Who leaves you hanging? In London, it’s banks
Banks are the worst at answering customer service calls in the capital, with 33 per cent of Londoners saying it is financial institutions that led them wait the longest, if they are able to get through at all.
A new Moneypenny survey, revealing the organisations that are worst at answering the phone, singled out utility companies as the worst at answering calls from customers across the whole of the UK.
When asked which companies or organisations take longest to answer calls, utility companies were most frequently mentioned, followed bydoctors, banks and phone companies.
Those that were mentioned least were legal companies as well as real estate or property firms.
However, banks topped the list in Greater London. In contrast, GP practices were worst at answering calls in Northern Ireland and the West Midland.
“Please stay on the line, your call is important to us”
The average length of time that callers have to wait for their call or live chat request to be answered, across all companies and organisations, was up to 20 minutes for more than a fifth, while nearly a fifth said they regularly give up waiting altogether.
Londoners are clearly used to waiting, as 61 per cent said that phone answering delays are acceptable, compared to less than half in the south east.
The survey also showed that 85 per cent of people believe that companies are increasingly citing the Covid pandemic as an excuse for delays in answering phone calls, or engaging in live chat.
Younger people seem more accepting of delays, than older ones: 73 per cent of 16-24 year olds said phone answering delays are acceptable, compared with 46 per cent of the over 55 year olds. That may explain why a majority of Londoners think answering delays are tolerable.