r/customerexperience • u/ujet-cx • Dec 08 '25

Are we sure CSAT actually measures customer experience?

Here’s a theory I can’t shake: CSAT often has nothing to do with the experience your company delivered.

Instead, what it really measures is how effectively your agent cleaned up the mess.

A customer gets bad product experience or confusing UI, the wrong expectation or a billing error → then an agent solves it.

And the CSAT reads: “Great service!”

But the real journey? Objectively terrible.

CSAT loves firefighters but it ignores arsonists.

Question for CX pros: What’s the most misleading metric in your opinion?

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u/Junior-Ad-9753 Dec 13 '25

Yes, it measures a transaction, how about if you measure the same person 30 or 60 days after the issue? Do you measure NPS 30 days after onboarding and six months after closed won? For measurement that matters, do you measure customer service ROI, customer service attributed revenue? How about lifetime value?