Customer Service Statistics (2026): The Real Cost of Bad Support & How to Fight Back

Why does it feel like customer service has gotten worse over the years? It’s not just the “Gen Z stare”… The National Customer Rage Survey conducted in February 2025 found that 77% of Americans had a product or service problem in the last 12 months.

Bad customer service doesn’t just screw up the buyer’s experience; it also cuts into a business’s bottom line. Zendesk (October, 2025) reports that more than half of consumers say they’ll switch to a competitor after just one bad experience. In fact, 72% of customers now expect “immediate” service, raising the bar for organizations in practically every industry.

The reality most companies don’t want to admit? All of this plays out in your favor.

You don’t have to accept that “late” refund that never arrives, the internet outage credit you never received, or that subscription you’re trying to cancel that feels like solving a jigsaw puzzle. Especially today, with inflation up and many households trying to pay off their debts, poor customer service is something you shouldn’t tolerate because it can directly hurt your budget.

In this article, we’ll break down the latest data on customer service and show you how to use it to your advantage so you can get the treatment (and outcomes) you’ve rightfully paid for.

10 Customer Service Statistics Worth Knowing

Going into 2026, customer service can make or break a business. All it takes is one bad experience.

Here are 10 statistics that make the impact of customer service impossible to ignore:

1. 88% of customers say the customer experience is more important than ever. In a world where there are a million and one options for customers, trust stands out. Good service is no longer a “nice to have”; it’s necessary for any brand that wants to build trust and gain loyal, repeat customers. (Forbes, 2024)

2. 64% of customers will spend more with a business that solves their issue on the channel they’re using. The easier a company makes it to fix the problem right where you are, whether that’s chat, call, or email, the more likely you are to keep buying from them. Brands must always pave the way for their customers to take the path of least resistance. (Zendesk, 2025)

3. 96% of customers say they’ve stopped engaging with a brand because of bad customer service. Once you feel ignored, dismissed, or bounced around, you stop trusting the brand to show up for you. And when trust is gone, people don’t “give it another shot”… they move on. (Forbes, 2020)

4. 56% of customers don’t complain after a bad experience. They just leave. Most people don’t have the time or energy to argue for what they’re owed. They’ll close the tab, cancel, and move on without ever giving the company a second chance. (Coveo, 2023)

5. 3 in 4 consumers say a bad customer service interaction can ruin their entire day. To the customer, it’s never “just a call.” It’s time that could be spent elsewhere. It’s feeling powerless. And it’s you feeling like you’re going crazy, repeating yourself with no resolution. (Zendesk, 2025)

6. Customers give companies an average of only 2.2 chances before switching for good. Most people understand mistakes happen. But they want accountability and fairness. If the first issue feels messy and the second feels the same, the customer starts believing it’s a pattern, not a fluke. (Hyken, 2025)

7. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for 1 negative experience. One sour interaction can cancel out months of “pretty good” service. Negative experiences feel personal: you remember being ignored, blamed, or treated like a number. And once the bad memory is there, every future interaction gets judged through that lens. (Ruby Newell-Legner, 2015)

8. 68% of customers get irritated when their call is transferred between departments. Transfers feel like the company saying, “Not my problem.” Each handoff usually comes with re-explaining the story, repeating account details, and reliving the annoyance from the start. It feels like you’re doing the company’s work for them. (Zendesk, 2024)

9. 33% say their #1 frustration is waiting on hold. Another 33% say it’s repeating themselves. The two biggest “time thieves” in customer service. Fixing them requires you to waste time proving and explaining what should’ve been handled cleanly the first time. That’s when support can feel less like help and more like homework. (HubSpot, 2021)

10. 62% would rather “hand out parking tickets” than deal with an automated phone tree or repeat themselves to multiple reps. Funny? Yes. Painfully relatable? Also yes. Phone trees make people feel like they’re trapped in a nightmare loop. You press 1, then 2, then 4… only to get “that department is closed” or “please call back later.” UGH. (HubSpot via HelpScout, 2025)

Use Pine to Tackle Bad Customer Service

"Bad customer service isn't just an annoyance; it's a silent leak in your bank account. Every unresolved billing error, every 'accidental' subscription renewal, and every hour of work you miss fighting them adds up to consumer debt. We built Pine to plug those leaks and put that money back where it belongs—in your pocket." - Stanley Wei, CEO of Pine

How Long Are We Actually Waiting?

