Wednesday 15 February 2017 12:10 am

A fifth of Brits are resigned to poor rail service as more than two million complaints were made in 2016

By: Rebecca Smith

One in five Brits are resigned to poor rail service, with complaints up nearly half a million on last year.

There were 2.04m complaints made regarding trains in 2016, according to Ombudsman Services' annual Consumer Action Monitor. The rail sector was responsible for 3.7 per cent of complaints last year, making up more than half of those across transport as a whole.

The Consumer Action Monitor surveyed 2,477 people and found 55m complaints were made last year – up by three million on 2015. And consumers aren't afraid to take their custom elsewhere after receiving poor service, and it's coming at a £37bn cost to companies.

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Over a quarter (28 per cent) spent less with a company, or simply took their custom elsewhere, after receiving poor service.

The retail sector was top for the most complaints with nearly a quarter of the total, followed by telecoms and energy, though retail, banking and transport were the sectors most likely to lose out on custom.

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And the research suggested customer satisfaction could be worse as there were many issues were ignored or swept under the rug "due to apathy and long-term disillusionment with businesses", with a fifth saying they felt businesses didn't listen to consumers.

Lewis Shand Smith, chief ombudsman at Ombudsman Services, said:

The problem is that 63 per cent of consumers feel disillusioned and feel resigned to poor service, and no longer trust businesses to do the right thing.

At the moment, consumers feel that complaining is often a waste of their time, because they see no change in the behaviour of big business. By putting consumers at the heart of what they do, businesses can prevent customers from taking their custom elsewhere, which is good for consumers and good for business.

The cost of poor service and the sectors worst hit