Marks and Spencer (M&S) and Screwfix have topped a poll by Which? rating the customer service of UK retailers.

The consumer champion’s list was based on a survey of around 5,000 UK consumers who contacted a customer service team after having issues with their order between March 2020 to March 2021.

JD Sports, The Range, Homebase, Sports Direct, Funky Pigeon, Scan, Appliances Direct, Debenhams, and Carphone Warehouse were ranked at the bottom of the company’s list.

Nine in ten - 86 per cent - of M&S customers claimed they were happy with the solution offered to their customer service problem according to the survey.
Screwfix had the highest percentage of customers who said their issue was resolved within 24 hours according to the survey.

Amazon also performed strongly, receiving five stars in four of the five categories and four stars for overall customer service.

Three in ten of the consumers surveyed told Which? they experienced an issue with an online retailer during the pandemic when complaining about missing or delayed deliveries, and one in five said they struggled to return unwanted items or faulty products.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they were able to come to an agreeable solution with the online retailer in question.

However, a significant minority said they were not happy with the outcome of their customer service issue and one in 10 said their issue has not been resolved or they have not been offered a solution at all.

In addition, the consumer champion’s research found that more than half of consumers believed some online retailers used Covid-19 as an excuse for poor customer service.

“The pandemic saw some of the best and worst of customer service,” said consumer rights expert at Which? Adam French. “But with online shopping now becoming the norm, we should get the same level of customer service when shopping online as when shopping in a store.”

“When it comes to spending our hard-earned cash online it is essential we know which retailers we can trust to put right anything that goes wrong.”

He added: “With the extraordinary growth in online shopping set to continue as we emerge from the pandemic, retailers who are falling short must up their game to make sure no one is left frustrated and out of pocket because of bad customer service.”

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