I have had such a mixed range of customer service experience from various companies over the last year I cant help but name & shame a few!
The bad:
Virgin Media
I find them utterly painful to talk to, departments that just bounce you back & forth, cut you off whilst on hold, and just all round couldn't care less! They are inpatient, quick to snap at you and have no regard for manners or grievances you may have. They make hollow promises, don't follow up with requests and will say or do anything to get you off the phone. Call the wrong department and they will more or less cut you off the minute they realise you have.
(Ironically enough, the Virgin Gyms are the total opposite...been 5 times and each time have found the staff helpful, polite, friendly and all round willing to drop everything to help you!)
Santander
They have some cracking deals atm on their current account but they clearly afford them by hiring retired zoo animals to handle everything. I have called them numerous times & found the ''on hold'' times excessive, the staff unhelpful and more keen on passing you onto someone else then actually trying to sort out your problem. I have had to spend far too long on the phone to them due to cock ups at their end in transferring my accounts, and at times do worry about their ability to look after my money. I am doing the bare minimum to take advantage of their offers and will soon be moving my regular accounts & ''home'' bank to another company as soon as I find one I that isn't staffed by Lego characters & plasticine men. [What's Natwest & their ''helpful banking like''?]
Citylink
Don't get me started. Run by illiterate, uneducated, pondlife oiks who have nothing better to do then play with themselves and get arsy when you explain to them that you were in all day, you were sat next to the door and they did not actually make any effort to ring on the doorbell or knock in an audible manner.
Orange
Calling their sales team to enquire about moving over to them (I am a heavy mobile user, so I imagine a useful customer to them), I gave up after 30mins on hold and vowed never to ring/try them again. I also base this on the overwhelming feeling on Hexus towards them in general.
BT:
Another lot of total numpties who clearly were educated by animals and hired by sea Urchins. Do they get tested on being total wastes of space on a regular basis? Sure as hell feels like it.
The Good:
T-Mobile
They recently moved their main customer service department to Philippines (I think), yet I find them still very helpful & friendly. If they can't help you (yet to experience it with general problems) they do transfer you to a UK call centre who are again helpful enough. As a result of this I am staying with T-mobile, for another 18months, despite them being slightly more expensive then Orange.
British Gas (!!!!)
Had to ring them a few times over errors in my bill & updates to my account and I actually found them very helpful. They were polite, apologetic and actually followed through with promises to look into things after I'd finished talking to them.
and the Excellent:
Logitech
My goodness, I have never delt with such helpful, useful and polite people over the phone (they are German). If in doubt they give you the benefit of the doubt, they act quickly and with no hassle at all. I swear by Logitech products & advise everyone to look at them purely down to their customer support. Fantastic.
O2 Broadband
Again, they are so helpful, patient and knowledgeable people about computers & the setup. Even obscure problems they looking into it, try everything they can and still come back for more! I only wish I could have continued using them. On top of this they are dirt cheap & have some fantastic speeds on offer!
I take the customer service of a company very seriously. I am willing to pay more and go further for a company that handles me in an efficient & reasonable manner. I do not jump down their throat, get arsy or be difficult down the phone. I will not raise my voice swear at them or turn pathetic under any circumstances. I talk to them & treat them the way I would want to be treated/talked to if I was in their shoes.