Your feedback on customer service
A summary of your feedback on customer service and what we’re doing to improve
During August and September 2021, we launched a survey all about customer service.
We want to share the key findings with you and update you about what we're doing with your feedback.
The key things we asked were:
- What do you think makes for excellent customer service, and who in your mind delivers that?
- What do you think makes for reliable and consistent customer service?
- Your experiences of our customer service
- What's your channel preference when reporting a repair or submitting a complaint?
To begin with, we asked you to spontaneously (without a provided list) name a brand you think provides excellent customer service.
We defined excellent service as 'a service which really goes above and beyond in aspects such as politeness, professionalism, knowledge etc.'
The top mentions included John Lewis, Apple, Amazon, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, along with a few mentions of L&Q.The top three reasons given for choosing the brand were:
- Polite and helpful staff members (74%)
- Good quality service (69%)
- Issues resolved quickly (69%)
We then asked you to name a brand that provides reliable and consistent customer service.
We defined this as 'where you know what level of service to expect, and you have a high level of trust you will receive it'.
Again, well-known brands such as John Lewis, Amazon and Marks and Spencer all featured heavily, with some well-known supermarkets and utility providers also being mentioned. For example, Tesco, Sainsbury's, BT and Virgin. Again, we saw a few mentions of L&Q in answer to this question.
The top three reasons given for choosing the brand named as providing a reliable and consistent service were:
- Reliable service (68%)
- Polite and helpful staff members (66%)
- Good quality service (60%)
We also asked to hear about any positive customer service experiences with organisations other than us.
Positive experiences seem to centre around efficiency, helpful and friendly staff, not having to chase, valuing customers, understanding and acknowledging when the service isn't good enough and resolving issues quickly.
"Sky. Send regular surveys and act on feedback. Short waiting times to speak with an advisor - they are always friendly, extremely helpful, and accommodating to your financial needs without compromising the services you receive, as they appreciate your long-term custom."
Some of you also shared some recent positive experiences you have had with L&Q:
"I had a water leak in my kitchen on a Saturday morning which I made one call to L&Q, and within two hours, a plumber was at my home completing the repairs...An excellent all-around good experience from start to finish..."
"Yes! We've had some ongoing issues with fly-tipping, and I take the lead in the building (35 homes) to get it sorted. I've phoned, and it's not taken too long to get through, spoken to someone polite and friendly who is knowledgeable about the process to resolve the issue. Within 24 hrs, the contractor came to remove the fly-tipped items."
"Just made a complaint regarding ball games down our road, and it got dealt with very quickly, and the person was very helpful, and letters got sent out."
We asked you to describe the customer service you have experienced from L&Q in three words.
The words chosen reflected a mix of positive and negative experiences – with positive mentions including polite, helpful, professional and friendly. While poor mentions included inconsistent, delayed and unprofessional.
You told us you’d prefer to request a repair over the phone, with 72% ranking this method as your first or second option, followed closely by requesting it via email (65%).
Of those who selected phone as your preferred way of requesting a repair:
- 67% - I prefer to speak to a person
- 65% - It's easier to explain over the phone
- 48% - If it's an urgent issue
We also asked you how you would prefer to submit a complaint to us. Eighty six percent of you ranked email as your first or second option, followed by phone (57%).
Eighty one percent of you who selected email as your preferred method said you would prefer to submit a complaint by email because it's easier to keep records of the communications with L&Q.
Earlier this year, we launched our five-year Future Shape Strategy, in which we outlined our plans to improve our services. We’ll use the results of this survey to identify what we need to do to improve, which will include prioritising and designing services that meet your needs and expectations time and time again.