Ticketmaster, Aer Lingus and RTÉ have been ranked as some of Ireland’s worst customer service providers.

The tenth annual Irish Customer Experience Report, shows that Ireland’s overall customer experience (CX) score has fallen by nearly 2% in 2024.

The Irish Credit Union came out top of the list for good customer service in Ireland, with brands like KFC, Burger King and Now TV enjoying big improvements.

The top 29 brands with the best customer experience in Ireland, 8/10/24. Image: CXi report/Amárach Research

Ticketmaster finds itself firmly rooted towards the bottom of the table as people continue to voice their anger about high and dynamic ticket prices.

Meanwhile, this year’s Aer Lingus strike has hit the airline hard, seeing it tumble 82 places to 123rd in the CX rankings.

RTÉ came dead last in the 2023 survey and things have not improved much for the broadcaster since then – with its lowly 145th position making it the worst-performing public sector organisation.

On Breakfast Business this morning, Amárach Research spokesman Gerard O’Neill said the cost-of-living crisis has seen customers prioritising value for money.

“If people feel that they’re getting an average experience coupled with rising prices, they reject it right away, particularly when there are many other alternatives out there,” he said.

Brands that saw the biggest fall in customer experience, 8/10/24. Image: CXi report/Amárach Research

Scandals that lost customers trust, such as Ticketmaster’s controversial dynamic pricing, used during the Oasis ticket sales, also tend to see companies fall in the ranking.

Those that saw large improvements, such as KFC, may be able to attribute some of their success to their “value for money”, according to Mr O’Neill.

“That is a result, I think, of the reaction to the cost-of-living crisis. It’s those brands in the restaurant sector who offer value for money, who are able to benefit from improved customer experience as well as offering good value,” said Mr O’Neill.

Face-to-face

Brands that offer more face-to-face interactions also tend to do better said Mr O’Neill.

“Irish consumers love face-to-face interactions with their service providers, businesses and organisations, and those that do a good job of it tend to score very well in our research,” he said.

The report surveyed 141 companies operating in the country, including Irish organisations such as Iarnród Éireann (ranked at 36), Pennys (40), and Revenue (87), as well as international brands such as UPS and Aldi.

Brands that saw the biggest improvement in customer experience, 8/10/24. Image: CXi report/Amárach Research

“Extraordinary achievement”

The overall top scorer was the Irish Credit Union, which has maintained its crowning title for ten years now.

Mr O’Neill said this was an “extraordinary achievement”, and that the brand consistently scores above 8/10 with customers, which is a “world-class performance”.

“Similar studies in other parts of the world show that literally only a handful of companies, consistently, year after year, stay at the number one position, and Credit Unions in Ireland have done just that in our tenth report.

This year’s survey ran from June 8th to July 30th with Amárach evaluating over 29,500 customer experiences with 150 companies.

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