Customer service wait times vary from less than 30 seconds to around 24 hours, depending on the channel. The longer it takes to reach someone, the more likely customers are to give up. Here’s what you can expect on average per channel:

According to Giva (March 2025), over 60% of customers will hang up if they’re on hold for more than two minutes. Many phone-based support experiences typically exceed six minutes, sometimes even reaching double digits during high-volume periods. And we wonder why nearly 8 out of 10 Americans have issues with service in 2025!

Industries with the Lowest Satisfaction Scores

The three worst-ranking industries

Internet service providers (ISPs), subscription TV services, and video-on-demand streaming services are the three lowest-ranking industries in customer service satisfaction. These sectors make people the most frustrated because the stakes are higher, the systems are convoluted, and customers usually have limited leverage (at least they want you to think that!)

Based on HubSpot’s 2023 analysis of American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) data, here are their respective scores:

Why these industries fail consumers more than others

1. Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Why all the hate for internet service providers? Customers rely on internet service for work, school, banking, and everyday life. However, outages, slow speeds, billing errors, and contract lock-ins are far too common. When something breaks, support is usually slow, heavily scripted, and fragmented across departments. The result: high frustration and low trust.

2. Subscription TV Services

Subscription TV services hit you with a mix of pain points: confusing pricing, surprise fees, rigid contracts, and notoriously difficult cancellation processes. Customers feel trapped paying for bundles they don’t want, or struggling to make changes without being upsold or transferred to the next guy. Annoyance here turns into resentment pretty quickly. Hence the terrible score.

3. Video-on-Demand (Streaming Services)

Streaming services score a little higher, but still live in the hellscape of bad service. Common issues include sudden price hikes, content removals, account access problems, and unclear billing. To add insult to injury, human support is limited or hard to access. For example, when something goes wrong, customers are pushed to self-service FAQs or chatbots, even when the nuance of the situation calls for a human.

The patterns

Across all three sectors, the same patterns show up:

• High dependency: These services are essential or embedded into daily life.
• Complex or “got you” systems: Billing, contracts, and technical issues create friction.
• Limited accountability: Customers have few alternatives or face switching costs.
• Weak support access: Getting a real human or an actual solution takes too long.

This combination makes these industries the most important ones for consumers to stay vigilant with. When service breaks down, it not only wastes your time; it can also directly affect your finances, productivity, and peace of mind.

Customer Service Channels: Phone, Chat, Email, and Social — What the Statistics Say Works Best

Each customer service channel shines in specific situations…and breaks down in others. The proof is in the pudding, or rather, the data. Customers want issues resolved where they already are, without waiting, repeating themselves, or switching channels mid-problem.

Below are the statistics that actually show how the major support channels perform in the real world.

How the main customer service channels compare

What the data really shows

Live chat performs best when speed matters. Studies show that real-time chat doesn’t just resolve issues faster; it can actually increase spending and loyalty. That’s because customers can get help without pausing what they’re doing or starting over elsewhere.

Chatbots win on availability, not empathy. Consumers like chatbots when they’re accessible around the clock, especially for simple requests. But once an issue becomes complicated and nuanced, bots are generally useless, and consumers crave human-to-human interaction in that moment.

Phone support is essential, but inefficient. When problems involve money, cancellations, or disputes, customers need a human. However, long holds and repeat transfers are the top drivers of frustration.

Email is reliable, but slow. Email works best when timing isn’t critical. For urgent issues, waiting half a day (or more) for a reply feels out of touch with modern expectations.

Social media is high-visibility, low-reliability. While public complaints can pressure companies to respond, many messages still go unanswered. It’s better as a channel for engaging with brands than for solving issues.

The big takeaway for consumers: The channel that “works best” depends on how quickly you need help and how complex the issue is. What customers want most is resolution without friction.

The AI shift – how automation and AI agents are changing customer service

Whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay. Moving into 2026, it has become deeply ingrained in customer service and is actively reshaping how businesses support customers. From chatbots handling simple queries to AI tools assisting agents behind the scenes, automation is becoming the status quo. Here’s the catch: adoption is moving quickly on the business side, but customer comfort hasn’t fully caught up.

