How often do you take the time to contact a company to complain about a service? And how mad do you get when you can’t get your problem resolved?
Customer Care Measurement & Consulting (CCMC) is out with their 2022 edition of their National Customer Rage Survey. The survey was in collaboration with the W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State. It aims to shine a light on the customer service experience.
The survey found that 74% of customers reported experiencing a product or service problem in the past year. This is the highest it’s been over the 20 years the survey has been conducted.
Some 63% felt rage about their most serious problem and it is more pronounced when problems affect your overall well-being or precious leisure time.
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Forty-three percent of customers yelled or raised their voice to express displeasure about their most serious problem, that number has increased in recent surveys.
And 69% of complainants want more than just monetary relief—they want to be heard and taken seriously.
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Customers with problems say they want: product repaired or service fixed, an explanation, an apology, an assurance the problem would not be repeated, and to be treated with dignity.
Scott M. Broetzmann is the Co-Founder, President & CEO of Customer Care Measurement & Consulting.
“The top two frustrations that people expressed in the survey when they try and get help from a company. Our number one. The long telephone trees and systems that they have to try and navigate through. And number two, not even knowing where and how to contact a company because companies have become, I say, pretty sophisticated in hiding emails and phone numbers and such,” said Broetzmann. “The aim is to get people to do more self-service. It's really hard to do self-service when you have a complex problem, you need to talk to somebody and. And that's what's creating a lot of the rub. I think that we're observing in the study results.”
What can consumers do? Broetzmann says three things.
Number one, be kind. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Be clear about what you want. Tell them, "I want my money back,"’ or "I want an apology."
And be persistent. It can take some time and effort to get through to a company. Keep trying.
