The Top 50 Customer Service Sins Brits Can't Stand

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Eight in 10 Brits are frequently enraged by poor customer service – with not being able to talk to a human and having to repeat the same predicament several times amongst the biggest bugbears.

A quarter of adults believe the UK’s general levels of customer help are under-par – with telecoms, energy companies, banks and building societies coming under fire for providing the very worst service of all.

The study, commissioned by fixed-fee estate agency YOPA, found pushy sales tactics are the biggest bugbear of all – with 56 per cent of people finding aggressive and obnoxious marketing techniques an insult when they just want to have a decent bit of customer service.

Researchers found millions of us see red when we telephone through to a service line only to be met with someone who can barely speak English.

Getting through to India when you want to talk to someone in the UK and having robotic responses to questions can irritate the most patient of people.

And having to spend lots of time working through pre-select options on the keypad, or finding it impossible to get through to the right department, lead to many slamming down the phone in frustration.

Daniel Attia, CEO of YOPA, which commissioned the study of 2,000 adults, said: “Customer service is something most of us have to deal with on a daily basis, so it’s worrying to see that so many people have had a bad experience.

“It’s clear from these findings that there is a distinct lack of communication between services and consumers. It’s bewildering to me, that in an age where the internet and technology is breaking down barriers, that so many customers are being fobbed off by call centres and automated telephone lines. The poor-performing industries identified in this study are ripe for disruption.

“The customer should be at the heart of the sales process, empowered by technology. All most people want from a customer service department is a prompt and stress-free solution, no hidden fees and politeness – which shouldn’t be too much to ask.”

Standardised replies also cause anger amongst many adults, who find it difficult managing their temper when staff are unable to deviate from the rules and regulations of the company.

Understandably then, companies and staff who show little or no flexibility also bother a large number of respondents.

Something which really bothers adults is when new customers are given preferential treatment – usually cheaper rates and bigger discounts – over old.

Many of those polled have chosen to change companies after finding they were being over-charged simply for being an existing customer.

Call centres in general feature highly in the top 50 list of bugbears, as do unsolicited emails and mail.

When it comes to going in-branch for help and advice, customers take great insult when sales assistants chat to one another and ignore the person in front of them.

A fifth of people can’t stand it when staff don’t acknowledge waiting customers, especially if the person being served is taking a long time.

Similarly, having to stand in a queue for hours, annoyingly slow customer service, and being made to feel like a nuisance even if you have a valid query also cause irritation.

And when having to use the telephone for customer service, automated telephone services annoy people, as well as terrible hold music, having to use the key pad and only being able to speak to an advisor between the hours of 9-5pm.

Indeed, researchers found the maximum length of time the average British adult will wait on the line will be just under 10 minutes – after which point they will hang up if not satisfied with the service they are receiving.

Other industries which got a poor report for their customer service were retail (21 per cent), estate agents (18 per cent) and supermarkets (16 percent).

In fact, four in 10 people have already switched companies because the service they had received at their existing company was so poor – with people more likely to change their Telecomms provider than any other.

And a fifth of those questioned claim to have gone as far as reporting a company for poor customer service to the likes of Trading Standards, Ofcom or an equivalent – and again, Telecomms companies were those most likely to be reported, followed by energy providers.

Daniel Attia from YOPA continues: “A customer-led overhaul is long overdue. With increasing numbers of people switching companies due to poor customer service, the businesses that do choose to go the extra mile to create a good customer experience will reap the benefits.

“As we’ve seen with the energy and telecomms sectors, bad customer service can completely destroy the public’s trust in an industry, especially when those companies aren’t held to account.

“My industry, estate agency, comes sixth on the list of the worst industries for customer service.

"This isn’t surprising, when according to research from the National Association of Estate Agents, sixty per cent of home buyers and sellers claimed to have faced problems with their estate agents.

“At YOPA, our local estate agents are motivated first and foremost by five star customer reviews on a third party website - Trustpilot. Because of this, we know that our customers will always get the highest possible level of service, and our agents know that they can be publicly held to account. That’s what the TripAdvisor generation have come to expect.”

But the survey also looks into what people DO want from their customer service.

It found a resounding 68 per cent of folk simply want to be able to talk to someone who can speak good English and understand everything they are saying, while 54 per cent just want staff to be polite to them.

More than half of those polled want to be able to talk to a human straight away, rather than working their way through automated systems, holding for hours on end and listening to recorded messages.

While 50 per cent want quick service, 46 per cent would be content with promises being kept and 43 per cent want their phone calls to be followed up.

Flexibility, rewards for loyalty and the option to make a call 24 hours a day are also classed as part of a good customer service.

Top 50 customer service bugbears

1. Pushy sales tactics
2. Getting through to India when you wanted to talk to someone in the UK
3. Standardised replies
4. Being put on hold
5. Impenetrable foreign accents / they can barely speak English
6. Not being able to talk to a human
7. Having to repeat the same story over and over to different members of staff
8. Call centres
9. Robotic responses
10. Over-charging existing customers
11. Having to spend loads of time working through pre-select options
12. Giving preferential treatment to new customers over old
13. Lack of knowledge about products and services
14. Shop Assistants chatting to one another and totally ignoring the (waiting) customers!
15. The customer service number being a premium rate phone number
16. Being made to feel like a nuisance
17. Unsolicited emails/texts/mail
18. Having to navigate through loads of press 1 for this or press 2 for that menus
19. Being told you'll be called back and they never do
20. Not saying "please" or "thank you"
21. Having to stand for hours in a queue
22. Annoying holding music
23. Hidden charges
24. Getting passed from one department to another
25. Automated telephone services
26. When someone is clearly reading through a crib sheet
27. Finding it impossible to get through to the right department
28. Annoyingly slow customer service
29. Inflexibility
30. Pushy people trying to upsell
31. Staff who look down their nose at you / being judgemental
32. "Computer says no" types
33. When you try to cancel something and it's nigh on impossible
34. People who chew gum / eat while serving
35. Unfulfilled promises
36. Having to listen to someone read through the legalities before they can actually help you
37. Not being able to find the customer service phone number anywhere
38. Not being able to get an appointment when you need one
39. No sense of urgency / appreciation of customers' time
40. Only being able to speak to an advisor 9-5pm
41. Having to use a telephone key pad
42. Being made to feel like they are doing you a favour, when actually they're just doing their job
43. Speaking to people that lack empathy
44. A bad phone line
45. Being asked to answer a customer service survey at the end of the call
46. Being seen as an annoyance by customer service
47. Being made to feel like you don't know what you're talking about
48. Not acknowledging waiting customers, especially if the customer being served is taking a lot of time
49. Not being able to cancel anything
50. Only being able to email / submit a form to get customer service as no telephone number is published

Top ten worst industries for customer service

1. Telecomms
2. Energy
3. Banks and building societies
4. Retail
5. Building trade
6. Estate agents
7. Supermarkets
8. Repair services
9. Airlines
10. Mortgage companies

ENDS