Here at Consumerist Central, we get a lot of complaints from pissed-off readers about a host of different problems. But looking through all the customer service gripes we get each day, we see that there are 10 industries in particular that represent the lion’s share of reader’s ire.
We’ve already asked you to name the Worst Company In America, but now we want to take a step back and look at the industries these bad companies represent: Airlines; Cable/Satellite/Telecom; Automotive;
Health Care/Insurance; Fast food; Big Box Stores; Online Retail; Computer/Tech; Car Rentals; Banking.
So vote now in our completely unscientific poll. And please try to vote based solely on the aspect of customer service. Voting closes at Noon ET on Aug. 5.
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where’s Greyhound?
Public sectors wins on this one across the board.
See: Bell, California.
I think that the insurance should be clarified a bit better as health insurance, not just insurance. As a customer service rep for a non-health insurance business, I try to make it my job to provide the best customer service possible. I know that isn’t the case with everyone, but the thing is, it also works both ways. I know I will go out of my way to help someone who has treated me with dignity and respect versus someone who calls up and is rude from the get-go for no other reason than “the insurance business is out to get people.”
If you want an answer to this question, ask a different question:
Which company or industry can most easily and legally ignore or defraud its customers?
When companies can do nothing and get away with it, they will.
When companies can ignore you and refuse to address their mistakes, they will.
When companies can fail to provide the product or service you paid for, they will.
That is the basis of “customer service” in this day and age: the company’s level of accountability to the customer and the law.
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I’m stumped.
I haven’t rented a car or flown anywhere for several years and didn’t have any service issues.
My satellite provider has been fine – no problems.
My bank is fine too (they’re a local), no problems with my credit cards.
I’ve not had any insurance issues in the last five years.
No problems with any of the big-box stores, automotive or fast food joints,
No problems with my computer hardware/computer software or any other electronics.
And I haven’t had any problems with online retail.
I must live a charmed life.
I’d list eBay and PayPal on a separate line – I don’t do business with either of them anymore, but neither does an adequate job of ensuring a safe and honest marketplace and neither deals with crooks, scammers and frauds harshly enough.
You realize you have jinxed yourself now, right?
You missed Telco
I voted Healthcare/Insurance as this industry seems to have made overbilling, double billing and ‘mistakes’ into a policy. I have NEVER had a medical bill that I did not have to call about. The usual response is” Oh, we must have made a mistake, Let me fix that for you” followed by about half of them not being corrected.
Airlines are the worst because they are a protected industry in which the consumer has absolutely NO rights whatsoever. What other industry puts its customers in jail for voicing valid complaints?