85% of people in Wales believe an increasing number of companies are using Covid as an excuse for poor customer communications

A new survey by leading outsourced communications company Moneypenny shows that 85% of people in Wales believe that an increasing number of companies are saying there will be a delay in answering phone calls, or engaging in live chat, due to unusually high call volumes caused by the pandemic.

However, what is surprising is that people in Wales seem understanding of the situation, as 60% said they believe phone delays are acceptable due to Covid, compared with only 42% of those in the North East and 48% of those in the South East who feel these delays are acceptable.

Across the country younger consumers seem more accepting of delays, than older ones: 73% of 16-24 year olds said phone answering delays are acceptable, compared with 46% of the over 55 year olds.

Call answering waiting times
The survey also indicates the average length of time customers in Wales have to wait for their call or Live Chat request to be answered:

– 12% said they have to wait 1-5 minutes

– 17% have to wait 5-10 minutes

– 25% have to wait 11-20 minutes

– 12% have to wait 21-45 minutes

– 19% have to wait 45-60 minutes, which is higher than those in any other region, eg 4% in Yorkshire, 3% in the West Midlands and 1% in the East Midlands

– 22% typically give up waiting altogether, which is high compared with those in Yorkshire – 12%, and the South East – 14%.

Businesses with longest call waiting times
When asked which types of companies and organisations are the worst for answering calls, or not being able to get through to them, utility companies were most frequently mentioned in Wales – 40%, followed by insurance companies – 29%, utility companies – 27%, banks 25%, and doctors – 21%. Those that were mentioned least in Wales, were legal companies – 8%.

Group CEO of Moneypenny, Joanna Swash, believes companies are not doing enough to resolve waiting times:

‘It’s interesting that legal and property companies were least likely to be mentioned for poor answering times and we know from our clients in these sectors that they prioritise good customer service. However, the survey shows that the pandemic is too often being used as a scapegoat for companies delivering unbelievably poor communications, and consumers should not accept this as inevitable. Even with reduced staff through redundancies and furloughing, there are so many cost effective solutions available to ensure customer calls and live chat can continue, so it’s not good enough for companies to do nothing and to reduce service levels. As businesses open up there is a real danger that customers will vote with their feet and move to a competitor if poor service levels continue.”

Survey commissioned by Censuswide Consultants between 26-29th January 2021 of 1,000 UK adults.