The best ‒ and worst ‒ brands for customer service

Which firms consistently make their customers feel valued and which leave them seething?

When we decide which firm to spend our money with, whether it’s on the weekly shop or a flight, there are more factors involved than just the price.

Many of us are happy to spend just a little more in order to buy from a business that we know won’t let us down. 

But which firms are the best when it comes to delivering that customer service? Consumer advocate Which? has revealed which firms go above and beyond when it comes to keeping their customers happy.

The top brands for customer service

Each year Which? surveys its members on their customer service experiences to identify which firms have really delivered ‒ and which have room for improvement.

Each firm was graded based on a handful of different criteria, including:

• Making you feel valued as a customer
• Attitude/helpfulness of staff
• Efficiency when resolving complaints or problems

They were then awarded an overall percentage score.

Top spot went to first direct, perhaps not a huge surprise given the bank’s incredible reputation for customer service, winning almost every award going.

It scored a full five stars for the attitude and helpfulness of its staff, with an overall score of an impressive 89%. If you fancy joining them, you can bag a £50 bonus and get access to a 5% regular savings account.

First direct wasn’t the only financial firm to make the top 10, with Nationwide in joint ninth spot. The building society also got five stars for its staff’s attitude, with an overall score of 83%.

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Here’s how the rest of the top 10 looked:

The helpfulness of staff was the only category where any businesses managed full marks, with Lakeland, M&S, Waitrose, Waterstones, Screwfix, Specsavers, Nationwide and Ocado all getting five stars.

The worst brands for customer service

At the other end of the scale, the worst performers on customer service really do have some work to do.

Ryanair took the very bottom spot with an overall score of a frankly pathetic 45%. It managed just one star in each category.

Respondents were presented with a choice of 50 words to describe firms ‒ with Ryanair the most common words picked were ‘greedy’, ‘sneaky’ and ‘arrogant’.

It was only ranked marginally worse than Scottish Power, which got 46% overall, also notching up a solitary score in each category.

The best and worst sectors

One thing that’s clear from the bottom of the list is that two sectors in particular have real problems when it comes to customer service.

Three of the bottom five are telecoms firms, while there are also a handful of energy suppliers languishing at the wrong end of the table.

Taking average scores across sectors, airlines also performed poorly according to Which?.

While the top end of the list features a clutch of firms from very different sectors, there are certain ones that perform consistently well.

These include the likes of car maintenance firms, optometrists and supermarkets according to the study.

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Don’t stand for shoddy service

Obviously, if you’re booking a flight with Ryanair or tempted by a Scottish Power tariff, then surveys like this will give you pause to think again. But the truth is that at some point all of the firms on this list will deliver less than stellar service.

It’s then up to us as customers to act. If you’ve been let down, then don’t just take it ‒ file a proper complaint with the business and give them the chance to rectify it. If they still don’t address the issue, then take your case to the relevant ombudsman.

They are free and will offer an independent judgement, which may even result in you being awarded compensation.

But at the bare minimum, if you’ve been failed by a firm, then take your business elsewhere.

If the dodgy performers at the bottom of the list are hit in the pocket, maybe then they will be spurred into upping their game and delivering a satisfactory level of service.