Mytaxi, Facebook and Ryanair tumbled down the league of 'good customer experience'
Telcos continue to be the lowest-ranking overall sector.
MYTAXI, RYANAIR AND Facebook are among the companies that have tumbled down the annual league of good customer experience.
A survey of 2,500 consumers commissioned by the Dublin-based CX Company revealed the top – and bottom – performers in Ireland when it comes to keeping customers happy.
Despite a spate of scandals in recent years, credit unions finished in first place for the fourth year in a row, while a number of social media and transport companies slid down the rankings.
E-commerce platform Amazon finished in second place, up from fourth position the year before. Radisson Blu, Ikea and Laya Healthcare rounded off the top-five.
The biggest year-on-year decrease was registered by forecourt retailer Applegreen, which dropped 64 places to number 101.
Since CX Company started compiling the customer service study in 2015, cab-hailing app Mytaxi and the Luas tram have registered the biggest declines, dropping from 10th place to 130th and 22nd to 107th, respectively.
Meanwhile Post Insurance registered the biggest annual increase, springing from 132nd position to 68th. Axa and Revenue also experienced significant improvements in their rankings.
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Social media wipe-out
CX Company’s report awards points based on six main criteria, such as if the company meets or exceeds expectations, and how long it takes to resolve a problem.
Overall, Ireland’s consumer experience score declined by 4%, with only 11 of the 156 companies surveyed gaining a higher score than 12 months prior.
After a year of global data breaches and increased concern around online regulation, a number of social media giant saw their score wiped out this year.
Google fell 45 places to number 64, YouTube was down 46 places to 61 and Facebook dropped out of the top 150 altogether.
Michael Killeen, chairman of the CX Company, said that recent issues around security and privacy have had a negative effect on these brands.
“If customers feel a lack of fairness has crept into the relationship, this will clearly have a negative impact on the customer experience and this is reflected in our findings,” he said.
“If you add fears over data protection into the mix, people will begin to question the exchange value of the relationship and may well vote with their mouse.”
Unsurprisingly, given the stress that it can sometimes bring, travel was a mixed sector, with Aircoach, Airbnb, Aer Lingus and Irish Ferries all ranking in the top 50.
However, at the other end of scale was Ryanair in 132nd place and Bus Éireann ranking 150th.
Commenting on the Luas’s massive decline from 22nd position in 2015 to 107th last year, Killeen said “industrial action, over-crowded trams and the disruption caused by the cross-city extension have all left their mark”.
He also said that Ryanair has had “a terrible year” largely due to strikes across Europe and changes to cabin baggage policies.
Telcos continue to be the lowest-ranking sector overall, which Killeen attributed to the significant impact that phone or TV breakdowns have on daily life.
“The telcos are fixated on prices and switching customers. Then when customers want to talk to them they are uncontactable,” he said.
“Until the decisions are taken at C-suite level to give Irish people the services they deserve, the sector’s problems will persist, as will its low (customer experience) scores.”
