Many businesses are enthusiastically deploying AI-powered chatbots and agents as the front line of their customer engagement, but a growing number of consumers are hitting the brakes.
The benefits for businesses are clear. AI chatbots and agents are always on, never tired, and cost a fraction of a human support team, promising speed, scale, and efficiency. But many consumers simply don’t want to talk to robots, and, worryingly for brands, this is threatening customer loyalty as well as sales, Qualtrics found in its Customer Experience Trends 2026 report.
The survey found that 95% of UK consumers would prefer not to deal with chatbots at all.
The reason is rooted in trust. Consumers remain skeptical about interacting with AI across their customer experience, with around 80% responding that they haven’t dealt with AI-based customer service help or support recently.
While some AI chatbots have improved considerably, there’s still a widespread perception that AI can’t match the nuance or empathy of a human conversation.
Around 33% of UK customers don’t trust the information provided by AI, while just 35% globally say AI customer support actually solves their problem, Qualtrics found.
AI service tools have yet to close the gap between brands’ expectations that they will help improve customer interactions and consumers’ concerns that they won’t.
More than half of UK consumers worry they won’t be able to reach a human to resolve their issues when companies automate their interactions with AI.
After all, around 46% of UK customers cite convenience as the main reason they choose a particular brand over another. So the idea that AI won’t deliver a smooth experience is enough to push consumers away from brands that rely on it too heavily.
What’s more, communication breakdowns are still one of the biggest reasons customers walk away unhappy, causing 42% of all bad experiences in the UK.
But businesses may not get the insights they need to understand churn and improve the experience for the customer. Around 31% of UK consumers do not communicate with a company directly after they have a poor experience. But with 44% of bad experiences leading customers to reduce their spending with the company, brands are losing loyalty — and revenue — without being able to understand why.
As Isabelle Zdatny, Head of Thought Leadership at Qualtrics XM Institute, told CX Today:
Silence from consumers is one of the biggest challenges for UK brands right now as they try to manage shifting customer expectations and needs.
“Increasingly, customers don’t tell companies about bad experiences – they just act, with roughly half reducing their spending. Companies can be left guessing where they went wrong,” Zdatny said. “Brands need to recognize that every missed signal, whether it’s a dropped call, an abandoned shopping cart, or a negative social post, identifies an area for improvement.”
Companies need to stay tuned in to the warning signs. When customers start showing frustration, it signals that something is off in the experience, and brands need to move to fix it fast.
The solution isn’t necessarily to ditch chatbots entirely, but to deploy them thoughtfully. Brands need to focus on seamless handoffs from AI to humans, making it clear from the start that help is available in whatever form the customer needs.
“Addressing these issues as they appear helps build consumer trust, which is the currency of customer experience. AI can help connect those dots, but only if companies are listening with the intent to act,” Zdatny said.
The Loyalty Fallout
Customer loyalty doesn’t just hinge on solving problems. It’s also about feeling heard and valued. When a consumer reaches out to a brand with a concern or question and they’re met with a chatbot that dodges the issue or fails to escalate properly, that loyalty takes a hit.
And in the wake of several high-profile data security breaches this year in the UK, the trust stakes are especially high.
While 63% of UK consumers prefer to buy from brands that provide personalized experiences, 36% are uncomfortable with their information being used for personalization, Qualtrics’ survey found, and only 40% trust companies to use their data responsibly.
That aligns with the findings of PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey, which indicated that while executives tend to assume customers are willing to share their data for personalized services, consumers are reluctant to share detailed personal data for an improved experience.
Just 39% of the respondents to Qualtrics’ survey believe the benefits they receive from sharing data with brands are worth the privacy trade-off.
UK consumers are some of the most concerned in the world when it comes to hackers potentially stealing their information, with 28% citing data breaches as their biggest fear when companies collect their personal information, compared with 23% of global consumers.
The recent cyber attacks on UK retailers have sharpened those fears and left many questioning whether sharing data is worth the risk, Qualtrics noted.
“As brands scale AI solutions across the customer experience, they must do this with authenticity and transparency. People want reassurance that the tools designed to make their lives easier won’t erode their privacy or block access to real support,” Zdatny said.
When companies deploy AI that actually resolves issues — not just deflects them — while protecting customer data and maintaining clear paths to human support, that’s when trust starts to grow. Anything less feels like a cost-cutting exercise.
The research points to a way forward, as around 44% of UK consumers say they would be prepared to share more of their data if companies were transparent about what they collect. And 47% want greater control over how their information is used.
As AI becomes more embedded in customer experiences, brands need to achieve a fine balance. If they rely too heavily on AI, they risk alienating their customer base. But if they ignore its potential, they could fall behind on efficiency and innovation. At the same time, given consumer concerns about the way their data is being used, strong privacy practices are as important as the technology itself.
If brands can find that sweet spot bringing together smart automation, human availability, and clear communication, they might just keep cynicism at bay and loyalty intact.