Retailers failing to deliver online customer service

Customers of major retail and finance companies are being let down by poor online customer service, according to a recent survey.

Ebusiness software company, Cincom, found that only 14 per cent of 105 high-profile companies offering online products and services managed to respond to a customer enquiry within six weeks.

Half the companies sent an email saying the inquiry was being processed but never followed up the lead; the other half responded by asking customers to repeat the input of personal details - already inputted on the Web site forms - via the phone or by letter.

Emma Parker, marketing manager of Cincom, said she was shocked at the results. "A lot of the biggest companies are still using Word documents linked to old databases to respond to online customer inquiries," she said.

Parker declined to reveal the identities of the majority of companies who failed the test.