Singaporeans not for feedback - Synovate

Singapore - 80% of Singaporeans do not offer feedback to establishments such as banks, insurance providers, hotels and telecommunications providers, according to a recent customer service survey conducted by research company Synovate.

"In an increasingly automated world, companies must keep track of how and where they ‘touch' consumers," said Miranda Cheung, Managing Director of Synovate Singapore. "Are people receptive? What do they prefer when dealing with online or telephone customer service systems?"

Conducted via Synovate ViewsNet -- the company's online panel -- amongst Singapore residents aged 15 and over, the survey also revealed that hotels and airlines delivered the highest level of customer service at 31% and 25% respectively.

"There was also downright ugly news for many companies with voicemail on their Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems -- 20% of the customer calls left in a voicemail system were never returned, so that's definitely something to work on," Cheung added.

Respondents were also asked to name an Asian company that had delivered excellent customer service recently -- 13% of respondents named SingTel, followed by Citibank, Singapore Airlines and StarHub at 7%, and DBS and UOB at 3%.