Companies Still Blow Off Online Customer Service

More evidence that many companies ignore online consumer inquiries:

Though the web site has become an important tool for introducing prospective customers to a company and its products, many brand-name manufacturers are tarnishing their reputations by providing poor online customer service, says a new report from the Customer Respect Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm.

In a recent analysis of more than 2,000 web sites of consumer product manufacturers, the organization found that 37% of companies did not respond consistently or at all to online inquiries.

And when inquiries were addressed, just 51% of responses occurred within one day, the time frame deemed acceptable by users, the Customer Respect Group notes. Another 34% of companies responded within two days, and the remainder in more than two days. In total, only 36% of inquiries—including those that were ignored—were answered within a day of being sent.

I first commented on this last summer, and it still makes my blood boil. There is perhaps no truer indicator about how a company really views its customers.