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IRELAND’S CREDIT UNIONS have topped the poll in a survey of what brands Irish customers have had good experiences with for the second year running.
The credit union is top of the tree, with cosmetics chain Lush in second place and An Post in third.
The results are detailed in the report from Amárach Research, commissioned by Customer Experience Insights (CXi).
The top 10 brands per Irish customers are:
Gerard O’Neill of Amárach says the survey results show that Irish consumers are “beginning to loosen the purse strings again, but in a more selective fashion than previously”.
The biggest mover in the survey was Peter Mark which moved up 47 places to number six.
If a company has the ability to do lots of small things brilliantly for customers, it will be successful.
CXi’s Michael Killeen meanwhile says that credit unions’ ongoing success is a result of them “putting customers at the heart of everything they do”.
“All 339 credit unions share the same ethos,” he said.
Lush is a new entrant on the list while many brands, including Peter Mark as mentioned above, have made significant leaps from 2015′s rankings.
Citylink travel has jumped 27 places to number five in the rankings, O’Brien’s Off Licence is up 28 spaces to 19, and Arnotts is up 34 places to 22.
Biggest drop
Meanwhile, brands that lost out to a significant extent include taxi app Hailo (down 33 places to 43), Axa Insurance (down 25 to 142), and Irish Ferries (down 45 spots to 60).
The biggest loser of all in the survey is Luas, which has dropped a massive 105 places to rank 127th on the list, after a series of strikes during the summer which saw customers left without service on 12 separate days.
Dublin Bus, which is currently facing its own ordeal of industrial action, doesn’t make the top 100 brands.
There’s better news for airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus however. Ryanair, after a concerted effort to improve its customer experience, is up 24 places to 77, while Aer Lingus drops seven places to a nevertheless relatively respectable ranking of 28.
Insurance
Insurance companies, never far from the news in recent times due to the ongoing controversy surrounding car insurance premiums, have taken a bit of a hammering in the survey, with the insurance sector the worst performer of all ten categories considered.
All ten car insurance companies surveyed failed to make the top 100 brands (Axa being the biggest losers, dropping 25 places to rank 142), with the biggest drop being seen in the ‘empathy’ pillar used to gauge customer satisfaction.
Other pillars used include ‘personalisation’, ‘integrity’, and ‘expectations’.
The worst?
And the company that fared worst in the entire survey? You might be able to guess this one.
Irish Water, take a bow. Perhaps its ranking will improve next year now that water charges have been suspended. Or perhaps not.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the utilities – Airtricity and Electric Ireland are the most improved brands, with the latter jumping ten spots to break into the top 100 at number 95.
The survey’s results were compiled using 72,000 Irish customer evaluations of 170 brands. You can view the report in full here.
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I cycled by there this morning – the response from our emergency services was amazing. Especially the fire brigades.
You wouldn’t believe the amount of people stopping to take pictures/videos on their phones.
@Shane Dunne: Sad to hear that somebody has died in this fire.
@Shane Dunne: Totally agree Shane, I witnessed a fire recently. Thankfully nobody was injured but the family lost everything they owned.
A group outside a pub about half a mile away flew a drone over the fire for a good while not knowing if anyone had died or not.
It was very upsetting for the family watching their possessions and home burn.
@Shane Dunne: Even the Journal took one….
I live in a pre-63 house split into flats and if a fire started and spread quickly it would be very hard to get out. I try not to think about it too much. RIP
@Lisa Saputo: All due respect etc, but why did you choose to live there?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: what a silly question ?
@Margaret Murphy: it’s not really. If it’s a worry then why do it.
@Lisa Saputo: Contrary to the two other replies,some of us have little other choice than to rent where we can afford,with a view to buying in the future. It’s foolish for anyone to tell you to move,perhaps you could use this as an example for your landlord (if any) to review the property.Failing that you can contact you local council’s environmental department to assess your letting if you have a concern that it does not meet minimum standards. If you live in Dublin you literally just contact DCC Environmental and they will advise you further,I have used them once before and could not recommend them enough.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: maybe she has no choice. Maybe it’s a choice between that and living on the street. The rental market is insane at the moment.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: its obvious Neal she likes to live on the edge.
What a pathetic question.
@Vincent: I would imagine the views are spectacular, why would think Vincent.
@Lisa Saputo: make sure you have a working fire alarm system that is properly maintained. Also make sure the emergency lighting is functioning and regularly serviced.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: As dignified as always, take a bow.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Suppose it was there fault for choosing to live there?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: All due respect etc, but why did you choose to ask such a stupid question?
@Vincent: it is really.
@WinSomeLoseSome: the only stupid question is the one not asked. I wouldn’t live somewhere if I thought it represented a serious risk to my safety/life.
@Tony Carberry: ah didn’t you know you can just ‘get a better job’ and live in an tower of ivory looking down on the peasents ?
@Tony Carberry: ah didn’t you know you can just ‘get a better job’ and live in an tower of ivory looking down on the peasents ?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Budget at the time of moving in, and now we are trying to save for our deposit so options are limited unless we want to rent for the rest of our lives.
@Conor Doran: In fairness to my landlord, that all works quite well so would probably be fine but the building is the same type as the one in Rathmines.
Just heard there was a fatality. Sad news rip
This was in Grove Park,not Grove Road,I live a few doors down. The quality of the living spaces on this road vary dramatically from house to house. I hope the fire alarm wasn’t just some bog standard smoke alarm in each flat,there needs to be a proper multi unit system. Such a sad thing to happen to these people. RIP to the person who lost their life.
@Tony Carberry: Was on vieweing there for some attic room years ago. Didn’t suit me as I wanted space for my bike and there was no option to bring it there because stars too narrow. It was extremely claustrophobic place, wouldn’t image if fire occurs at bottom level – the only run was a roof probably..
Just looking at the arrangement of the outside waste pipes, gives one a few hints.
Back in the 1970s I shared a bedsitter with a friend of mine in that area for short while. I never even thought of a smoke alarm. I don’t think there was any such thing. So sorry for the man who lost his life. RIP.
And the government is considering allowing substandard bedsit accommodation as one of its solutions to the housing emergency.
I heard from my own landlord that it was said to have been a hair straightener that caused the fire on the second floor. It might be a rumour but that’s what I was told today when I asked for a full review of our fire alarm to be done this week. We are still very shocked by this incident on our road.
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