Ask customers what AI has done to their experience with a company, and the answers fall into a clear order. The top complaint may not be the one your team expects.
According to Alchemer’s 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Report, difficulty reaching a person is the number one negative effect of company AI, named by 44% of consumers. It outranks inaccurate information, irrelevant recommendations and privacy. Here’s the full ranking, and what each problem tells customer experience (CX) teams about where to focus.
TL;DR — key takeaways
- Difficulty reaching a person is the #1 AI complaint at 44.0%, according to Alchemer’s 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Report.
- The next three (misunderstood questions at 37.3%, impersonal replies at 31.7% and repeated information at 29.7%) are service problems, not technology problems.
- Inaccurate information ranks fifth at 26.0%. Privacy concerns rank eighth at 13.2%.
- Consumers could select all that apply, so these complaints stack.
- Only 11.1% report no negative effects from company AI.
What is the biggest customer complaint about AI?
Not being able to reach a person, at 44.0%. According to Alchemer’s 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Study, that complaint tops every other negative effect in the survey.
The cause is often design. Many automated systems are built to contain interactions and reduce the number of issues that reach a human agent. When containment is the main measure of success, escalation looks like failure, even when speaking with a person is exactly what the customer needs.
How do consumers rank the negative effects of AI?
Here’s the complete ranking of the nine named effects. Consumers could select all that apply, so the percentages show how many hold each complaint, not a forced choice.
| Rank | Negative effect of company AI | % of consumers |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Difficulty reaching a person when I need one | 44.0% |
| #2 | Responses that don’t understand my question or need | 37.3% |
| #3 | Responses that feel impersonal | 31.7% |
| #4 | Having to repeat information | 29.7% |
| #5 | Incorrect or inaccurate information | 26.0% |
| #6 | Receiving irrelevant recommendations or responses | 19.1% |
| #7 | Taking longer to resolve an issue | 18.6% |
| #8 | Concerns about how my personal information is being used | 13.2% |
| #9 | Not knowing when I am interacting with AI | 12.4% |
Another 11.1% reported no negative effects, 3.3% weren’t sure and 1.3% named something else.
Why do the top four complaints matter most?
Because they describe the same experience from four angles: a customer who isn’t getting help. Together they reach roughly a third to nearly half of all consumers.
- Hard to reach a person (44.0%). Customers hit a wall and can’t find the exit.
- Misunderstood questions (37.3%). This differs from inaccuracy. An inaccurate answer gets a fact wrong. A misunderstood question produces a technically correct answer to something the customer never asked.
- Impersonal replies (31.7%). Customers want evidence that someone understood the problem and did something about it. A polished automated acknowledgment doesn’t count.
- Repeating information (29.7%). A survey response may live in one system, a review in another and a support case in a third. Without a connection, every interaction starts over.
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What about accuracy, relevance and privacy?
They matter, and they sit lower. Inaccurate information (26.0%) and irrelevant responses (19.1%) are real quality problems. Concerns about personal data (13.2%) and not knowing when AI is in the conversation (12.4%) are real trust problems. Fewer customers raise them, but both respond to the same fix: tell customers when AI is involved, explain how their data supports the experience, and make a person easy to reach.
One more number deserves attention. 18.6% say AI made it take longer to resolve an issue. That’s the opposite of the promise most automation makes.
What should CX teams do with this ranking?
Work the list from the top. Each of the four leading complaints has a practical owner:
- Reaching a person: Make escalation easy to find, and trigger it for sensitive, complex, low-confidence or repeated issues.
- Understanding: Review misunderstood requests and test how well your AI recognizes intent. Evaluate relevance alongside factual accuracy.
- Impersonal replies: Use AI to identify and route the issue, then involve a person wherever judgment, empathy or ownership is needed.
- Repetition: Carry the customer’s history and current issue through every handoff.
Customers have ranked the problems for you. Start at number one.
Want the full report? Read the complete 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Report for every breakdown, the full list of improvements customers want and five practical priorities for CX leaders.
Methodology: Alchemer’s Research Solutions team surveyed 2,009 U.S. consumers for the 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Study.
FAQ
Q: What is the most common negative effect of AI on customer experience?
A: Difficulty reaching a person when needed, named by 44.0% of consumers, according to Alchemer’s 2026 AI & Customer Expectations Report.
Q: How many consumers say AI misunderstands their questions?
A: 37.3% say company AI has given responses that don’t understand their question or need, and another 26.0% have received incorrect or inaccurate information.
Q: Are privacy concerns a top complaint about customer service AI?
A: No. Concerns about how personal information is used rank eighth at 13.2%, and not knowing when they’re interacting with AI ranks ninth at 12.4%.
Q: How can companies reduce AI customer service complaints?
A: Keep a human path visible, evaluate intent as well as accuracy, preserve context at every handoff and measure resolution and customer effort rather than containment alone.