Is the Customer Always Right? A Look at Customer Experience in Cornwall

Between 4^th-9^th July 2025, we asked the panelists their thoughts on customer service.  As context, 30% of our respondents say they currently work with customers or clients, 55% say they have in the past.

“Your custom is important to us.  Please hold.”

Is it? Is it really important to you? A third of us (34%) primarily feel irritated when on the receiving end of this message, another 1 in 5 (19%) feel frustrated.

What do people expect of “good customer service”?

Of course, good customer service comprises many different elements, and depends on the particular circumstances.  However, politeness (top priority for 18%), a good knowledge of the company / goods / services (15%), sincerity/authenticity (15%) and efficiency (13%) are what most are looking for.  Most (57%) would like all customer service reps to be trained to clarify that they fully understand the concerns raised before ending the conversation.

Forced to choose, three quarters (73%) would rather a customer service rep who was overly chatty and talkative to one who was brutally efficient and cold (27%).  What we don’t want (38%) are customer service reps who sound scripted or insincere.

Do we complain too much? Nearly a quarter thinks so (22%) but half (52%) think Brits speak up too little when there is poor customer service. Many (44%) felt unable to comment on whether overseas visitors to Britain complain about bad service, but of those with a view, 31% think they complain too much vs. 25% who think they do so too little.

What do people do when the service is good?

Three quarters (77%) remember to say “thank you”!

Most people (91%) say they ever say “thank you” to a member of staff when the customer service has been good, come back again (89% ever give the company repeat business) or spread the good word (81% ever recommend the company or service to friends and family).  About half have ever posted a positive review online (47%) or told the manager about the member of staff giving good service (45%).

What do people do when the service is bad?

Two thirds (65%) take their business elsewhere.

Most people (77%) say they have ever taken their custom elsewhere after experiencing bad service or told their friends and family to avoid that company/service (64%).  A third say they have ever spoken to a member of staff about the poor customer service (36%), spoken to the manager (34%) or written a negative online review (31%).

The best sectors for good service are…

People said small (independent) shops are the best places for excellent customer service (21%), but so too are delivery services (e.g. food, mail) and entertainment venues (e.g. theatres, cinemas) (both are thought excellent by 13%).

For above average customer service, the top sectors are: small shops (73%), hospitality (45%) and entertainment (41%).  Delivery services drop from the list as they seem to offer a bit of a marmite experience: 13% may describe them as “excellent” but “23% describe them as “below average”.

The worst sectors for customer service are: utilities companies (42% of Cornish residents say they get below average customer service from their utilities suppliers), telecoms companies (30%) and  transport companies (24%).

What about customer service in Cornwall?

Cornish residents feel that Cornwall’s hospitality sector serves as “the customer service face” of the county (73%), supported by those who work at tourist attractions (57%) and tourist information centres (40%).  A third say some responsibility lies with every Cornish resident (32%) or in particular whichever local resident a visitor meets first (36%) – first impressions count!

Is it something the county is known for?  Over a quarter (28%) of residents with a view on the matter think it is (the rest saying  it is not something they think Cornwall is especially known for or 10% saying good customer service is not something they believe is generally associated with Cornwall at all).

However, perhaps it is something the county should be better known for?  First, the context: three times as many think British businesses do not offer better customer service than international ones (48% of those with a view say they do not vs. 17% who think British businesses do offer better customer service).  So whilst British customer service is not generally thought of as good, twice as many Cornish residents (with a view on the matter) do think businesses in Cornwall offer better customer service than those based elsewhere in Britain (33% vs. 17%, the rest saying they are much the same).

Is AI a help or a hinderance with customer service?

Most (79%) think they have interacted with a customer service chat bot in the past 12 months, and most (59%) think they are either an active hinderance or simply a waste of time.  The rest say they sometimes help, sometimes hinder – almost no one (2%) thinks chat bots are usually helpful.  83% wouldn’t trust customer service AI to handle sensitive issues, such as information on finance or health (vs. 12% saying probably/definitely would trust).  The main concerns are that AI handling customer service matters may struggle to understand unusual problems or situations (78%) or that it may block you from dealing with a human even when the AI system can’t resolve your issue (76%).  There are also concerns about AI being used to put human customer service reps out of a job (54%), the lack of empathy if dealing with a chat bot (50%), being confident in the accuracy of what the AI customer service is telling you (49%), unfair service through biased algorithms (48%) or AI struggle to understand informal language such as slang or sarcasm (47%).

As a result, half (48%) say they would actually pay more to be guaranteed they were dealing with a human customer representative, not an AI chat bot.

So are there any upsides to the use of chatbots/AI in customer service?  Whilst 30% say no, none at all, the majority can see some benefits – the main one being 24/7 access (50%).  A third (37%) feel that AI could handle simple customer service tasks efficiently or assume that the speed of response may well be quicker than if dealing with a human (34%).

So, the age old question… is the customer always right?

Probably!  27% think the customer is always / usually right compared to 16% saying rarely / never!