DISCUSSION
Is complaining about customer service becoming America’s national pastime?
Written by George Anderson
@TonyTheTigersSon via Twenty20
Americans, a new study concludes, love complaining about subpar customer service.
Forty-eight percent of consumers have left a negative review online and 73 percent of those have done so in the past year, according to the results of a survey of 100 retailers and 2,000 U.S. consumers released by Brightpearl and Trustpilot.
Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they would be “very” or “somewhat likely” to leave a negative review after a bad customer service or product experience. Negative word-of-mouth is common in America with 45 percent having shared a bad experience with others.
Just because a consumer hasn’t left a bad review or a low star rating on a site, doesn’t mean they are happy with their shopping experiences. While 41 percent say they have not gone online to express their unhappiness, almost two-thirds of those regret not having done so.
While many debate the relative value of ratings and reviews, with particularly concerns about fake ones, 62 percent of respondents say they see how many stars a business has before making a purchase. Anything under four stars is generally considered a negative.
Results of a separate survey of 1,000 consumers released by Bazaarvoice found that 41 percent of shoppers rely on online reviews when it comes to “Black Friday in July” sales that have sprung up in response to Amazon.com’s Prime Day promotion.
The same study found that 44 percent of shoppers have taken pause as a result of reports about fake reviews on Amazon. Thirty-seven percent say they are more cautious when shopping on the e-tail giant’s site for Prime Day, while seven percent will take a pass altogether.