '';
     String senderEmail = '';
     String receiverID = '';
     String message = '';
-    Timestamp timestamp = Timestamp.fromDate(DateTime.utc(1970, 01, 01));
+    Timestamp timestamp = Timestamp.fromMillisecondsSinceEpoch(0);
 
-    QuerySnapshot messageSnapshot = await _firestore
-        .collection(Constants.dbCollectionChatRooms)
-        .doc(chatRoomID)
-        .collection(Constants.dbCollectionMessages)
-        .orderBy(Constants.dbFieldMessageTimestamp, descending: true)
-        .limit(1)
-        .get();
+    try {
+      QuerySnapshot messageSnapshot = await _firestore
+          .collection(Constants.dbCollectionChatRooms)
+          .doc(chatRoomID)
+          .collection(Constants.dbCollectionMessages)
+          .orderBy(Constants.dbFieldMessageTimestamp, descending: true)
+          .limit(1)
+          .get();
 
-    DocumentSnapshot lastMessageDoc = messageSnapshot.docs.first;
-    if (lastMessageDoc.exists) {
-      senderID = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageSenderId];
-      senderEmail = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageSenderEmail];
-      receiverID = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageReceiverId];
-      message = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageText];
-      timestamp = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageTimestamp];
+      DocumentSnapshot lastMessageDoc = messageSnapshot.docs.first;
+      if (lastMessageDoc.exists) {
+        senderID = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageSenderId];
+        senderEmail = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageSenderEmail];
+        receiverID = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageReceiverId];
+        message = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageText];
+        timestamp = lastMessageDoc[Constants.dbFieldMessageTimestamp];
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      debugPrint(e.toString());
+      return null;
     }
 
     return Message(