The following was noted in Customers abandoning firms with poor customer service:
Customers are voting with their feet and refusing to put up with poor service, according to a survey published today.
Almost 60% of the 1,000 respondents said they had switched at least one service provider over the past year because of disappointing customer service.
The biggest gripe for British consumers was being kept on hold during a phone call. Having to repeat the same information to different members of staff came a close second, the management consultancy firm Accenture said.
Next on the list of complaints was customer service staff’s inability to answer queries. Banks, internet providers, telephone firms and utility companies had the highest rate of defection on grounds of poor service.
Women were more likely to ask to speak to a supervisor than men, while men were more likely to stop doing business with a company because of poor service.
People under the age of 40 were the most likely to walk away from a company offering poor service, with two thirds having changed providers in the past year compared with less than half of those aged over 55.
Accenture spokesman Robert Wollan said: “High-performing companies recognise that customer satisfaction is built or destroyed by how well they co-ordinate every step of each interaction.”
In other related news, the following was noted in ISP Customer Service Gets Thumbs Down:
Dissatissfaction with the customer service users get from Internet service providers may be more widespread than previously thought: Accenture’s Customer Relationship Management practice reports that 15 percent of Internet users take their business elsewhere in frustration because their service expectations aren’t met.
That is just one finding included in an Accenture report released Monday. Accenture said it surveyed 1,000 U.S. customers to gain an understanding of customer service satisfaction, or lack thereof.
The results showed that nearly half of those polled switched at least one service provider in the past year. The management consulting, technology services and outsourcing firm looked at a range of industries and services in the survey.
The poorest customer service was recorded by retailers — 18 percent of respondents switched retailing services — followed closely by the ISP category. Other industries recording a defection rate of 10 percent or more included banking, home and mobile phone service providers and cable/satellite TV service providers.
