Why instant answers are making customer experience worse
For years, customer experience teams chased speed. Faster first response times. Instant chat replies. AI answers in seconds.
On paper, it looked like progress.
But when we surveyed more than 600 U.S. consumers in October 2025, a clear pattern emerged: Speed alone isn’t making customers happier. In many cases, it’s making things worse.
75% of customers told us they’ve received a fast response that still left them frustrated.
That one stat captures a core issue facing CX teams heading into 2026: Fast does not mean helpful. Instant does not mean resolved. And speed without understanding can actively erode trust.
In 2025, response time became a proxy forgood CX. If the bot answered in seconds, the experience was labeled“successful.”
Customers experienced something very different — Fast replies that didn’t address the real issue. Answers that forced them into another channel. And scripts that sounded polished but missed the point.
This created what many respondents described as “fast but unresolved” service.
When asked what matters most in a supportinteraction, customers were clear:
Speed ranks last. Yet many AI systems are optimized almost entirely around it.
A chatbot that responds in five seconds but sends you in the wrong direction isn’t helpful – it’s accelerating dissatisfaction.
Our survey results reinforce thisdisconnect:
Customers told us, in their own words:
“Actually resolve the issues I bring up.”
“Have real people who know the answer and make it right.”
“Listen first and acknowledge the customer.”
Speed without resolution does not feel efficient. It feels careless.
When speed becomes the primary goal, empathy is often the first thing to go. Agents are pressured to reply quickly, not thoughtfully. AI systems are designed to answer immediately, not accurately. And context gets skipped in favor of throughput.
That tradeoff shows up clearly in customer sentiment.
Research consistently shows that satisfaction rises when customers feel heard and understood. In our survey, feeling understood ranked second only to full resolution. Yet many “instant” experiences remove the very pauses that allow empathy to surface.
Some brands are starting to recognize this and experiment with strategic pacing: Giving agents a few extra seconds to review history, understand sentiment, and respond with clarity. Early signals show fewer repeat contacts and fewer escalations.
Slower isn’t the goal; smarter is.
Customers don’t want delays - they want confidence.
Thoughtful speed means:
In this model, AI handles detection and preparation while humans handle nuance, reassurance, and decisions that shape trust. The experience feels guided, not rushed.
That shift is already underway among teams that understand that speed is meaningless if customers leave anyway.
This post highlights just one theme from our Customer Experience 2026 Trends Report, based on a survey of 600 U.S. consumers.
The full report explores:
Download the full report to explore the data and insights shaping CX in 2026: 2026CX Trends:theBacklash and the Bounceback.