Mobile networks fail customer service test

A survey of the customer service delivered by mobile networks suggests a whopping 39% of users are unhappy with the level of customer service they receive.

According to the independent online comparison service OneCompare.com, which surveyed over 3,000 mobile users last autumn, some 58% have had cause to contact their mobile phone customer service centre. And of them, two in five were dissatisfied with the result.

The headline results:

One in four customer service staff (27%) failed to answer basic tariff questions.
Vodafone and Orange have the least knowledgeable customer service staff.
Three and Orange have the worst customer service staff overall.
Virgin have the happiest customers (39% totally satisfied) while Three (9% totally satisfied) and T-Mobile (13% totally satisfied) falter.
Almost all of 3’s customers have had to call customer services for one reason or another. At the other end of the scale, only 58% of Virgin customers had needed to make a call. (That probably reflects the difference in service and handset – Virgin’s reputation is for low-cost, simple, prepaid offerings: 3 is of course a 3G-only network with a correspondingly greater level of complexity all round.)

Anthony Ball, director at OneCompare.com, noted: “Mobile companies, even the ones that have come out top in our report, have neglected the basics and dismissed the importance of good customer services … We will continue to strive for better service for the customer and plans for the mobile industry to use this customer service rating as a benchmark will help to achieve this.”