39% of UK Customers Unhappy with Operators Customer Care

A report by the online comparison service, OneCompare has reported that one in four network operator customer service staff fail to answer basic tariff questions with Vodafone and Orange coming last in the survey. The survey says that 39% of mobile phone users are unhappy or dissatisfied with the level of customer service they received from their mobile provider.

Over half (58%) of mobile phone users have contacted their mobile phone customer service centre.

Yet results from the report reveal evidence of unacceptably poor standards of customer service staff across networks. The specific investigation highlighting this through simple questions asked to customer service staff with over one in four (27%) of customer service staff not able to answer all four questions correctly. The mobile company with the least knowledgeable staff were Vodafone followed by Orange.

Three, O2 and T-Mobile customers were far from happy with the customer service they received compared to Virgin who had the least proportion of customers dissatisfied with the service they received.

For reasons ranging from stolen phones to bill and general handset enquiries, almost all Three customers had called customer services along with 84% of Orange customers having to call customer services. Only 58% of Virgin customers had needed to call customer services.

Anthony Ball, director at OneCompare says: "Customer acquisition continues to take priority but mobile companies, even the ones that have come out top in our report, have neglected the basics and dismissed the importance of good customer services. Eight million unhappy mobile phone users is a worrying number which needs be addressed. We will continue to strive for better service for the customer and plans for the mobile industry to use this customer service rating as a benchmark will help to achieve this."

The final part of the report investigated the response rate of mobile phone companies when phones were lost or stolen. A massive 34% of mobile users have reported their phone lost or stolen across all networks. From the results of the report, Three and Orange were the most efficient while Vodafone and O2 dragged their heels when it came to replacing a phone.

Ball concludes: "The report simply highlights the inadequacies of most mobile phone networks across all investigated areas. Hopefully the standard will only get better across the board which in turn will benefit the consumer. We welcome mobile phone providers who would like to work with us in obtaining a common ground in the customer service arena."

Posted to the site on 8th January 2007