Why Is Customer Service Quality Declining? An American Entrepreneur's Observations

Nearly every company promises top-tier customer service. Yet in practice, customers dealing with hospitality businesses, retailers or call centers often continue to walk away disappointed. According to the head of a transcription company and an Entrepreneur contributor, this is no coincidence: the quality of customer service has declined markedly among employees of all ages, especially since the 2020 pandemic.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), overall satisfaction with supermarket customer service dipped from 79% to 78%. The picture varies widely by chain, though: Trader Joe's climbed from 84% to 86%, while Wegmans fell from 83% to 78% and Albertsons slipped from 76% to 74% — underscoring how sharply service quality differs from one retailer to the next.

The author shares a personal experience: at an ordinary store, asking an employee where to find a product got him the wrong answer, an open checkout lane suddenly closed on him, and the two managers he complained to showed no interest in the issue. He contrasts this with a nearby competing chain, where staff personally walk customers to the item they're looking for and offer an alternative whenever a checkout lane closes.

A positive example cited is Pal's Sudden Service, a small fast-food chain in eastern Tennessee that has operated since 1956 and now runs 31 locations. New hires there complete roughly 120 hours of training before starting work, while manager candidates go through more than 800 hours. According to a Harvard Business Review analysis, while the fast-food industry averages one order error for every 15 orders, Pal's error rate is just one in 3,600 — 240 times better than the industry average.

The author stresses that expecting employees to deliver top-notch service is unrealistic if management doesn't model that behavior itself and provide the necessary support. Companies need to set clear standards, assess service skills as early as the interview stage, and be willing to part ways with a long-tenured but indifferent employee when necessary.

Generations also perceive service differently — people born between 1946 and 1964, for instance, respond better to live, personal interaction and traditional advertising. As a result, deep customer understanding is becoming an essential part of any modern service strategy.