Poor customer service forces car buyers elsewhere

Poor customer service forces car buyers elsewhere

Four in 10 motorists in the UK say that bad customer service will make them take their business elsewhere, a new survey has revealed.

According to research by carwow, 39.3 per cent of car buyers would not return to a car dealership if their staff had not been up to scratch. It found that men were less tolerant of poor customer service, with 43.1 per cent of males saying they would take their business elsewhere, compared with 35.6 per cent of women.

For things that are out of a car dealer's control - like flooding, fire damage or theft - they can protect themselves by obtaining a combined motor trade insurance policy. However, there is no insurance that can protect a business against having poor customer service.

The survey by carwow also uncovered that more than two thirds (69.7 per cent) of people would prefer that dealers competed over buyers, rather than the traditional process of visiting multiple dealerships to try to find the best price.

James Hind, CEO of carwow commented on the importance of having a good sales team: "The car-buying process hasn’t really changed much in 100 years. These days you can have your weekly shop delivered to your door and stream films straight to your TV but you still have to awkwardly haggle face-to-face when you buy a new car – normally the second-biggest purchase you’ll ever make."