Posted: 08th Dec, 2010 By: MarkJ

The latest study from broadband ISP Eclipse Internet UK has revealed that a staggering 92% of British consumers would not risk doing repeat business with a company if they experienced
bad customer service. This is particularly important because 73% claim to have experienced bad customer service five times or more in the last year. Once bitten, twice shy.
Clodagh Murphy, Director of Eclipse, said:
"It’s clear that UK consumers are becoming more and more demanding. Large shopping centres and the internet has meant customers have more choice than ever before so are willing to shop around. If they have a bad experience, they simply won’t go back.
Companies should be continuously looking into ways they can improve customer service. More and more companies, including ourselves, are using new ways to do this, like monitoring social networking sites allowing us to respond in almost real-time or pro-actively telling customers about any issues or problems.
Businesses today need to realise that customers come first and losing any through bad serving can be detrimental."
Survey Highlights (1,000 Brits Questioned)
* 73 per cent have experienced bad customer service five times in the past year
* 32 per cent have experienced bad customer service ten times in the past year
* 58 per cent believe that online shopping has enhanced customer service but that there was still room for improvement
* 89 per cent cited this could get better with 46 per cent saying they need more phone support when buying online
* 27 per cent believe after sales service needs to be improved
Eclipse also asked consumers for the worst customer experience they’ve ever had from UK businesses and released the five most common, which we've included below.
1. A sales assistant spent the entire time on the phone, was unwilling to help me although I showed great interest in the product, and chewed gum just to top it all off.
2. Repeated LONG delays while waiting on hold, or assuring you an action has been done which you later find out was a lie.
3. Frequently being sent the wrong/incorrect bills by a company.
4. Having to wait months for a company to repair a product, which I had insured and was still paying for when I didn’t have it. Whenever I rang up it took up to an hour just to speak to someone.
5. Complete and utter failure on the company's part, refusal by the company to do anything about the failure, and final letter of correspondence pretty much telling me to live with it or go elsewhere.
No doubt many people reading this will have similar experiences to share. We've certainly had a few utterly unforgivable experiences with ISP customer support ourselves, which was enough to ensure that certain companies never received our custom ever again.
It's sometimes surprising that so many UK companies, usually the biggest providers, often put such little effort into combating churn and allow customers to leave with a bitter taste in their mouths. Those who leave under better conditions are much more likely to return again in the future, which is critical for any highly competitive market.