FTSE 100 websites failing on customer service

The websites of the UK's most valuable publicly traded companies are failing users on customer service and privacy, according to research out today – but the findings have been slammed by Dixons, which finished bottom of the table.

The 'customer respect index' (CRI) gave the FTSE 100 an average score of six out of 10 on customer service. Legal & General and Abbey came top with a score of nine, while Dixons Group propped up the table with a score of just two.

Over 90 factors including privacy policies, the time it took to respond to email queries, contact information provided and ease of navigation were taken into account for the study, which was commissioned by WebAbacus and carried out by US firm the Customer Respect Group.

But Dixons has disputed the quality of the research and the tactics employed by WebAbacus. Hamish Thompson, spokesman for Dixons, told silicon.com that the survey tested only the Dixons corporate website rather than any of the transactional websites used by its customers.

"The vast majority of our customer interaction is via our transactional sites," he said. "The corporate site is essentially a repository of information and we are about to launch a brand new, all-singing one anyway."

Thompson also slammed WebAbacus for refusing to allow Dixons to see in any detail the parts of the report where it pulled up the company for its performance, such as failing to respond to email queries – unless it paid for a copy of the research.

"I'm still a little baffled and the methodology is vague, and can I get the full study? No," he said.

Dan Drury, CEO of WebAbacus, admitted that it was the corporate website - which would rarely be used by customers - that was tested but maintained that Dixons is putting its brand investment at risk by such a poorly performing site.

"It is still a website they put up on the web representing their brand. If they had a store in some backwater town would they not pay it as much attention as one of their larger stores?"

silicon.com put it to Drury that it seemed unfair to publicly name and shame these companies by putting the details out to the press and then refusing to let them see the full results unless they paid for the report.

"The individual company reports are something we sell. We've brought to their attention problems with their website and with the report they can also benchmark themselves against other companies," he said.

Whatever the merits of this approach, the row does overshadow some important statistics in the research. Some 18 per cent of FTSE 100 firms do not have a privacy policy on their website, while 13 per cent do not have any statement on whether they give customer data to unaffiliated third parties. One in five also failed to respond to online queries via their website.

"These companies spend millions on brand design, marketing strategies and advertising, yet they fall at the first point of customer contact because they didn't spend a few quid making sure their website performs properly," said Drury.