UK consumers now wait over three minutes on average to speak to a contact centre agent a study by Esendex reveals
Financial services ranked as the best performing sector for the second year in a row, with the shortest wait times of under two minutes (1m 59s).
Telecoms ranked as the worst performing sector overall, driven by a low number of communication channels and weaker customer review scores
New data by business communications provider Esendex has unveiled how industries stack up when it comes to customer service excellence, with financial services ranking best for the second year, and telecoms the worst.
Building on Esendex’s 2025 research, the latest study produced a Customer Service Index using key indicators to measure how well industries support their customers.
These included wait times to reach a human agent on the phone and the availability of other communication channels such as web chat, SMS and WhatsApp across financial services, retail, utilities, insurance and telecoms.
This year, UK consumers wait an average of 3 minutes and 33 seconds to reach a human customer service representative – a significant improvement on last year, when consumers had to wait more than five minutes.
Financial services emerged once again as the top-performing industry, providing the fastest access to human support. Customers in this sector wait just 1 minute and 59 seconds on average to speak with a human, well below the overall average.
By contrast, telecoms businesses ranked lowest in the index, driven primarily by the sector’s low Trustpilot score (2.3/5). It came second-lowest for the number of communication channels (2.3), despite a relatively short phone wait time of 2 minutes 7 seconds.
Retail placed fourth in the latest rankings, with few communication channels (2.1) and low Trustpilot scores. The utilities sector also underperformed, with a low number of communication channels (3.5) and long wait times (7 minutes 44 seconds) weighing down the sector to third place.
Insurance ranked second due to its high number of communication channels, strong Trustpilot score, and average wait time.
The findings underline the growing importance of investing in both efficient service systems and a broad mix of communication channels to meet rising customer expectations.
Industries that fail to give customers easy ways to make contact, receive prompt, accurate support, and build trust in the service they receive risk falling behind.
Richard Hanscott, CEO of Esendex, said:
“The results show that while speed and accessibility remain crucial in shaping the customer experience, ultimately, the overall quality of service and the final outcome are the most important considerations for customers.
“Financial services has once again set the standard, proving that investing in fast response times and effective communication pays off. Customers can’t put their life on hold just to contact businesses – so making sure that they can reach out in the channel that suits them best – be it web chat, SMS, calling, or messaging apps like WhatsApp – is essential.
“While it’s encouraging to see that overall wait times have fallen across the UK, the lower satisfaction ratings for retail and telecoms show that some industries still have a long way to go to meet rising expectations – and that speed should not be prioritised at the expense of quality.”
Esendex used publicly available online data to assess how effectively organisations support their customers across financial services, retail, utilities, insurance and telecommunications.
A sample of leading brands from each sector was analysed using information published on company websites and Trustpilot. The latest study produced a Customer Service Index based on key indicators that reflect how easy it is for customers to get help, including how long it takes to reach a human agent and the availability of communication channels such as web chat, SMS and WhatsApp.
Each brand was scored according to how accessible and responsive its customer service offering was, with Trustpilot rankings factored in, and these results were then combined and averaged by industry to create sector benchmarks. Wait times were calculated from the time it took from starting a call to a customer service contact number to reaching a human agent.
For additional information on Esendex visit their Website
