Banks suffer in value-for-money list

BANKS received the most complaints from customers last year and provide the lowest value for money, a customer satisfaction survey has found.

The latest European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) report from Excellence Ireland found that bank customers gave the sector the lowest value for money score just 6.2 out of 10 which remains unchanged from last year's rating.

Mobile networks increased their value for money score from 5.9 in 2001 to 6.4 last year.

Interestingly, supermarket customers scored the chains lower in terms of value for money in 2002 than in 2001 down from 7.4 out of 10 to 6.9 last year which may be due to food price inflation and the changeover to the euro.

Testing the experiences of 1,000 adults as customers of the main banks, supermarkets and mobile networks, the survey found that while supermarkets still deliver the highest overall satisfaction ratings and the mobile phone companies improved their service the most since 2001, banks failed to improve their score in any significant way.

The survey, conducted by Amárach Consulting for Excellence Ireland in November 2002, asked consumers what price difference would be required to make them switch from their provider to another competitor.

But despite repeated calls from the Consumers' Association of Ireland for people to shop around for the best price, large numbers of Irish people remain indifferent to lower prices. It found that:

Some 688,000 bank customers 32% would not switch their current account to another bank for any reduction in charges or fees.

486,000 supermarket customers 28% would not switch their main supermarket for any difference in prices.

412,000 mobile network customers 21% would not switch to another mobile network for any reduction in tariffs or charges.

Chief executive of Excellence Ireland Seán Conlan found it quite surprising that consumers would not change their service provider to avail of better prices or charges.

However, he felt that conducting the survey in November before a series of price increases and VAT changes came into force in January might have influenced the result.

"There is an increasing maturity among Irish consumers in the way they deal with complaints. Their loyalty to companies and sectors is changing and that will have a profound impact on organisations. Supermarkets have learned this and it is not surprising they have the highest satisfaction score.

"There are lessons for all companies involved and even those who topped their sector realise there is still a lot of work to be done in overcoming the ever-increasing challenges of meeting and beating customers' expectations," Mr Conlan said.

Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, O2, Vodafone, Superquinn and SuperValu took part in the ECSI report. The results from other European countries are being calculated and will be published in the summer.