Consumers turn to social media for complaints

More than a quarter of consumers (26 per cent) say they complain more now that they can use social media to communicate with companies, the poll for call centre software provider Eptica found.

But 83 per cent of them report being unhappy with the response they received, while 17.5 per cent say they did not get a reply at all.

The survey of 2,000 French and British consumers found those in the UK use social media to complain mostly about retailers (21 per cent) and banks (19 per cent), while 33 per cent of those in Northern Ireland criticised telecoms companies and 18 per cent of the Welsh complained about local government.

Scots were most likely to find fault with gas companies (15 per cent).

Eptica global marketing director Dee Roche said: “Customers are embracing social media for customer service but the vast majority of companies are deaf to what they are saying.”

Nearly a third of French consumers (31 per cent) complained more through social media, with targets including banks (24 per cent), mobile phone networks (20 per cent) and retailers (18 per cent).