By Wayne Schutsky Tribune Staff Writer
East Valley Tribune
When that brand-new television breaks or the Internet goes out, consumers have no choice but to call customer service in search of a solution – an experience that often includes automated operators, long hold times and other inconveniences.
Arizona State University’s newly released 2017 Customer Rage Survey found that these nightmare scenarios do not just irk consumers but also cost businesses hundreds of billions of dollars.
The study – the eighth Customer Rage Survey since the White House first conducted it in 1976 – found that businesses have put $313 billion in future sales at risk due to ineffective customer-service programs that leave a majority of consumers unsatisfied.