Global tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Samsung are leading the way when it comes to customer service, but not in a good way, according to customer data.
In fact, they’re among the top 10 worst performers when it comes to customer satisfaction according to a new study of online reviews and feedback.
Customer service has become a battleground for brands looking to win or retain loyal consumers as buyers put more focus on the experience they have with a company, not just products and price.
About half of customers say they will switch to a competitor after one bad experience with an existing provider, according to a 2024 Zendesk customer experience report.
And 3 in 4 consumers say a bad interaction with a business can ruin their day.
Now, a new study by UK telephone answering and live chat service provider, Face For Business has revealed which of the world’s most profitable companies are delivering the best, and worst, service according to their own customers.
Looking at each company’s average Trustpilot scores and annual profit, they developed a weighted average scoring system to determine which ones are delivering the most customer satisfaction, for the amount of money they make.
Here’s what they found..
10 Most Profitable Companies With the Best Customer Service
- TotalEnergies– $27.3b profit (£21.6b), average Trustpilot rating 4.7
- Alibaba– $37.2b profit (£29.5b), average Trustpilot rating 4.4
- Shell– $33.5b profit (£26.5b), average Trustpilot rating 4.3
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial– $26.6b profit (£21.1b), average Trustpilot rating 4.2
- Roche– $31.2b profit (£24.7b), average Trustpilot rating 3.7
- AbbVie– $20.8b profit (£16.5b), average Trustpilot rating 3.6
- Tencent – $38.1b profit (£30.2b), average Trustpilot rating 3.6
- Berkshire Hathaway– $51.1b profit (£40.5b), average Trustpilot rating 3.6
- Softbank Group– $23.4b profit (£18.5b), average Trustpilot rating 3.4
- Gilead Sciences– $21.1b profit (£16.7b), average Trustpilot rating 3.2
10 Most Profitable Companies With the Worst Customer Service
- Microsoft– $82.3b profit (£65.1b), average Trustpilot rating 1.2
- Apple– $100.4b profit (£79.4b), average Trustpilot rating 1.9
- Samsung Electronics– $45.3b profit (£35.8b), average Trustpilot rating 1.3
- Meta (Facebook)– $39.4b profit (£31.2b), average Trustpilot rating 1.3
- Comcast– $27.6b profit (£21.8b), average Trustpilot rating 1.1
- Nestle– $33.9b profit (£26.8b), average Trustpilot rating 1.3
- Verizon– $27.9b profit (£22.1b), average Trustpilot rating 1.2
- AT&T– $24.8b profit (£19.6b), average Trustpilot rating 1.3
- Walmart– $33.1b profit (£26.2b), average Trustpilot rating 1.5
- Johnson & Johnson– $35.3b profit (£27.9b), average Trustpilot rating 1.6
Face For Business Managing Director, Andy MacGregor, said of the research: “It’s pretty clear and concerning that the world’s biggest companies seem content to pocket billions from their customers but don’t put much value into the service they offer. Either they’re not aware they have this problem, or don’t care enough to do anything about it.
“The higher performing companies in our list cover a range of industries and sectors, including commerce, energy and banking. They show that just because your profits may not match up to that of other giants’, customer service does not have to be put to the bottom of the list.
“Globally integrated energy company TotalEnergies made the top of our list, taking into account its number of satisfied customers in proportion to the money they make and therefore, how much they have to invest back into their customer services. 82% of the company’s ratings on Trustpilot are 5-stars, giving it a total average rating of 4.7.
“Meanwhile, it is worrying to see the big names appearing at the bottom of our list. Tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Samsung and Meta slipped into the bottom four places, given that they rake in huge profits each year but their average Trustpilot score does not exceed 2.
“Telecoms companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T are also names that many of us know and use every day. It’s shocking that the same companies that are supposed to connect us all and provide good phone and communication services, clearly cannot communicate well with their customers when something is wrong, as their average Trustpilot scores do not exceed 1.3.
Andy finishes: “For any company wishing to boost their Trustpilot presence, customer service should be a top priority, and a substantial slice of profits earmarked for investment back into your customer service offering each year.”
Face For Business is a trusted provider of professional answering and live chat services in the UK. With 248 years of combined industry experience, they handle millions of calls, ensuring 98% are answered within three rings. FFB prioritises the human touch, recognising that technology can’t replace genuine connections.
Methodology
Data was acquired on each of the world’s top 50 most profitable companies, specifically total profits for the last year and their average Trustpilot score. Each dataset was weighted and given a normalised score, before combining these to obtain a composite normalised score.
A penalty factor was then introduced to penalise companies with larger profits and lower Trustpilot scores. This was taken off each company’s composite score to find their final score, before ranking from largest to smallest to find the best and worst companies for customer service.
Six of the world’s top 50 profitable companies were omitted from the final calculations due to no Trustpilot ratings being available for them (China Construction Bank, China State Construction Engineering, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, BHP, General Electric, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial).
