Customer Service Trends 2025: PissedConsumer Survey

Staying on top of customer service trends can put companies in a position to improve their CS and CX processes. That goes beyond what members of the industry share with each other, however. Real customer service improvements start with the customers themselves.

That’s why PissedConsumer.com did something unique in the industry. We surveyed over 40,000 consumers to get their customer service insights, from the influence of customer service issues on their decisions to publish online reviews to their preferred communication channels when seeking support.

Explore key findings of our 2025 customer service trends below or download the full report to learn more about what consumers want to see from future customer service encounters. 

Key Insights on the Customer Service Trends

• Of all the improvements customers want to see companies make, customer service tops their list.
• More than half (58.3%) of consumers never hear back from a company after reaching out to customer service for assistance.
• Phone calls and emails are consumers’ preferred customer service contact methods.

Customer Support Improvements Top Consumers’ Wish List

Consumers have their fair share of complaints and things they’d like to see companies improve. From pricing and payment options to packaging and delivery issues, there is no shortage of things businesses can work on to keep customers happy. 

What is the biggest request from consumers though?

They’d like companies to improve their customer service. 

Businesses currently miss the mark in important ways: response frequency, the quality of customer service interactions, and more. 

Keep reading to find out what else our survey showed about the best and worst customer service trends from the perspective of consumers. 

Are Companies Meeting Customer Support Expectations?

As a customer yourself, what’s the bare minimum you expect when you reach out to a company’s customer service reps?

You at least expect a response.

Too often, consumers don’t even get this much. More than 58% of people we surveyed never received any response from a company they contacted about a customer service issue. 

Is this an area where your company can improve? 

Receiving a response from a customer service representative is a start. But how often do those responses lead to actual resolutions?

Not often enough. 

According to PissedConsumer.com’s customer service data, only 26.1% of consumers reported that companies offered a resolution to their issues. 

Customer service begins and ends with the customer. When they have a problem, good customer service requires resolution to preserve goodwill. It seems too many companies struggle in this regard. 

Yours doesn’t have to. 

Even when companies do propose solutions to customer service problems, they often leave customers unsatisfied. 

With 61.18% of respondents saying they were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with customer service solutions proposed by companies, there’s clearly room for improvement.

Why Customer Service Improvements Are Essential

No company should treat customer service as an afterthought. Improved customer service can:

• increase customer loyalty and keep formerly unhappy customers coming back;
• lead to positive word-of-mouth marketing from happy customers;
• lead to fewer negative online reviews that could harm a company’s reputation.

Customers taking our survey confirmed these things. 

Given all the unpleasant customer service experiences they reported, it should be no surprise more than half of consumers said they wouldn’t buy from the same company again. 

Can your company afford to lose over half the customers who reach out to your customer service team? 

Probably not. 

It’s not all bad news though. Almost 30% of respondents said they’d consider sticking with a company that resolved their customer service issues. 

As for those negative reviews, the best way to fix them is to prevent them. Improved customer service processes can help you get there. 

When surveyed about online review trends, respondents said over 31% of online reviews are published because they want to warn other shoppers about a bad experience they had. 

How can your business prevent these kinds of negative reviews? 

• Respond to customer service inquiries.
• Train customer service reps to offer appropriate solutions. 
• Monitor online reviews and reach out to customers even if they don’t contact you directly.

Beyond this, it’s important for companies to offer communication channels their customers prefer. Let’s look at what those include.

Good Customer Service Means Meeting Customers Where They Are

Live chat and social media accounts have been popular customer service tools for years. AI chatbots might be all the buzz among CS and CX professionals right now. But are those customer service channels what your customers want?

It might be surprising to know that consumers can be a bit “old-fashioned” when it comes to customer service. They prefer more classic contact methods like phone calls and emails. 

In fact, those two communication methods alone can help businesses reach almost 65% of consumers. 

Pros and Cons of Customer Service Calls

Just because consumers say they often turn to phone-based customer service reps, it doesn’t mean they’re always happy with the results. 

While more than half of consumers say their issue was resolved over the phone, another 44% weren’t so fortunate. This leaves a wide margin for improvement in future phone-based customer service.

Customer Service Calls Shine with Speedy Assistance 

One highlight—and perhaps a reason phone support is such a popular option—is the speed at which customers can reach phone support reps. 

More than half of consumers report waiting three minutes or less to reach a customer support representative. 

It doesn’t end with short hold times. Consumers also report over 82% of their customer service issues are resolved the same day they call. 

Phone Customer Service Satisfaction Offers Improvement Opportunities

While customers might see same-day resolutions, that doesn’t mean they’re happy with customer service reps they speak to on the phone. 

More than 45% of people report feeling unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the individual they spoke with. 

This means there’s more to maintaining happy customer relationships than fixing problems. Better customer service training could help bridge the gap. 

Improving Excellence in Customer Service Emails

The other customer-preferred communication tool is email. By sending a customer service email, consumers can avoid waiting on hold. But they might be kept waiting in another way. 

Over 58% of people who emailed customer service say they never received a response. 

How Businesses Respond to Customer Service Emails

There’s no good reason for a lack of response to customer service emails, especially when initial responses can be automated. 

The majority of customers who received an email response say they were sent either only an automated email or an automated response in addition to a personal response from a customer service rep. 

If your company struggles to respond to customer emails, automated responses could be a good first step. They can point customers to answers to common questions, to tutorials or support documentation, or let them know how long a more personalized response might take. 

Analyzing Email Response Times 

While phone response times might fall within minutes, customer service emails can still offer quick resolutions. Nearly half of people who receive a response to their email hear back within 24 hours. 

Results are even more important though. Respondents reported that email customer service reps were able to solve their problems at once over 42% of the time. That helps explain the high customer satisfaction with email support, with one-third of consumers rating it 10/10. 

Improved email support, especially with the help of automated emails, could be valuable to your company. Customers don’t only report high satisfaction when they receive responses to their emails. 

41% say they’ll definitely keep coming back to a company after their email customer support experience. 

What the PissedConsumer.com customer service trends survey shows is that companies don’t need the latest AI tools or an expansive social media presence to improve their customer service. Instead, it’s about listening to customers. 

Listen to their problems or concerns. Be present where your customers are (with phone and email support options available). Don’t ignore customers when they reach out. And empower customer service representatives to propose practical solutions. 

If your CS/CX team is looking to improve, the best option might be to go back to basics. 

Want to explore more customer service statistics? Download the full PissedConsumer.com 2025 State of Customer Service survey report.

Methodology

Online review and reputation management platform, PissedConsumer.com, surveyed 40,843 website visitors about their customer service experiences in 2024. Respondents included 54.23% female visitors and 45.77% male visitors aged 25-34 (20.66%), 45-54 (18.75%), 55-64 (18.59%), 35-44 (17.73%), 65+ (14.29%), and 18-24 (9.97%). Those surveyed were located in the United States (76.11%), The United Kingdom (13.92%), Canada (6.32%), Australia (1.75%), and other nations (1.9%).