BT tops terrible customer service poll

Telecoms companies may tell us it's good to talk but they seem to be struck dumb when it comes to communicating with their own customers, according to a new poll.

In a survey asking 5,000 Brits to vote for UK businesses with the worst customer service half of the top 10 are telecoms companies.

The wooden spoon for worst customer service goes to telco BT, with utilities company British Gas coming second and broadcaster-cum-telco Sky in third.

Fourth place goes to cable TV, broadband and telephony company Virgin Media, with mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse in fifth place, and mobile operators Vodafone and O2 in sixth and 10th place respectively.

Banks Barclays and HSBC are also named and shamed. See the box on the right for the full list.

According to the survey, which was conducted by market research company OnePoll.com, the biggest customer service complaint is automated call systems which delay contact with a real person.

Another significant bugbear is customers having to repeat themselves as they are being passed around several call centre staff.

Other complaints include offshore call centre staff struggling to understand English accents, rude staff and having to answer endless security questions.

Respondents believe they spend an average of around 23 minutes on the phone trying to sort out problems each time they call a company. BT also topped the poll for longest call holding times.