OK, Anyone else think the service should just work...

Question

I've been reading through the forums for some time now.  I have been a BT customer (this time around) for about 2 years.  Previously for many more years.
Seems to me that BT customers have to put up with what our American cousins would find totally unacceptable levels of service.
I came back to blighty 2 years ago after living in the USA for a few years and I can tell you that they would not put up with this service.
My own broadband & BT Vision has by and large worked for the the last 18 months (albeit so dog slow I could have used dial up in the USA for the same speeds).  The last 2 -3 months I have experienced the same issues many other posters to this forum have.  Slow connection rates, broadband dropping, endless rounds of contact customer service, "oh we have changed some boards/connections in your exchange" & lack of any real meaningful technical knowledge (and before anyone starts I worked at Martlesham Heath for some time and have been "playing" with computers for 40+ years at a senior level).
Quite frankly the service falls well below what any customer should expect in many areas and the "self help" is often no help.
I could spend my time diagnosing the exact nature of the faults I have.  Why should I?  I pay for a service.  I don't have that service.
If my BMW ran at less than peak performance with an intermittent problem you can bet it would be back to the dealer at their cost for rectification or a replacement.
Comments?

Answer 1

What I am about to post below is, for companies, pure customer service gold. And true, too - (sorry about the bullet point numbers, they wouldn't paste correctly -
With customer service and experience industries undergoing rapid change, here are 20 interesting customer service and customer experience statistics to keep in mind as we head into 2011.
Even in a negative economy, customer experience is a high priority for consumers, with 60% often or always paying more for a better experience.
Source: Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Impact Report
81% of companies with strong capabilities and competencies for delivering customer experience excellence are outperforming their competition
Source: Peppers & Rogers Group, 2009 Customer Experience Maturity Monitor 
Out of best in class companies: 91% provide customers the ability to track issues over the web, 57% measure support center success across email, chat, web, and voice, and 62% use integrated voice response (IVR)
Source: Aberdeen Group
70% of customer experience management best in class adopters use customer feedback to make strategic decision. 50% of industry-average organisations and 29% of laggards do.
Source: Aberdeen Group, Customer Experience Management: Engaging Loyal Customers to Evangelize Your Brand
The top three drivers for investing in customer experience management are:
1. Improve customer retention – (42 %)
2. Improve customer satisfaction – (33 %)
3. Increase cross-selling and up-selling (32 %)
Source: Aberdeen report – Customer Experience Management: Engaging Loyal Customers to Evangelize Your Brand
A dissatisfied consumer will tell between 9 and 15 people about their experience. About 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.
Source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington, DC
Retailers and hotels provide the best average customer experience in North America overall as an industry.
Source: Forrester Customer Experience Index 2010
90% of North American firms view customer experience as important or critical to 2010 plans. 80% of the firms would like to use customer experience as a form of differentiation.
Source: Forrester’s The State Of Customer Experience, 2010
In any contact center, labor costs are typically the largest annual expense component, exceeding 60% of total operational costs
Source: Avaya, Contact Center Costs: The Case for Telecommuting Agents
US contact centers spend $12.4 billion annually verifying the caller is who they say they are. 59% of calls require identity verification, but only 3% of these are handled entirely through automated processes.
Source: ContactBabel, The US Contact Center Decision-Makers’ Guide
86% of consumers quit doing business with a company because of a bad customer experience, up from 59% 4 years ago
Source: Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Impact Report
For every customer complaint, there are 26 other customers who have remained silent
Source: Lee Resource Inc
Health insurance plans and tv service providers deliver the worst average customer experience in North America overall as an industry.
Source: Forrester Customer Experience Index 2010
The best North American car manufacturers in terms of their dealers’ service departments in 2009 in descending order were: Lexus, Jaguar, BMW, Cadillac, Acura.
Source: JDPower 2009 Customer Service Index Study
Customer churn is caused by customer feelings of poor treatment 68% of the time
Source: TARP
It takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience
Source: “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner
91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again
Source: Lee Resource Inc.
Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4 to 6 people about their experience.
Source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington, DC
Attracting a new customer costs 5 times as much as keeping an existing one
Source: Lee Resource Inc.
     76% of companies motivate employees to treat customers fairly and 62%       provide effective tools and training to gain trust with their customers.
http://www.customer1.com/blog/customer-service-statistics
And all the above is only in regard to companies in the USA (mores the pity).
Rank - Mostly Harmless.