TalkTalk has come out fighting after an independent analysis of “tens of thousands of visits” to the contact centre menus of a raft of UK companies branded it “one of the worst customer service offenders”. A new Brick Wall Index from customer service solutions provider Eckoh, identifies call centre menus that create the highest levels of consumer frustration by monitoring how people use call centres. Top of the pile was TalkTalk, followed by Expedia, TV Licensing, Sainsburys and Royal & Sun Alliance. Flybe, Ryanair, British Airways, EasyJet and Privilege make up the top ten. Eckoh head of global communications Tony Porter said: “Judging from this analysis, it would appear that some mobile companies rarely answer the phone and some airlines make it hard for callers to reach their destination. It is essential that companies invest in their customer service systems as poor service is a major source of frustration for UK consumers. Customer inertia is a thing of the past.” But a TalkTalk spokeswoman said: “We always strive to give customers the best experience possible. The survey contradicts independent complaints data, and our internal data shows levels of customer satisfaction have increased in recent months. “We’re also the first UK company outside of the banking sector to replace passwords with voice biometrics, which has significantly reduced the length of time it takes for customers to be put through to a customer services advisor. Nevertheless, we are determined to provide our customers the best possible experience and understand we can always do more.” Related stories TalkTalk claims bounceback despite slump in profits Three held at TalkTalk call centre for data theft TalkTalk chief hits back: we’re just the punchball TalkTalk under fire as 4m customers hit by hack
It has dismissed an independent survey that labelled the company 's call centre as the worst example of customer service in the UK . The media giant noted that the study did not reflect internal findings , including factors such as a significant reduction in time spent waiting to speak to an adviser .