Canadians would rather avoid confrontation and quietly seek a different option when they have a bad experience with a retail or service provider, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by Accenture, concluded that Canadians are reluctant to leave a negative comment online -- and this polite, passive behaviour has earned them the nickname “silent switchers.”
The report says, “Canadians are less likely to put up a fight, but they are less forgiving and harder to win back once they are gone.”
Less than one fifth of Canadians have posted a negative comment online, even if they were unhappy with a commercial experience, the report says. Last year, only 49 per cent of Canadian consumers changed their provider because of bad service.
However, many Canadians were willing to forgive and forget, as 80 per cent of them said they would have stayed at the same company they were leaving if there was a compromise or a better offer – especially if the customer service improved.
But once they leave, they’re gone for good it seems.
Sixty-eight per cent of Canadians said they wouldn’t go back to a company at all after leaving.
In the United States, Americans appeared to be slightly fussier than Canadians last year, with 52 per cent of consumers switching providers. But some of the fussiest consumers seemed to be from Brazil.
Eighty-six per cent of Brazilians said in the past year they switched a provider because of bad customer service.
Compared to Japan, Canadians seemed less easy-going as only 42 per cent of Japanese people said they switched providers because of bad customer service.
Overall, Accenture’s report had 24,489 respondents and spanned 33 countries. The report found a large amount of people -- 73 per cent -- of everyone who filled out the survey would rather deal with a human being, rather than an online portal or automated telephone system.
