By Vicky Sidler | Published 21 September 2025 at 12:00 GMT+2

“Your call is very important to us. Please hold while we erase any goodwill our ads created.”

Tom Fishburne drew that cartoon years ago. It still holds up.

What’s changed since then? Well, AI came along promising to fix everything. Cheaper, faster, smarter customer service. Human-level problem solving without the humans.

What actually happened?

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff just proudly announced they cut nearly half their customer service team—4,000 jobs—thanks to AI. Other companies are racing to do the same. And yet the experience for customers hasn’t improved.

If anything, it's gotten worse.

A recent Atlantic article by Chris Colin explains why. The problem isn’t just the tools. It’s the sludge.

TL;DR:

• Big brands are automating customer service to save money

• But customers are stuck in even worse support experiences

• “Sludge” means slow, frustrating, and intentionally messy processes

• AI makes sludge easier to scale—not fix

• Klarna reversed course and now promises more human support

• Small businesses can stand out by making help easy to find and fast to resolve

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Table of Contents:

What Is “Sludge” and Why Is It a Problem?

Sludge is the bureaucratic mess you have to crawl through to get help from a company.

Tom Fishburne drew it as a joke. Chris Colin lived it. His car’s steering locked mid-drive, and what followed was 108 days of phone trees, lost calls, incorrect emails, and case files that mysteriously vanished or closed themselves.

He eventually got a buyback from Ford—but only after a journey that nearly broke him.

Sludge, as defined by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler (of Nudge fame), is “tortuous administrative demands, endless wait times, and excessive procedural fuss that impede us in our lives.”

But it’s not always about inefficiency. Often, it’s about incentives.

Companies create sludge to reduce refunds. They design processes that wear people down. The harder it is to escalate, the less likely you are to try.

One expert said it bluntly: “Sludge is often intentional.”

AI Was Meant to Help. So Why Is It Making Things Worse?

AI was supposed to be the fix.

Faster answers. Better routing. Fewer angry hold times.

Instead, AI is helping sludge go pro. Bots block you from real help. Automated voices loop endlessly. And if you do get a person, they often can’t do anything.

You might get a refund. Or you might get transferred. Or disconnected. Or told your email address doesn’t exist.

Chris Colin calls this the “state of F**k it.” The moment customers stop fighting and just eat the cost.

AI allows sludge to scale. A chatbot can now block thousands of people a day from reaching real support—and no one is held accountable.

The more sophisticated the system, the more it can pretend to help without actually doing so.

Klarna’s Wake-Up Call—Why More Brands Might Follow:

Klarna went all-in on AI.

And then Klarna backed off due to the severe backlash.

CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski put it plainly:

“We just had an epiphany: in a world of AI nothing will be as valuable as humans … we are going to kick off work to allow Klarna to become the best at offering a human to speak to.”

Turns out people don’t want to scream “LET ME SPEAK TO A HUMAN!” into their phone.

They want help. From someone who can actually help.

Klarna’s shift is a lesson: AI isn’t the problem. It’s how you use it. Do you make things smoother? Or do you scale the sludge?

Avoid Becoming the Enemy:

If you’re a small business owner, this might feel far away. You don’t have call centres. You don’t have 14 agents named Pamela.

But you do have support processes. Even if it’s just you and a Gmail inbox.

And as you grow, it’s easy to copy what the big brands do—especially if it looks efficient.

Here’s how to stand out instead.

1. Use AI as a helper, not a wall:

AI tools should support your customer, not gatekeep them. Always offer a way to talk to a real person.

2. Make it easy to get help:

Your contact info should be easy to find. Don’t make people click around five pages just to ask a question.

3. Track resolution, not just response:

It’s nice to reply quickly. It’s better to solve the problem fast. That’s the metric that matters.

4. Don’t punish customers for needing help:

You shouldn’t make people prove they deserve support. Help them once, and they’ll trust you next time.

5. Train your team to think like humans:

Scripts are useful. But don’t let them replace common sense. People notice when they’re being “handled” instead of helped.

Your Brand Is Built in the Support Queue:

Every ad you run builds a promise.

Customer service is where you keep it—or break it.

And if that experience turns into sludge, all that clever marketing collapses.

But here’s the good news: small businesses can do better. You can make support feel personal, fast, and human.

Some of the brands I trust most—like Xneelo and HighLevel—use AI the right way. Their bots help with the basics, then hand you over to a super polite, helpful human almost immediately. It’s smooth, it’s respectful, and it feels like someone actually cares.

On the other end? You’ve got Meta, which feels like it was designed by someone who actively resents their users. I’ve seen help articles that are out of date, links that go nowhere, and support that’s either missing or robotic. You can run ads with them in minutes, but good luck getting a refund or even a reply when something goes wrong.

The contrast isn’t just annoying—it’s a competitive advantage for businesses who get this right.

The real win? When a frustrated customer walks away thinking, That was easier than I expected. That’s what gets you word-of-mouth referrals, positive reviews, and loyal clients.

In a world of sludge, clarity and care cut through.

👉 Download the 5-Minute Marketing Fix to help you write one clear, powerful message that earns trust—before the bot loses it.

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FAQs on AI Customer Service and Sludge

What is “sludge” and why does it matter?

Sludge refers to unnecessary friction in customer service—things like long wait times, repetitive processes, or agents who can’t solve your problem. It matters because it drains time, patience, and trust.

Is sludge always intentional?

Not always—but often it's the result of how companies are structured. Systems are designed to reduce refunds, complaints, and call volume, even if it frustrates customers in the process.

How does AI contribute to bad customer service?

When AI is used poorly, it creates more barriers instead of fewer. Bots can block access to real help, fail to solve complex issues, and make customers feel ignored or stuck.

Can AI ever improve customer support?

Yes, when used well. AI should speed things up and support human agents—not replace them. The key is designing AI that enhances the experience, not one that hides the humans.

What did Klarna do differently?

After relying heavily on AI, Klarna saw a drop in customer satisfaction and decided to invest in human support again. They now promote their ability to offer real people, not just chatbots.

What can small businesses do better than big brands?

Be reachable. Solve problems quickly. And make sure your customers never have to guess how to get help. Clear, fast, human service is something small businesses can actually do better than big ones.

Why is this a marketing issue?

Every customer touchpoint reinforces or erodes your brand. If your support experience feels like sludge, no amount of marketing can fix the trust you lose.

How can I make sure my message builds trust?

Download the5-Minute Marketing Fix to craft a one-liner that works across your marketing, support, and sales—so your message is always clear and consistent.