NEWS COPY
Almost every interaction Brits have with customer services leave them IRRITATED, with 93 per cent finding themselves frequently wound up by store staff.
And eight out of 10 unlucky shoppers reckon that poor customer service leaves them enraged, with 11 per cent saying it happens frequently.
A quarter of Brits say that in general, the UK’s customer service is poor or terrible, with just two per cent describing it as ‘outstanding.’
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 a decent bit of customer service.
Added to that, getting through to call centres in different countries when you really just want to talk to someone in the UK mean 50 per cent of customer service calls end in disaster.
Unsurprisingly, telecommunications companies take the brunt of customers’ fury – with more than half of respondents highlighting them as the worst to deal with when help is needed.
Six in 10 people have or are considering moving companies because the customer service they’ve received was so bad, with - surprise surprise – telecommunications once again public enemy number one.
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.”
Brits find customer service so unbearable that one in three of us would rather try and repair a problem OURSELVES than leave it to professionals, with a quarter of us simply not bothering to report an issue if we know there’s no chance of it being fixed.
One in 10 admit that at times, customer service has been so appalling that it’s left us in tears – and half say that their phone pays the price for their frustration when the handset is slammed down in anger.
Overwhelmingly, all people want in a customer services representative is someone who speaks good English and can understand what’s being said.
General politeness, quick service and being treated like a person rather than just a number are also highly valued.
Unfortunately, most Brits are too reserved to complain about their poor treatment by companies, with just two out of 10 reporting poor customer service to Ofcom or Trading Standards.
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.”
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
