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Consumer rage on rise as customer service, satisfaction continues to plunge

Customer service quality is at an all-time low and customer satisfaction in dealing with a product or service issue is just as low, reveals a new consumer rage study.

December 4, 2015

Customer service is at an all-time low and customer satisfaction in dealing with a product or service issue is just as low, about 40 percent with two of three consumers likely to experience rage during an interaction with a customer service rep. About 54 percent of gift recipients this holiday season will be dealing with at least one problem regarding a gift or service received from a friend or family member.

In addition, 63 percent of consumers are likely to experience no satisfaction whatsoever in dealing with a product or service complaint, reveals a new 2015 Customer Rage Survey.

For retailers the outcome is not good as it is putting about $202 billion in revenue at stake and can slash consumer repeat business and loyalty to shreds.

"The value of complaining is increasingly eroding, not only for consumers but for the purchase base of companies as well," said Scott M. Broetzmann, of Customer Care Measurement and Consulting, which conducted the study in collaboration with Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business Center for Services Leadership.

"More customers are experiencing problems and are increasingly unsatisfied in how they're being resolved. At risk is the repeat purchase of the product and service to the tune of $202 billion,” stated Broetzmann in an announcement.

One thing retailers can do to improve the rage scenario is begin improving customer service interaction by avoiding annoying catch phrases and providing what consumers want and do it quick. The top annoying phrases is: "Your call is important to us, please hold." The study reveals a 60 percent or higher discrepancy between what complainants wanted to get and what they received from companies.

"Businesses need to start listening to and delivering on what customers expect," said Professor Mary Jo Bitner, co-executive director of the Center for Services Leadership at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. "Customer service is critical. Its success depends on truly understanding what customers expect, and then, even more importantly, delivering on those expectations. The companies that are doing it well regularly take the pulse of their markets and also have metrics to assess whether they are succeeding."

"Bottom line, customer service can be a tool that develops lifelong relationships when it is done correctly," said Mary Murcott, president of the Customer Experience Institute for Dialog Direct. "Like any business process, it needs to be continually evaluated and improved to deliver value to the customer. Many businesses lack a formal Service Recovery Program, which is based on customer's needs. Our Customer Rage Study pinpoints the 12 components of service recovery that customers most want to receive. It is a blueprint for successful complaint handling."

Other key findings from the study include

• Two-thirds of all respondents experienced customer rage.
• 35 percent of complainants have yelled and 15 percent cursed when speaking to customer service about their most serious problem.
• Among complainants who reported getting something, many felt that they got very little (e.g., 75 percent of complainants wanted an apology but only 28 percent got one).
• Posting information on the web about customer problems has greatly increased since 2011, with an increase of posting to social networking sites to 30 percent from only 19 percent two years prior.
• Although posting on the web about consumer problems has increased substantially, complainants still consider the telephone their primary channel for complaining by a margin of more than six to one over the Internet (72 to 11 percent). In-person complaint frequency has gone down since 2013.
• The most frequently cited damage resulting from customer problems in 2015 was lost time (60 percent).
• Word-of-mouth about product or service problems from dissatisfied complainants is more than double than the word-of-mouth communicated by those who were satisfied.
• Cable/satellite TV is still at the top of the list of most serious offenders in 2015, with a 6 percent increase over 2013. Other product/service types that complete the top five are telephone, automobile, computer services and retail.