Treating Customers Fairly and Future Purchase Intention
The UK Customer Care Study conducted earlier this year asked UK consumers about their experience reporting a problem with a product or service they used. The survey asked customers "How do you feel you were treated?". The question related to the "most serious problem" that the customer experienced during the year and was asked to all those respondents who contacted the company or organisation at fault.
About 1 in 10 customers felt they were treated fairly - just 12%, and nearly a quarter viewed the experience as being neither fair or unfair, just "adequate" (24%). Sixty one percent of customers felt that they were unfairly or very unfairly treated. The full results are shown in the table below.
| Answer | N | % |
|---|---|---|
| More than fairly | 92 | 2 |
| Fairly | 513 | 10 |
| Adequately | 1197 | 24 |
| Unfairly | 1358 | 27 |
| Very unfairly | 1732 | 34 |
| Unsure | 134 | 3 |
| Total | 5026 |
Table 1. How did you feel you were treated? (N excludes all respondents who said their problem occurred in the last month)
However, it is important to look at other results from the survey to explain the numbers. On its own, 61% feeling that their treatment was 'unfair' is a headline in its own right. For example, results amongst those respondents whose most serious problem was resolved - treated 'fairly' or 'more than fairly' increased to 19% and 'adequately' was 34%. 'Unfairly' falls slightly (25%) and 'very unfairly' to 21%.
In other words, we must look at the results in context. It is reasonable to expect a higher percentage feeling unfairly treated if their issue has yet to be resolved, or those who were left out of pocket financially by their problem expect different treatment to those who were not (out of pocket), etc.
Are customers expectations too high?
Those customers who got something after contacting the company were more likely to feel fairly treated. Respondents who said they received an apology, explanation and/or a reassurance the problem wouldn't happen again felt more positive about the contact experience.
| Answer | N | % |
|---|---|---|
| More than fairly | 49 | 4 |
| Fairly | 302 | 22 |
| Adequately | 554 | 41 |
| Unfairly | 274 | 20 |
| Very unfairly | 151 | 11 |
| Unsure | 21 | 2 |
| Total | 1351 |
Table 2. How did you feel you were treated? (N includes all respondents who said they got an apology, explanation or reassurance the problem wouldn't occur again)
An apology, explanation or reassurance do not cost the company/organisation any money. Admittedly, a reassurance that the issue does not occur again may be difficult to guarantee, but the effect of treating the customer fairly is clear to see: increased likelihood to repurchase. The table below clearly demonstrates that customers who feel they were treated fairly are far more likely to buy from the company (at fault) again.
| Will you buy from the Company again? |
More than Fairly/ Fairly/Adequately | Unfairly/ Very Unfairly |
|---|---|---|
| Definitely / Probably Will | 40% | 11% |
| Probably / Definitely Will Not | 30% | 73% |
Table 3. Relationship between "How do you feel you were treated?" and "Will you buy from the company again?"
Government departments (including local authorities) and Insurance were the two worst industry sectors for treating customers fairly. Restaurants and the take-away food industry score well, as do mail-order and online shopping, although this is perhaps influenced by the types of problems experienced and the power of being in-person (at a restaurant) to get a fair outcome.
Learn More
More data and results (also broken down by industry sector) from the UK Customer Care Survey are available – please contact John Kemp or Jo Lawson. Surveylab can provide individually tailored reports from the study results on customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty in your industry including a comparison of major companies' performance (subject to data availability).
An overview of the study is available here: UK Customer Care Survey 2008 Summary (Adobe PDF). Click here for more survey results, whitepapers and how-to guides.
Article first published 27 November 2008.
©2008 Surveylab Limited. All rights reserved.
Learn about Surveylab
About the Survey
The UK Customer Care Study was conducted by Surveylab during July, August and September 2008 on behalf of the Customer Care Alliance. 10,102 responses were received from a random sample of UK consumers.
Download an overview of the study's findings here: UK Customer Care Survey 2008 Summary
The Customer Care Alliance is a consortium of companies specialising in customer retention and loyalty strategy. Surveylab is a founding member and has conducted four UK Customer Care studies since 2004.
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