Customers are becoming
increasingly dissatisfied at the way their complaints are being handled by
companies, according to a new report.
Businesses have been
urged to take more notice of their own employees to make sure that services
improve and any grievances are dealt with quickly.
A survey of 5,000 consumers and
workers by consultants TMI found that more people were lodging complaints. Half
of those questioned said organisations were getting worse at handling their
concerns.
Nearly all the customers polled
said they expected a response within a week, but this rarely happened.
Only a third of workers
surveyed said they believed they were adequately trained to handle complaints
and less than half believed their employers would act on any suggestions to
improve services.
Paul Cooper of the Institute
of Customer Service, said there was a widening gap
between firms which dealt adequately with complaints and those that did not.
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