I suppose you need to look at it from the employee’s point of view- possibly experiencing worse job security, lower wages and/or reduced hours, so perhaps unsurprising if they’re a bit surly. Also, according to Georgina Campbell, consumers are unfairly harassing businesses for lower prices.

I am extremely dissatisfied with my bank as they force me through a terribly badly designed process everytime I want to transfer my money to a new account. It is costly and lazy and as an expert in process design (especially in call centre design) it offends me.

I complained to the bank and got nowhere. I then complained to the FS Ombudsman. They said it was a matter for the Financial Regulator who then said it was not a matter for them but for the Financial Services Ombusman and could always change bank. I know that I could, I would rather that I can access my money when I want to. It is a fairly basic principle of banking.

The reason I left my old bank was because of the charges. I have used 3 of the main institutions and none are perfect but again coming back to process design how is it that a complaints process could be designed so that a fairly basic customer complaint can drift into the ether.

Answer: nobody cares so why bother complaining.

There needs to be a wholesale change of attitude in the retail sector, if you pardon the pun. Shopping recently in Letterkenny with my elderly mother, I was surprised how few shops even manage the basic service of chairs here and there (or even one chair) where an elderly person can rest. On suggesting on one shop (in a very low key manner) that such a chair would be a good idea, the response was that the elderly should go home when they get tired! Obviously some businesses need to go out of business sooner rather than later.

Meteor customer service in their shop is a customer service to behold! I went in wtih my hosuemate for her to get an upgrade on her phone that was due to her. They firstly told her she wasn’t entitled to it, even though customer service had, upon hearing this they told us that ‘customer service are idiots’ – that’s just what we want to hear from our service providers, arent they on the same side??
Then he told us that he’d been waiting on hold with customer service for 40 mins earlier in the day and didn’t want to ring them, so made her ring them herself! All while the guy helping us nipped outside and had a cigarette.
They made it so difficult for an already existing customer of theirs to get a new phone (charging for a phone that’s free to new customers and asking for passport ID when she’d already given pin numbers and personal info known only to her)
I was glad i was with O2 that day, especially when i walked across grafton st to their shop, asked some questions, got straight answers and felt confident that they actually knew what they were talking about.

The problem with customer service in retail is that, particularly younger employees have no interest in the company they are working for. It’s only a stop gap especially if they are students. They don’t see working in retail or at the end of a phone line as a real Job. I have witnessed this having been working in retail for over 25yrs. During the boom time employers where taking on who ever walked in the door just to have staff trained or not. if a employee was told to do something simple and didn’t like it they’d walk out to go somewhere else to doss. So maybe in these tougher times they will realise that it is the customer who ultimately pays there wages and they will get there act together.

Hi Mira -I was really worried to see your comments about O2 on this Blog. Clearly this is not what we’re setting out to achieve at O2. I’m responsible for Customer Care at O2 and would be really grateful if you could share your experience with me either here or on PM (rod.coleman@o2.com), so I can ensure that we get to the bottom of the issue.

My comments on Customer Service in the current climate would be from both a supplier and as a consumer, and what I would say is that there is an underlying change that is not necessarily economy driven but much more to do with a change in the way we the majority of us interact.

As a customer, I’m much more likely to consult online channels before I look for the face to face contact. This provides organisations with a great opportunity to provide richer information, functionality and at a reduced cost, but it also means that we are more distant from the ‘warm smiles’ of the people in the business!

I am no longer wowed by a flashy animation greeting me on website, but I am looking for the functionality that will make a difference to my life (we expect the presentation to be simple and engaging).

I also expect consistency between channels. It is not acceptable to be told one thing online and another in a store.

For that ‘warm smile’ I am turning more and more to social media to get the engagement that humanises the web. This also provides the neutral opinion that we trust and will lay organisations transparent.

The corporate sin, therefore, is not to mess up from time to time, but, not to listen to customers and do something about it when this happens.

It is for this reason that sites such as this will make Customer Service improve, regardless of the economy, as those who are not will be exposed and treated accordingly in good or bad times.

@13 surely it’s a good thing that they’re taking an interest in customer complaints?
A complaint i made to NTL 3 months ago is still being ignored and i haven’t received any sort of acknowledgement from them whatsoever. Burying their heads in the sand seems to be a speciality.
I actually could go on & on about NTL, but everyone knows their service is atrocious by now so there’s little point i fear..

Having lived in the US for over 20 years I am undoubtedly biased in my view however the void between the level of Customer Service in the US and Ireland is staggering. Yes the Irish people are still more genuine in person and yes the US – “have a good day” is overused and largely ignored but put an Irish person in Ireland behind a counter or in charge of customer issues and a transformation of “Werewolf ” proportions occurs – its almost like there are in shock that you actually expect them to do something for you. I love Ireland and will continue to invest and spend time there but Irish people need to recalibrate to an external benchmark when it comes to Customer Service. Interestingly Irish people in the US in Customer Service roles excel in my experience…food for thought.

