After-sales service: state of problems in 2025

After-sales service (ASS) represents a major strategic challenge for French companies. In a tense economic context and facing increasingly demanding consumers, ASS failures can have disastrous consequences on companies' reputation and profitability. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the problems encountered by after-sales services in 2025.

A difficult economic context for companies

The year 2024 marked a historic turning point with 65,000 collective procedures opened, an increase of 17% compared to 2023, reaching the highest level in 15 years. The first months of 2025 confirm this worrying trend with nearly 18,000 failures in the first quarter, an increase of 2.3% compared to the same period in 2024.

The most affected sectors are construction and public works, followed by retail trade and restaurant-hotel. This situation particularly affects small structures: companies without employees represent 53.5% of failures, and VSEs with 1 to 10 employees account for 29.3% of procedures. Facing these difficulties, many companies struggle to maintain quality after-sales service, creating a vicious cycle of customer dissatisfaction and revenue loss.

Main ASS problems identified by consumers

Unacceptable response times

The first complaint from consumers concerns excessive waiting times. According to recent studies, 67% of consumers want to get a response to their questions within 24 hours, while reality is quite different. Long phone waits, sometimes 30 to 40 minutes, are the primary reason for customer frustration and dissatisfaction. However, the Consumer Code states that the seller has a reasonable period, often set at 21 days for a warranty repair, but this deadline is not always respected.

Inaccessibility and lack of responsiveness

An unreachable ASS is one of the most frustrating problems for consumers. Whether by phone, email or chat, the impossibility of contacting after-sales service creates a feeling of abandonment and helplessness for the customer. This situation is all the more problematic as only 4% of dissatisfied customers directly express their dissatisfaction to the company, while 96% leave without giving feedback, and among them, 91% will never return.

Lack of empathy and poorly trained staff

Customers regularly complain about a lack of empathy from ASS advisors. Interactions where the customer has to repeat their problem several times, where they are greeted by impolite or disinterested staff, or where their concerns are minimized, create a disastrous customer experience. Nearly 62% of customers believe that having to repeat information is a sign of poor customer service.

Delivery and repair delays

Delays in product delivery or repair constitute another major problem. According to the Consumer Code, if the seller does not meet the planned delivery date, or in the absence of a specific date, if they do not deliver within 30 days after the conclusion of the contract, the consumer can suspend payment and even request contract cancellation. If the refund does not occur within 14 days following cancellation, the amount is automatically increased by 10 to 50% depending on the delay.

The astronomical cost of poor customer service

Direct costs: customer loss

Poor after-sales service has considerable direct financial consequences. More than 50% of customers change suppliers after a bad experience with customer service. This loss represents not only the customer's lifetime value (CLV), but also all marketing investments and sales time devoted to their acquisition.

It is important to note that acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing customer. Furthermore, increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25 to 95%. These figures illustrate the crucial importance of a high-performing ASS.

Indirect costs: the snowball effect

Beyond the direct loss of the dissatisfied customer, the impact spreads exponentially. A dissatisfied customer informs between 8 and 10 people on average, and one in five customers even talks about it to 20 people. In the Internet age, this negative word-of-mouth takes on an even more dramatic dimension: as Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, points out, "If you make customers unhappy in the real world, they might each tell 6 friends. On the Internet, they can each tell 6000 friends".

Innovative solutions to improve ASS

Digitalization and artificial intelligence

The digital transformation of ASS is now essential. In 2025, a fully digitized ASS is no longer a competitive advantage, but a basic expectation of consumers. Technologies revolutionizing the sector include:

• Intelligent chatbots: powered by AI and natural language processing, they allow instant handling of simple and recurring requests, freeing human agents for complex cases.
• Predictive analytics: AI can identify problems before they occur, enabling a proactive rather than reactive approach.
• Video assistance: this technology combines digital efficiency with human contact warmth. 77% of companies already use video support in 2024, an increase of 67% since 2020.
• Omnichannel platforms: they enable smooth transition between different channels without the customer having to repeat their problem.

The persistent importance of human contact

Despite the rise of automation, customers still seek authentic human contact:

• 77% of customers expect to interact immediately with someone when contacting a company
• 81% of consumers prefer to wait to speak to a human agent
• 52% of support agents say customers prefer an "exclusively human" approach to resolve their requests

Conclusion: ASS, a profitable investment

After-sales service should no longer be considered a cost center, but as a real strategic investment for the company's sustainability. In a context where 49% of French people change brands after a bad experience and where dissatisfaction spreads at exponential speed via the Internet, neglecting your ASS is like sawing the branch you're sitting on.

Companies that excel in their after-sales service benefit from a decisive competitive advantage: increased loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, reduced acquisition costs, increased customer lifetime value, and improved brand image.

In 2025, the winning recipe combines innovative technology and human dimension: chatbots and AI for speed and efficiency, empathetic human agents for complex cases, omnichannel for fluidity, and data analysis for anticipating needs. Companies that can master this balance will be those that prosper in the years to come.