A big user survey conducted by the Citizen's Advice Bureau claims to show that up to four out of ten people who use contact centres are dissatisfied with their experience. The report goes on to single out utility companies as the worst offenders, with 39% of people saying they are dissatisfied when ringing telephone, gas, water and power firms. Government agencies also fare badly, with 30% saying they were dissatisfied with both the call centres of government agencies and financial institutions like banks and insurance firms. When asked about the most annoying aspects of call centres, about half the people surveyed (51%) said that being left on hold for too long was worst, with 38% saying that their concerns relate to the complicated automated options and 18% complaining about the lack of face-to-face contact. The findings were released today to mark Advice Week (September 6-12) and are contained in a Citizens Advice report, 'Hanging on the Telephone', that tries to demonstrate the negative impact poor call centre and CRM service has on consumers. According to the Bureau, many of the 6m problems brought to it each year have resulted from a failure to resolve a query or request over the telephone. David Harker, the charity's Chief Executive told reporters that the use of call centres was a fact of modern living. 'There is a long way to go to achieve a balance between dealing efficiently with high volumes of calls and providing accessible and responsive services. Almost all call centre users have criticisms of their experience and a significant proportion are left dissatisfied,' he added. To read the full report, click here:
Hanging On the Telephone <http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/winnn/index/campaigns/social_policy/evidence_reports/er_consumerandebt/hanging-on-the-telephone.htm> |
