Shocking call centre stats

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CUSTOMER AND THE CALL CENTRE HOLD TIMES Brits have a six minute threshold while waiting in a call centre queue before losing their tempers and then hanging up French are even more impatient with Auchan Telecom claiming the average person will lose his/her temper with call centres after only five minutes. Four out of five people say they have lost their patience and hung up when faced with a long call centre queue A quarter have terminated a contract with a company or service that has kept them waiting too long CUSTOMER SERVICE More than six in ten customers have ditched a company because its telephone customer service has been so bad. 62 percent of UK consumers had cancelled some kind of service because of a poor telephone experience. THE TELEPHONE The survey also revealed that despite the boom in social media customer service, telephone contact was still the favourite method for UK consumers Almost two-thirds (64%) of respondents said they preferred to communicate with a company by phone 28% would choose email and just 4% would use twitter to contact customer service departments. WORST OFFENDERS Energy companies tested did badly. Southern Electric kept one of the team waiting almost half an hour, and had an average wait time of 6 minutes 4 seconds. Eon had the longest call waiting time of 58 minutes 17 seconds and an average wait time of over 10 minutes. AUTOMATED SERVICES The results of one survey: Of the options below, which automated service - or services - give you the biggest headache? Please select the two or three you find most annoying. Utility companies' automated phone systems 55% Telecomms companies (including broadband providers) automated phone systems 51% Bank automated phone systems 43% Self-service checkouts at supermarkets 26% Text message car-park fee paying systems 12% 9% Online tax returns Travel phone and online booking systems 8% Leisure phone and online booking systems (e.g. cinema booking) 7% 3% Other None of the above 11% Sources http://www.contact-centres.com/new.0312.rage.htm http://www.callcentrehelper.com/sixty-percent-of-customers-ditch-a-company-for-poor-telephone-customer -service-27421.htm http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/your-call-is-very-important-to-us-please-hold http://www.channel4.com/programmes/richard-wilson-on-hold/articles/the-rise-of-automated-services