One of the UK’s leading Mystery Shopping Companies ‘Retail Active’ has surveyed a panel of 2,541 people over the past three months to identify consumer’s propensity to complain about shoddy goods and service.
Retail Active conducts an annual survey to track the performance of customer service and reports a further decline in service compared to a year ago. More than half of High Street shoppers say customer service has worsened significantly across all sectors of high street retailing.
This major new survey by the mystery shopping company Retail Active says 62 per cent of mystery shoppers think service in the UK has worsened over the past year.
We are complaining more about shoddy service – thanks to the Recession to the current economy in the UK
A record number from the Retail Active mystery shopper panel say they are prepared to complain about shoddy service more than ever before. Three out of four people polled in the survey said they won’t suffer in silence any more – and will stand up to sloppy staff.
Retail Active CEO, Julian Chamberlain said: “This fascinating survey has given us a revealing snapshot of the effect of the credit crunch, service on the high street and peoples likelihood to complain.
“One very interesting factor is that 73 per cent said they do complain about bad service. This is the highest figure we have ever recorded and it shows British consumers are no longer prepared to suffer bad service in silence.
“Nearly a third, 31 per cent, of shoppers polled said they complain more now than they did before the credit crunch!
“Eight out of ten shoppers went on to say they would refuse to shop again at stores with poor service.
“A significant majority say they also expect more for their money in the current economic climate.
“The figures show consumers are put off by bad service and are taking their business to retailers who offer better service and value for money. If retailers cut back on customer service and training, they do so at their peril.
Julian Chamberlain said: “Retailers are having to fight for every pound in tough conditions and just can’t afford to let standards of service slip any further. The survey shows that customers think the deterioration in service is due to lack of staff, de-motivation, lack of training and staff being unhappy. The majority of customers said they were upset most by discourteous staff and about being kept waiting.
Retail Active Mystery Shopping is one of the UK’s leading Brand Audit and Mystery Shopping companies. It creates thousands of mystery shopping jobs to monitor customer service standards for a wide variety of clients in the retail, leisure, automotive and travel sectors.
