Published today, the third annual Comparisat study reveals that we are not happy customers. 1500 people were asked what they thought of the customer service they experience from 36 top companies ranging from e-retailers, High Street retailers and supermarkets through to businesses, public sector and utility companies.

And the answer was…not a lot. For the second year running overall customer satisfaction is down. We are dissatisfied because our complaints are poorly handled and we don’t think we’re getting value for money.

But we are no longer prepared to put up with poor service or products. In the last year alone, one in five of us have made a complaint against a major organisation - overall complaints have grown by a huge 10 per cent since 2005. Interestingly near three quarter of these complaints were made by phone showing that rather than writing or sending an e-mail, we would rather talk to a real person to sort out product or service issues.

And we are ‘putting our money where our mouths are’ as nearly a third of people who complain reduce or stop using that product or service. This is consumer power in action and shows that companies ignore customer dissatisfaction at their peril.

Singled out by consumers for the most criticism are the energy utility companies who come bottom of the Comparisat customer satisfaction chart. Nearly half of the survey’s respondents felt they offer ‘poor value for money’ with high prices and no perceived increase in value or service.

But the good news is companies, including Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s that are tackling the reasons for consumer unhappiness, are seeing a corresponding rise in satisfaction. Both organisations have returned to the Top Ten this year. They were singled out for improvements to products, availability and good communications underpinned by helpful in-store assistants. Interestingly, although Tesco remained in the top 10, they dropped two places which may be the result of its drop in trust ratings by customers.

The findings underline the importance of providing good service and building customer relationships. Electrical retailers like Currys and Dixons have been sent to the bottom of the chart because of poor service - indeed they have the most unhappy customers in all the survey.

However, getting a lot of things right are e-Retailers Amazon and eBay who have surged ahead to 2nd and 3rd place this year indicating we are all increasingly comfortable buying online. But they can not rest on their laurels. While rated highly for providing good products at great prices, they attract little or no loyalty.

This is probably because their relationship with consumers is essentially anonymous and transaction based. Asda and Morrisons hold onto their top ten places because of their passionately loyal regular customers - but they too reveal a weakness as they do not score well on customer recommendations.

FDS Chairman, Janet Weitz says “It’s time to rethink what the retailer is there for. Customers today expect more and if they don’t get what they want they go elsewhere. Don’t companies realise how much everyone hates poorly handled complaints and off-shore ‘script-driven’ call centres with interminable automated menus and often unintelligible call handlers?

We need to bring back real people to sort our complaints and train the staff in our shops to be expert advisers enabling them to boost sales in store and on line. The top ten chart shows that companies which go back to basics and deliver good product, value for money with great customer service are being rewarded with increased loyalty, trust and high customer satisfaction as well as improved revenues.”

This may also explain why the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has come top for the third year running - it’s not an obvious contender but the combination of helpful service, delivery on time by real people is once again giving them top marks.

So who are the happiest customers? In general, it’s the over 55 age group and it’s more likely to be women than men (c2DE female aged 55 or above). And the further you go from London, the happier consumers become.

The FDS Comparisat 2006 Top Ten looks like this, in order: Identity and Passport Service; Amazon; eBay; Asda; Morrisons; DVLA; Post Office; Marks and Spencer; Tesco; Sainsbury’s.

BIOS, May 24, 06 | Print | Send | Comments (0) | Posted In Internet