It’s the bad news that tends to capture newspaper headlines and my consumer column is devoted to misery. Spend a year in my shoes and you’ll assume that UK traders are a cartel of con artists. “Broken Britain” is the conclusion of readers who comment. This can be misleading: companies that get it right aren’t a story and most businesses are probably delivering what they are paid to do much of the time.
Meanwhile, eclipsed by the baddies, there are firms that have twigged that customers are not commodities but cherished individuals whose loyalty is priceless. It is these that go above and beyond to make good a wrong and their investment in customer service makes sound financial sense. Three-quarters of complainants who achieve a satisfactory resolution continue their custom, according to a research by the complaints handling experts Huntswood, while the same number flee to rivals if they feel short-changed.
