BBC Watchdog Customer Service Report
As shown on the BBC Monday, May 4th 2009
Customer service is getting worse
The results from the
Watchdog questionnaire are clear. Nearly three quarters said that
customer service is getting worse - 5,169 of you. Just 437 thought it
was getting better and the rest said it was about the same.
Just 28 people told us they never experience poor customer service and around half, well over 3,000 people said they came across it every single week.
Sarah Willingham said she wasn't surprised by this result. "I think what's happening is that businesses now are seeing customer service as something that costs them lots of money, like training, customer service is the same thing and so they're outsourcing it. They're not focusing on it at all."
So what do we do about all that bad service? It used to be that the British didn't like to make a fuss. But has that all changed?
Nearly half of the people who took part in the online questionnaire said that when they get bad service they do nothing. They take it on the chin and leave it at that.
Most people would complain
But, perhaps, as a nation we're changing. Because even more of you -
3,626 - said you would complain.
Those of you who complained tended to have the worst service from phone, TV and broadband providers and especially the utility companies.
But although bad service can crop anywhere there's one place where, you told us, you get it the most: over the phone. Almost two thirds of the people who took part in our questionnaire - 4,618 of you - said the most annoying customer service they'd come across was when they were dealing with a company helpline or call centre.
Bad service can crop anywhere. But there's one place where, you told us, you get it the most: over the phone. Almost two thirds of the people who took part in our questionnaire - 4,618 of you - said the most annoying customer service they'd come across was when they were dealing with a company helpline or call centre.
"To me, by the time we've got to the call centre we already have a problem," said Deborah Meaden.
"Customer service should be about getting the service right in the first place. And I think to kind of subcontract that out to a call centre can sometimes be the wrong thing to do.
"It doesn't matter who deals with it as long as they have the authority, the power, the understanding to actually get to the bottom of and deal with your problem and quickly."
There's no doubt about it - it's how you're dealt with over the phone that really gets you the most. And what's more annoying than a company that just won't answer?
We've put some of the worst offenders to the test. Watch the customer service phone test report to find out just how long some of them kept us hanging on the line.
Copyright BBC 2009.