Pubs, Conor. Still the same crap with being hardly acknowledged and being thrown some pint of muck without so much as either a “hello” or “thank you”.

Service getting better or worse during a recession?? I haven’t particularly seen any difference; those companies that care about what service customers receive are doing well (and probably gaining trade) but those who don’t have a clue carry on, providing shoddy care and service as usual…..we can only hope they disappear for good….

Twice in the last 6 months I had occasion to contact BT’s Broadband Technical Support people. The service I received, especially on the first occasion, was really excellent and delivered with patience and courtesy too.

If you want to see customer service at its best and what is obviously a very happy staff I would suggest you take a visit to Clelands of Abbeyleix in County Laois. I doubt it can be touched anywhere.

I signed up to O2 after much consideration in October 2009 and got a Samsung Tocco as my handset which was highly recommended by the store assistant as I told her that I use my phone for work and that I am in the car all day. She said it’s very easy to use and has great functionality.

Within a few days I noticed that the phone was not functioning correctly, dropping calls, losing battery after only a few short calls, Bluetooth connecting / disconnecting constantly deeming it useless for purpose when I am driving, text message failure and also after writing texts that the number was incorrect (even though it was a reply text or text directly from the contact menu). Unfortunately due to work commitments I didn’t get back to the store where I purchased the phone Donaghmede Store until after the 30 days. I was told that the phone would have to go to repair but that I would be given a loan phone as I use my phone for work. The store didn’t have a loan phone on the day and told me to come back after the weekend which I did. They still didn’t have a loan phone for me. I then called Customer Care and they told me the same that I would have to send it back for repair. I told them that I had to have a phone for work and they said that they would call Donaghmede to ask them to hold a loan phone for me and that I would call by that evening after work. I was assured a loan phone would be available for me if I called to the store.

On my way over to the Store (I left work early from Sandyford to get to the store before closing time) I decided to call the Donaghmede store to make sure they were still holding the loan phone. I spoke to the Manager, to my frustration he said that they hadn’t held it and that they didn’t have any other to loan me, that I could try again during the week and they may have one but they wouldn’t be able to hold one for me as it’s a first come first served policy. I then called the Artane Store and they said that they had a loan phone available and that they WOULD hold it for me. So I had to go to Artane Store when Donaghmede is my local store to get the loan phone and have my Samsung sent away for repair.

Long story short, my Samsung arrived back repaired and I collected it yesterday 27th Dec 2009. The same problems still there, still dropping calls when on Bluetooth, I haven’t checked for all the other problems yet. I rang Customer Care this morning and explained that the phone was still not working and was told that they would have to repair it again. After explaining all the issues I have they said that under the circumstances that I could bring the phone back to the Store and that they would give me a replacement handset. I mentioned that at this stage I had lost faith with Samsung and didn’t want another of the same make. They said that I could get a replacement to the same value or pay the difference if I wanted an upgrade. They said that thye would put a note on my file and that the Store would not have any problems with this exchange.

I went to the Store in Donaghmede at 12.30 this afternoon 28th Dec 2009 and was told that NO they couldn’t replace my handset that it had to go back for repair again and in fact it has to go to repair THREE times before a replacement is considered. I asked them to call the CS and speak to the agent I had spoken too to clarify the situation but to no avail. The said that CS could not authorize a replacement and that only Managers can do this. I was in fact talking to the Manager at Donaghmede at this stage and he said that he could not authorize a replacement. He practically laughed at me when I asked to speak to his manager and said he won’t do anything for you either, “you’ll just have to send it back for 3 repairs or buy a new phone”. I asked for his manager’s name and he refused to give it to me. Clearly this was not the service I expected from a manager and instead of trying to maintain good customer service practice all he did was to further frustrate a new customer. Even customers in the store were nodding their heads at his demeanor towards me. One gentleman actually corrected him on codes of practice. Unfortunately I didn’t get the gentleman’s name.

I finally left the store after an hour long wait whilst they called the CS centre again and the same story, all you can do is repair it again.

At this point I am clearly not a happy customer, I am paying for a service that I cannot use as the handset is faulty. I have searched on your website to see where it states that the handset has to be repaired 3 times before replacement can be considered and cannot see it! I have gone through all the terms and conditions under Repairs and Returns.

I can honestly say that I have never experienced such bad customer service. I had been with Vodafone for 8 years and not once in all that time did I experience any problems with them. The reason I changed to O2 was because they could offer a better tariff. But I am now at the stage that I would prefer to pay the extra cost for calls but at least receive the customer service levels that customers expect.

I have not asked for anything out of the ordinary. All I requested is a phone that works and is fit for purpose. Not a phone that has to be repaired time and time again when it is only 2 months old.