Understanding consumer experiences of complaint handling

The report [ 2.8 mb] examines the consumer journey, from the stage when consumers experience a problem and intend to launch a complaint, through the complaint process, until the problem is solved (or not) across a selection of consumer and public services markets.

The report finds that about half of all consumers who took part in the research have made a complaint in the last two years, with telecoms, energy and financial services topping the list. The report highlights that despite efforts to improve complaints handling in the public and private sector, a large proportion of people are still not satisfied with the final outcome of their complaint. People are particularly unhappy about complexity of the complaint process, long response times and poor understanding of the issue by companies/service providers. Yet, despite low satisfaction levels few escalate their complaint beyond the service provider.