Contrary to the stereotype of the stoic Brit, three-quarters of UK consumers complain when encountering a problem with goods or services, according to new figures from the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) from the Institute of Customer Service.

While the index finds that overall customer service in the UK has improved in the recession, organisations are failing to deal effectively with complaints, being largely unsympathetic, uncommunicative and too slow to resolve issues. On a satisfaction scale of one to ten, consumers rate UK organisations’ ability to handle complaints at just five, the study among 26,000 consumers reveals.

This is leaving consumers with a bitter taste in the mouth and the response is to spread the word: more than three quarters (77%) recount their experiences to three or more people.

Jo Causon, chief executive at the Institute of Customer Service said: "This year’s UKCSI figures show that overall customer service in the UK is improving, so it is disappointing that complaints handling is still an area where some organisations are falling short.

"Customer service is a strategic driver of performance and competitive advantage and complaint handling and resolution is an integral part of this.

"Organisations should use customer complaints as a welcome opportunity to receive valuable feedback and make the necessary improvements; it is a great source of direct and often immediate feedback, handled effectively it can significantly improve the relationship between the customer and organisation." 

First contact failure 

Consumers were asked to recall the last complaint they made, and how it was handled. Almost a third of organisations seemed uninterested on first contact, around a quarter (22%) made excuses, while a significant minority (14%) dismissed the complaint altogether.

Only around a quarter of organisations listened carefully to the complaint to fully understand the problem. Similarly, only a quarter offered an apology, while barely 11 per cent took full responsibility for the issue.

In terms of resolving the problem, only 15 per cent of complaints raised could be dealt with on the spot and less than a third were resolved within 24 hours. More than half took over a week to sort out, while 26 per cent are still unresolved to this day.

Throughout the complaints process, only a small proportion of organisations (16%) kept the consumer informed about what would happen next and even fewer (10%) specified how long it would take to resolve the issue.

Nearly half (44%) of consumers felt the need to escalate their complaint. Of that proportion, more than one in ten raised the complaint with a third party, including industrial ombudsmen, the media, local MPs or citizens’ advice.

Same old story

When asked to name the problem that elicited the complaint, consumers outlined a list of all too common customer service mishaps:

• Unreliable or poor quality services/goods (20%)
• Slow service or late delivery (15%)
• Staff incompetence (12%)
• Poor staff attitude (11%)

On a scale of one to ten of how annoyed these errors make consumers feel, the average response is eight.

Consumers spread the bad word

A strong majority (70%) of consumers talk to others about their complaints and how they are handled.

More than three-quarters spread the word to three or more people, nearly half to five or more and a fifth share their encounter with ten or more people.

Sixty-one per cent of consumers painted the organisation involved in a purely negative light when recounting their experience, versus a fifth who stayed positive. The remaining 18 per cent used a mixture of the two stances. 

Causon added: "Disappointed consumers no longer just swap stories of bad customer service with friends and neighbours; they post their concerns and experiences on social media networks for millions to read. A customer now has the same impact as a newspaper reviewer.

"The relationship between organisations and their customers has changed irrevocably – customers now hold the power and organisations can ill-afford to get these vital customer ‘touches’ wrong.

"Where organisations develop a clear, flexible, welcoming and open policy on complaints, with well trained and empowered staff, the positive impact is clear for both the customer and organisation.

"Complaints should be able to be processed from all sources, with consistent systems in place to log and analyse the feedback and share the lessons learnt internally with everyone."