The Death Of Customer Service: Are We Replacing Bad Service With No Service And How Does That Affect Our Careers?

Customer service in the UK has become an epidemic of mediocrity. Everywhere you look, companies and their employees seem disengaged, unmotivated and uninterested in delivering a great experience. Two separate LinkedIn posts today highlighted poor service at car dealerships, and I had my own frustrating experience at the bank yesterday.

I was making a large CHAPS payment, and the bank employee struggled to verify the recipient’s details (it was a major building society). Rather than addressing the issue or escalating it, she shrugged and said, “It always happens with building societies, it’s just one of those things.” But why not report it and get it fixed? Why accept poor service as the norm? It was a classic “Computer says no” scenario.

Granted, some businesses do genuinely excel, but this kind of indifference is everywhere. The car dealership post I saw told a similar story – sales staff ignoring a customer, passing the responsibility onto someone else, and then complaining about their own workload in front of the person they were supposed to be helping. If customer service is this bad, do we even need human staff anymore?

AI vs. The ‘Personal’ Touch

Many believe AI is the future of customer service. Chatbots, automated systems and AI-driven solutions are already replacing human interactions in banking, retail and even professional services. If humans are going to deliver service with such apathy, perhaps AI is a better option – it at least has an excuse for lacking empathy and is probably more efficient.

But here’s the thing: I don’t think people want to stop dealing with humans. They just want to be treated with care, respect and empathy. They want to feel like they matter.

That’s exactly why customer experience matters to us here at The CV & Interview Advisors, we provide a range of career development and personal branding services and tens of thousands of professionals and executives have used our CV and LinkedIn profile writing service. But we don’t just write CVs and LinkedIn profiles – we build personal brands. Our process isn’t a quick AI-generated edit; it’s an in-depth, human-driven experience. The CV and LinkedIn profile might be the output, but it’s the human process behind it that drives success.

We spend two hours with clients on a detailed fact-finding session because writing a CV isn’t just about listing jobs, it’s about truly understanding a person’s career goals, value proposition, achievements and positioning. ChatGPT might be able to produce a well-worded CV, but it cannot replace the level of personalisation and strategic thinking that comes from a human expert.

I’m not claiming that we are flawless. but I spent days mapping out our customer journey, forensically analysing it, and looking for pinch points and where things might go wrong. We then built our complete customer journey around excellence. As I say, it might not be perfect, but at least our goal is to be the best we can be.

And because we believe exceptional service should be recognised, we have a Customer Service Award every month for the Personal Branding Specialist/Career Coach who receives the most positive client feedback. We don’t just talk about great service, we reward and celebrate it. This is why our clients get an experience that is genuinely personal, not just transactional.

The Real Issue: Apathy vs. Excellence

Back to the world in general - perhaps the problem isn’t just bad customer service; it’s a lack of accountability and ownership. We see it in banks, in car dealerships, in retail – employees who don’t take pride in what they do and managers who fail to inspire or enforce standards. If a problem exists, it gets accepted instead of fixed. If customers are frustrated, too bad.

So here’s my challenge to businesses: Do you want to be part of the problem or the solution? If you want customers to value your service, start valuing them first. Train your staff, reward excellence, and most importantly, hire people who actually care about the job they’re doing.

At the end of the day, service isn’t about AI versus humans – it’s about quality versus apathy. The businesses that will thrive in the future are the ones that treat their customers as people, not transactions.

The Career Perspective: Attitude is Everything

And to bring this around to career development, it’s no coincidence that the people who truly care, show empathy and commit to excellence are also the ones who go on to progress, get promoted, and excel in their careers. In every industry, from automotive to banking, the individuals who take ownership and go the extra mile stand out – not just to customers, but to decision-makers and leaders.

Employers notice the difference between those who show initiative and pride in their work and those who simply go through the motions. AI is a significant threat to many roles but perhaps AI won’t replace great employees – maybe just the ones who are unable to add value beyond anything transactional.

I always think back to a motivational speaker I saw at a management conference in the US – his name was Keith Harrell and he talked about Attitude Being Everything and his catchphrase was Super Fantastic.

I think Keith was right – attitude really is everything. If you show up with energy, commitment, and a ‘super fantastic’ mindset, success isn’t just possible, it’s inevitable.

What do you think?