Service Recovery in The Australian Banking Industry

Abstract

Considering the importance of service recovery as a corrective measure for service failures, this paper explores: (a) when Australian customers complain (b) the process they follow to look for solutions to their complaints and (c) how they evaluate banks' service recovery efforts. To address these objectives, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with Australian retail banking customers. Results show that the main reasons for complaints were incorrect transactions, performance not meeting expectations, and unfair fees. The study also showed that Australian customers perceive two steps of the complaining process are very important to have a control over the complaint: gathering all required information and lodging a complaint in person. In relation to evaluating banks' service recovery efforts, Australian customers felt that banks were not paying much attention to their complaints and that there was a lack of acknowledgement and responsiveness.