Customer service survey reveals shock results

A study by the Institute of Customer Service has made three startling revelations about customer service. First, we no longer need to deal with a human being to feel we have received great service. Second, a number of bargain basement brands have made the top 20, and third, it turns out that not all banks are as bad as each other.

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Face-to-face counts for very little in this survey, because international online behemoth Amazon was named as offering the best customer service to UK customers. It was closely followed by a number of online brands - with ASOS second, first direct joint 6th and giff gaff 9th. Apparently, as long as a company delivers on its promises, offers quality and efficiency, and addresses problems effectively, we no longer care how we interact with it.

Posh brands appear to count for very little too. There are some exceptions to this rule - most notably that the high end supermarkets fare very well. M&S food was named in 4th place and Waitrose in 5th. However, elsewhere on the list are brands known for their low prices and broad appeal.

Notable names include Greggs in joint 6th place, Iceland in joint 9th place, Wilko in joint 13th, Subway in 15th, and Aldi and Jet2 in joint 20th. Further down the list, Poundland came in at number 44. It seems, therefore, that we don't have to pay through the nose to receive good service.

Finally, it turns out that not all the banks let us down. The top performer was first direct in joint 6th place - which regularly tops the list of service in banks. It shared the top spot for the banks with Nationwide (also joint 6th), and TSB took 28th place.

There were, however some fixtures on this list which come as far less of a shock, including John Lewis in third place and M&S in joint 9th place.

But what do you think? Do any of these names come as a surprise? Let us know in the comments.

Top 20
1. Amazon.co.uk
2. ASOS.com
3. John Lewis
4. M&S (food)
5. Waitrose
6. Nationwide
6. first direct
6. Greggs
9. giff gaff
9. Iceland
9. M&S
12. Holland & Barrett
13. Wilko
13. P&O Cruises
15. Subway
16. Next
16. LV=
19 Tesco mobile
20. Jet2
20. Aldi