Gartner (Aug 2024) — only 14% of customer service and support issues are fully resolved in self-service; only 36% for "very simple" issues

Claim: "Only 14% of customer service and support issues are fully resolved in self-service... Even for issues that customers describe as 'very simple,' only 36% resolve fully in self-service," with senior director Eric Keller noting "While 73% of customers use self-service at some point in their customer service journey, it's concerning to see that so few fully resolve there."

Source: Gartner press release, August 19, 2024 (Dec 2023 survey of 5,728 customers).

Confidence: Verified — independent research house, primary press release.

Why this matters for Candid: Honest counter-evidence to the simple "customers prefer self-service" framing. The gap between use (73%) and resolution (14%) is the opportunity space — and structured records that visitors can actually query are the most plausible mechanism for closing it. Cross-link Gartner / Eric Keller — single most common self-service failure mode is inability to find relevant content; appears in >43% of cases.