Complaints about complaining

The BBC consumer champion Watchdog recently carried out some research to find out how long it took a number of leading companies to answer their customer hotlines. Telephone and broadband providers including BT, Vodafone and Tiscali were tested, along with satellite TV provider Sky.

Watchdog researchers made 500 calls and found that on average the companies answered in less than three and half minutes. The fastest was mobile phone provider Three, with an average of just one minute 39 seconds before researchers got to speak to a person, whilst BT and Sky came out worst, with the satellite channel keeping one caller on hold for more than two hours and ten minutes.

The irony of this of course is that many callers using customer hotlines are usually trying to lodge a complaint or sort out an issue – people don’t often call up companies to leave compliments – so keeping consumers hanging on for such a long time is only going to compound matters.

Most local businesses don’t need such complex systems to deal with customer concerns and complaints because hopefully they won’t have the volume of enquiries. However, the principle of responding quickly and effectively to address customer concerns remains the same.

In fact, because many consumers are so used to lukewarm service at best, punctuated by infuriating cases of simply bad service, if you are sympathetic and courteous in the way you deal with customer issues, you are not only more likely to reach a satisfactory conclusion, you could actually be rewarded with greater loyalty from a customer who appreciates being taken seriously for a change.

At Swift Relief we have compiled a list of hints and tips to help consumers get good service – although they are equally useful for businesses wanting to win their customers over – so click here to find out more, or you can visit the Business Link website for a useful resource of guides and information on dealing with complaints and delivering good customer service.