Seven ways you’re making customer service harder for yourself
Getting stuck in customer service hell is frustrating enough without making it worse for yourself. Yet many of us unknowingly sabotage our support calls through habits that trigger defensive responses or slow down solutions.
Whether it’s launching straight into a complaint or treating chatbots like they’re completely useless, these common mistakes can turn a quick fix into an hour-long ordeal. The good news? Small changes to approaching customer service can dramatically improve your experience, according to this customer service expert.
Anna Bielikova, Chief Operations Officer at Simply Contact, a multilingual contact centre provider, sees these patterns daily across millions of customer interactions. With over a decade of experience managing support operations for global brands, Anna knows exactly which customer behaviours help (and which ones hinder) getting problems solved quickly.
Most people don’t realise their approach affects the outcome. Simple adjustments to how you communicate can mean the difference between a 5-minute resolution and a frustrating back-and-forth that leaves everyone unhappy.
The seven customer service mistakes that backfire
Here are the behaviours Anna sees that consistently slow down resolutions, along with her expert advice on what works better.
1. Launching Into a Rant Instead of Stating the Problem Clearly
We’ve all been there – you’re frustrated, you’ve been waiting, and the moment someone picks up, you unleash everything at once. But this works against you.
When customers start with an emotional outburst, agents spend the first few minutes trying to understand what happened rather than solving it. It’s human nature to become defensive when someone’s shouting, even if the anger isn’t directed at you personally.
The fix is simple: lead with facts. Say I’m having trouble with my order before explaining why you’re upset. This gets the agent focused on your problem immediately rather than managing the emotional situation.
2. Demanding a Manager Too Early
Asking for a manager within the first minute sends the wrong message and often slows things down considerably.
Front-line agents are trained to handle 80% of issues. When customers immediately escalate, they miss out on someone who likely has the tools and authority to help them right now. Plus, managers are usually in meetings or handling complex cases, so you’re adding unnecessary wait time.
Give the first agent a genuine chance to help. If they truly can’t resolve your issue after explaining the situation, then ask to escalate.
3. Treating Chatbots as Useless From the Start
People tend to immediately type human or agent when a chatbot appears, but this bypasses potentially quick solutions.
Modern chatbots can handle password resets, order tracking, and basic account changes in an instant. When customers skip this step, they join a queue for human agents who will often do exactly what the bot could have done in 30 seconds.
Try the bot first for simple requests. If it can’t help, it will usually transfer you to a human anyway, but you might be surprised how often it solves your problem immediately.
4. Repeating Demands Without Letting the Agent Speak
Interrupting agents or repeating the same request over and over creates confusion rather than urgency.
When customers don’t let agents explain what they’re doing or ask clarifying questions, it often leads to the wrong solution or missed steps. Agents need to gather information to help effectively.
State your request clearly, then listen. Ask questions if you don’t understand what they’re doing, but give them space to work through their process.
5. Not Having Account Information Ready
This seems obvious, but it’s one of the biggest time-wasters in customer service calls.
We see calls that should take 3 minutes stretch to 15 because customers need to find their account number, order details, or even remember which email address they used.
Before calling, gather your account number, order reference, or any error messages you’ve received. Have your account email address ready too, as this simple preparation can cut your call time in half.
6. Using Sarcasm or Passive-Aggressive Language
Comments like I’m sure you get this a lot or I suppose you can’t help with that either might feel satisfying, but they create barriers.
Sarcasm puts agents on the defensive and can make them less willing to go the extra mile for you. Customer service representatives are people too – treat them with basic respect and you’ll usually get better service.
Stay professional and friendly. A simple I’d appreciate your help with this goes much further than sarcastic remarks.
7. Hanging Up and Redialling Constantly
When you don’t like an answer, hanging up and calling back hoping for a different agent rarely works and can actually make things worse.
Most contact centres have note systems where agents can see previous interactions. When customers keep calling back, it flags them as ‘difficult’, so agents will approach these calls more cautiously.
If you disagree with a solution, ask to speak with a supervisor during the same call rather than starting over with someone new.
Remember that agents are human beings
After handling over 10 million customer requests annually, we’ve seen how dramatically customer approach affects outcomes. The tone you set in the first 30 seconds often determines whether you’ll get exceptional service or a by-the-book response.
Agents are trained to solve problems, but they’re also human beings who respond better to respectful, clear communication. When customers come in angry and demanding, it triggers a defensive response that slows down the problem-solving process.
On the flip side, customers who are polite but firm, who have their information ready, and who let agents do their jobs often get faster resolutions and sometimes even better outcomes than policy typically allows.
The biggest shift I’d love to see is customers understanding that customer service representatives want to help. We measure success on resolution rates and customer satisfaction, so your success is our success. Work with us, not against us, and you’ll be amazed at what we can accomplish together.
Simply Contact is a multilingual BPO and contact centre provider founded in 2013, with headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, and offices across Europe. They specialise in multilingual, omnichannel customer support—covering voice, chat, email, social media, and back-office services—in 20+ languages.
