BBC News Online: Business

Britons learn how to complain

Victor Meldrew, Britain's most famous complainer

Whether it is too much pasta, the Channel tunnel rail link or too much chilli, who knows? We are becoming more "passionate".

More than half of people now complain all or most of the time if they are unhappy with a product - an increase of 12% in a year.

Complaining has become so prevalent, that two thirds of people now believe that we are better at it than before.

But it is age over youth and inexperience, which increases the chances of making a complaint according to this year's National Complaints Culture Survey (NCCS) .

Two thirds of those over 50 complain all or most of the time if they are dissatisfied, while the under 21s are the least likely to complain.

Regional divide

The North of England is a complaints "hotspot", where nearly two out of three people say that they make complaints all or most of the time.

While only one in three people complain regularly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

New technology is also aiding the complaining "bug".

With more companies offering customer service via e-mail, complaints expressed in this way have risen by 350% this year.

Real benefits

Companies should take note of the findings - nearly all customers would recommend a company to their friends if a complaint had been resolved efficiently.

However, four out of five customers would spread the word if a complaint had been handled badly.

But not many companies seem to be listening to this customer service point.

Despite the rise in complaints, only one in four employees feel qualified to deal with them.

While only one in three customer-facing staff are actually trained to deal with angry customers.