Next Most Likely: Bad Service Experiences

“Quick to complain about bad service, but will we actually move our custom elsewhere?”

This month we investigated the behaviours that are likely to happen following a bad service experience. We looked at negative service experiences with both supermarkets and mobile phone providers. 8.5% of our respondents had a bad service experience (e.g. poor/unhelpful customer service, check-out issues, poor quality or out of date products, poor store hygiene) in their main supermarket in the last three months. They then reported significantly higher rates of posting about their supermarket on social media, complaining in store, and complaining via letter, email or phone call than those who did not have a bad service experience in the same period. These respondents did not, however, report higher rates of changing their main supermarket or checking how much their grocery shop would be in other supermarkets.

When asked the equivalent questions regarding bad service experiences with a mobile phone provider, 10.6% of our sample reported experiencing one in the last three months (e.g. poor/unhelpful customer service, payment or billing issues, poor coverage or outages). These respondents also had significantly higher rates of complaining in store and via letter, email or phone call, but unlike those who had experienced bad service in their supermarket they also had significantly higher levels of price comparisons with competitor networks. This may indicate that respondents have more loyalty towards their supermarket, or feel that they cannot switch due to supermarket location or convenience. The rates of actual switching of mobile phone provider, however, do not differ significantly between groups, perhaps due to respondents being trapped in contracts.