The Best + Worst of Customer Service in 2025: Lessons Learned
- Sharon Oatway
- Jan 7
- 5 min read
Disclaimer: The examples of companies mentioned in this blog are based on general industry observations and should not be considered exhaustive or definitive. These illustrations reflect common customer service issues identified in publicly available reviews, expert analyses, and media reports from 2025. The intention is to provide insights and recommendations for improving customer service practices and does not aim to harm the reputation of any organization.
Customer service failures are no longer isolated incidents—they are brand-defining moments. In 2026, customers expect fast answers, clear communication, and a genuine effort to resolve problems. When those expectations aren’t met, frustration spreads quickly through reviews, social media, and word of mouth.
This article looks at patterns emerging from companies consistently associated with poor customer service experiences in 2025 and, more importantly, what customer experience leaders can learn from them.
A note on methodology (2025 update)
Rather than relying on a single "worst customer service list", this update draws from:
Multi-year customer satisfaction indices
Consumer complaint trends reported by regulators and industry analysts
Public reputation surveys and CX benchmarking studies
Recurring themes in customer feedback across industries
Sources include widely recognized customer satisfaction benchmarks, regulatory complaint data, consumer advocacy research, and independent customer experience studies.
1. Telecommunications: When Friction Becomes the Experience
What Customers Reported in 2025
Telecom providers continue to rank among the most complained-about industries. Customers frequently cite:
Long wait times to reach live support
Repeated transfers between departments
Billing disputes that require multiple contacts to resolve
Several large North American providers continue to score below industry averages in customer satisfaction benchmarks published by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
Why This Hurts
Telecom is a high-frequency, essential service. Customers don’t just remember poor experiences—they relive them monthly.
Customer Experience Lessons
If customers must call more than once for the same issue, your processes—not your people—are the problem.
Automation must reduce effort, not add layers of frustration.
First-contact resolution is more valuable than speed alone.
2. Airlines: Service Breaks Down During High-Stress Moments
What Customers Reported in 2025
Airlines continue to struggle during irregular operations such as cancellations, weather delays, and crew shortages. Customer dissatisfaction spikes when:
Information is delayed or inconsistent
Frontline staff lack the authority to help
Digital tools fail during peak disruption
Industry comparisons published by J.D. Power and consumer travel organizations show that lower-cost carriers and large legacy airlines alike suffer when communication breaks down.
Why This Hurts
Travel disruptions are emotional moments. When customers feel ignored or powerless, brand damage escalates quickly.
Customer Experience Lessons
Empathy matters most when systems fail.
Proactive communication (SMS, app notifications, clear next steps) reduces inbound volume and frustration.
Employees need both permission and tools to make things right.
3. Energy & Utilities: Trust is the Product
What Customers Reported in 2025
Energy, broadband, and utility providers in multiple markets—including the UK, US, and Canada—continue to receive high complaint volumes related to:
Extended hold times
Poor outage communication
Confusing billing explanations
Regulators and consumer protection agencies consistently flag these industries for service-related complaints.
Why This Hurts
When a service is essential, customers feel trapped. Poor service in these sectors erodes trust far faster than in discretionary industries.
Customer Experience Lessons
Silence during outages feels like neglect.
Transparency beats perfection—especially when things go wrong.
Clear explanations reduce repeat contacts and complaints.
Retail: Scale Without Support Fails Customers
What Customers Reported in 2025
As e-commerce and subscription-based technology continue to grow, customers report frustration with:
Inconsistent return or refund experiences
Chatbots that block access to live help
Complex escalation paths for non-standard issues
Several consumer research firms note that self-service satisfaction drops sharply when escalation paths are unclear.
Why This Hurts
Customers are willing to self-serve—but only if help is available when self-service fails.
Customer Experience Lessons
Self-service should be a choice, not a dead end.
Design escalation as part of the journey, not an exception.
Measure effort, not just containment rates.
5. Financial Services: Complexity Without Clarity
What Customers Reported in 2025
Banks and financial institutions continue to face criticism for:
Confusing policies and fee structures
Lengthy dispute resolution timelines
Inconsistent service across channels
CX benchmarks show that institutions with clearer communication and better advisor training outperform peers—even when products are similar.
Why This Hurts
Money is emotional. Confusion feels risky, and poor explanations erode confidence quickly.
Customer Experience Lessons
Plain language is a competitive advantage.
Empathy and accuracy must coexist—one without the other fails customers.
Training matters as much as technology.
6. Healthcare: When Poor Service Impacts Trust, Access, and Outcomes
What Patients Reported in 2025
Healthcare continues to receive high volumes of service-related complaints tied to access, communication, and coordination. Common patient frustrations include difficulty reaching a live person, long wait times for scheduling or test results, inconsistent information between departments, and limited support when using patient portals. These issues appear consistently in national patient experience surveys and healthcare CX benchmarks published by organizations such as CMS (CAHPS), Press Ganey, and NRC Health.
Why This Hurts
Unlike most industries, poor service in healthcare can delay care, increase patient anxiety, and undermine trust in the clinical system itself. Patients do not distinguish between “service” and “care”—a confusing scheduling experience or unanswered question feels like a failure of the organization as a whole.
Customer Experience Lessons
Access is part of the care experience, not an administrative task.
Self-service tools must be supported by easy escalation to knowledgeable, empathetic staff.
Training should prepare teams for high-emotion interactions, not just transactional efficiency.
The Bigger Picture: What “Worst Customer Service” Really Meant in 2025
Across industries, companies associated with poor customer service share common traits:
They optimize for efficiency over experience
They deploy AI without human safeguards
They treat complaints as noise instead of insight
They under-invest in frontline training and empowerment
Meanwhile, high-performing organizations in 2025 are:
Deliberately designing human-in-the-loop service models
Training employees to handle emotional moments—not just transactions
Using technology to support judgment, not replace it
Final Thought for Contact Center + CX Leaders
As we look ahead to 2026, Agentic AI will begin to reshape customer service in more visible and consequential ways. Systems that can initiate actions, make decisions, and coordinate across tools will reduce friction and speed resolution—but only if they are designed with clear boundaries and human oversight.
The real differentiator will not be how autonomous these agents become, but how well organizations decide when to let them act and when to bring humans into the loop.
In customer service, trust is built through judgment, accountability, and empathy—qualities that cannot be fully automated. The organizations that succeed in 2026 will be those that treat Agentic AI as a capable partner, not a replacement, and design experiences where technology amplifies human care rather than eclipsing it.
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