A new survey from Gradient Labs, a customer operations AI agent company, shows that nearly one in four consumers have lost funds because of incorrect or unhelpful advice from support agents. Another one in four say they’ve missed work trying to resolve basic issues.
Shockingly, one in 10 say they’ve been told by a support agent to “Google it” and over half (52%) believe companies intentionally make support harder, not to issue refunds.
The timing matters too. With summer spending in full swing, consumers are more likely to run into issues around travel, retail, and subscriptions, and end up stuck in long support loops that wreck their wallets.
The full study is available on the Gradient Labs website.
Key research insights:
- Some 75% of consumers rank long waiting times as a major customer service frustration, with 52% believing companies intentionally complicate the process.
- Only 11% of consumers say all of their customer service inquiries are resolved, while 13% report that their problems are rarely or never addressed effectively.
- Frustrated by a lack of resolution, 51% of consumers say they have taken their complaints further, with 19% visiting a company’s physical location, 17% threatening legal action, and 13% filing a government complaint.
- After wasting time on inefficient and ineffective support processes, 71% of consumers believe businesses should financially reimburse customers for poor customer service interactions.
“Customer service is the backbone of any successful business – after all, a happy customer is a loyal customer. Yet many companies are falling short of expectations. Rather than support and resolutions, dealing with support can feel like more hassle than it’s worth – long wait times, a lack of care, and no guarantee of a resolution,” said the Gradient report.
“Despite all the new-age customer service touchpoints available, most consumers still prefer to do it the old-fashioned way. Promising immediate support, 78% prefer to pick up the phone rather than wait for a reply to their email, tweet, or message.”
When it comes to delivering the best customer service, banks and financial services stand out, with 52% of consumers ranking the sector highly. There’s no denying digital banking support often exceeds expectations – providing prompt assistance with payments, swift statement processing, and a proactive approach to fraud detection, said the report.
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