Zendesk’s August 2025 report shows that 59% of consumers believe AI will change how they interact with businesses in the next two years, signaling expectations that service experiences will look different very soon. At the same time, businesses are moving at uneven speeds. More than 74% of companies now use chatbots in their customer service operations. Still, only around 29% have adopted more advanced conversational AI, pointing to a gap between basic automation and more intelligent support systems. (AIRPM, 2024)

Customers will always value humans over robots. Amplifi AI’s October 2025 research states that 99% of customers feel more comfortable when a human is involved in resolving their issue, even if AI is part of the process. The takeaway: AI works best when it augments customer service rather than replaces it entirely.

For businesses, this means the winning approach isn’t choosing between humans or AI. Rather, it’s designing a hybrid experience where automation handles speed and scale, while people step in for judgment, empathy, and complex problem-solving.

How these customer service statistics can help you protect your wallet

Knowing these customer service stats isn’t just a cool thing to say at a party… it’s leverage. When you know what companies promise customers (and what customers expect), you’re in a stronger position to push back, escalate, and recover money you’d otherwise lose. Here’s how to turn the numbers into action.

1. Use stats as leverage When escalating an issue, reference expectations that companies already know about and are measured against. For example, if a company advertises “fast” or “immediate” support but you’ve waited hours (or days) for a response, that gap gives you leverage. This is not being difficult; it’s pointing out a failure to deliver on the promises the company makes to its customers. Framing it this way makes your complaint harder to dismiss and easier to escalate.

2. Document everything Yes—everything. Keep records of calls, chat logs, emails, ticket numbers, and dates. Documentation turns a “he said, she said” situation into a clear paper trail that makes escalation and compensation much easier.

3. Ask for compensation If a service outage, late delivery, or billing error costs you time, money, or peace of mind, ask for credits or refunds. Companies often won’t offer compensation unless you request it explicitly. In air travel alone, delayed or canceled flights can leave passengers owed $200–$600+ in compensation, depending on the route and length of the delay. Most people never see that money because claiming it takes time, persistence, and follow-up.

4. Escalate smarter If frontline support stalls, move up the chain. Written complaints, public social media posts, or even regulators or ombudsmen can lead to faster resolution than repeating the same request over and over.

5. Consider tools like Pine Following up, negotiating bills, and fighting for refunds takes hours, sometimes days. Pine AI gives you back that time and does all the heavy lifting, handling negotiations, complaints, and follow-ups so you get the money you’re owed.

How Pine can Help with Customer Service Headaches

"Companies count on your exhaustion. They know if they keep you on hold for 45 minutes listening to smooth jazz, you’ll eventually hang up and pay that bogus fee. At Pine, we don’t have patience for that game. We stay on the line so you don't have to, ensuring you never pay a 'convenience fee' for their inconvenience." - Stanley Wei, CEO of Pine

Sources & Citations

• WSJ, American Customers Are Madder Than Ever (November 2025)
• Zendesk, 35 customer experience statistics to know for 2025 (October 2025)
• Forbes, Bad Customer Service Could Cost More Than $3.7 Trillion (August 2024)
• Forbes, Ninety-Six Percent Of Customers Will Leave You For Bad Customer Service (July 2020)
• HelpScout, 107 Customer Service Statistics and Facts You Shouldn't Ignore (August 2025)
• Zendesk, 92 customer service statistics you need to know in 2025 (October 2025)
• Salesmate, 65+ Customer service statistics (August 2025)
• Zendesk, Customer experience management advice from the pros (September 2024)
• Giva, Giva’s List of 24 Top Call Center Statistics for 2025 (March 2025)
• Pipes.ai, What Is The Average Hold Time In A Call Center? (FAQ)
• Tidio, 24 Essential Live Chat Statistics You Should Know (December 2025)
• Nextiva, 29 Live Chat Statistics and Trends (December 2025)
• Superhuman, Email response time statistics & how they help conversions (July 2025)
• Sprinklr, 30+ Customer Experience Statistics in 2024 (February 2024)
• Dashly, The 36 key Chatbot statistics: How Chatbots Help businesses grow in 2025 (December 2024)
• ElectroIQ, Social Media Customer Service Statistics By Network, Demographics And Facts (September 2025)
• Zendesk, 59 AI customer service statistics for 2025 (August 2025)
• AIRPM, 50+ AI in Customer Service Statistics (2024)
• McKinsey, Where is customer care in 2024? (March 2024)