WHAT'S THE STORY WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE?

If you're feeling glum on a wet summer afternoon, Livelineis not, generally speaking, the best place to go to be cheered up. Jo Duffy would probably be the first to admit that his show is not laugh-a-minute, but every now and then he runs a story which can raise a wry smile on the most miserable listener's face.

A couple of weeks ago, Duffy devoted a segment to the difficulties many listeners had in getting through to a Ryanair telephone line to book flights using gift vouchers - something which has angered many Price Watch readers. Callers spoke of hours spent on hold trying to get through to the booking line - and the vouchers cannot be redeemed on the Ryanair website.

What made the piece so comical was the Ryanair spokesman's stubborn refusal to offer any class of apology to those who had found it next to impossible to get through to the company. With an apparently straight face, he suggested to one listener that the best way for her to contact the airline in order to get her travel vouchers honoured would be to send a fax. She pointed out that, like many people, she did not have access to a fax machine, after which he suggested she write a letter to the company.

Despite constant prodding, he refused to give her a phone number to call. It was unsurprising, as Ryanair never offers telephone customer support and will only accept complaints and queries about lost and broken baggage by post or fax. The company promises to respond to letters within seven days, a commitment which will surprise some readers who have tried and failed to make contact through these two channels despite, on occasion, sending letters via registered post.

We e-mailed the company's PR people last week to find out more about its customer service policies, but received no response.

Ryanair is not alone in refusing to accept phone calls or e-mails. Aer Lingus also makes it hard for customers to complain and, like Ryanair, accepts only written correspondence and, also like Ryanair, often doesn't respond. One reader, featured in this week's Sounding Off column, has written six letters to Aer Lingus since last March in connection with damaged baggage, and is still awaiting a response.

Aer Lingus has been very publicly reprimanded in recent years by consumer groups for its inability to communicate effectively with its customers - on one occasion, agents of the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs had to visit the airline in person to deliver a reprimand as they could not make contact through any other channel.

ONE OF THEmost common causes of complaint from Price Watch readers has been the difficulty people have making contact with service companies. Despite offering customers multiple channels of communication, many companies continue to let their paying customers down.

Not long ago, the Institute of Customer Service sent e-mails to 300 companies using the e-mail addresses provided on their websites or given over the phone. Some 48 per cent of the e-mails went unanswered.

We didn't contact 300 companies, but last week we tried to make contact with just a handful of firms which have incurred the wrath of our readers using phone and e-mail. The results were mixed.

We e-mailed BT Ireland's customer service desk asking how to make a complaint and cancel a fictitious account. We got a short response advising us to call the customer support number. The company fared better when it came to telephone support and our call to its freephone number was answered in less than a minute by a human being who agreed to take details of our complaint.

A spokeswoman claimed BT aimed to resolve complaints within 10 working days. She said the company employed "close to 150 people" in customer service and there was a facility to "overflow" calls, where necessary, to its office in the North.

Next up was the VHI. We called them and were put through to an operator who was prepared to take full details of our complaint on the spot. We also sent the company an e-mail and within 48 hours we got a fairly detailed response advising us of the multiple channels through which we could complain.

Subsequently, a spokeswoman told us its customer care line was one of the busiest in the country and said that last year it received more than one million calls.

She said VHI Ireland had almost 3.5 million contacts with its members last year through telephone, e-mail, post, website, text messages and personal calls. She said its 170 customer service staff in Kilkenny and 23 in Gweedore were committed to answering all e-mail queries from customers within 24 hours. Except our one. Vodafone has a 24-hour freephone customer care number which was answered promptly. This is one of the few companies we contacted which Price Watch has dealt with for real - and we have never found it wanting. We sent an e-mail looking for information on the best way to make a complaint. A response came quickly, although it was automated. It did, however, promise to get in touch within 24 hours but we're still waiting.

A company spokeswoman told Price Watch there were 600 people working in customer care on behalf of Vodafone Ireland, in addition to staff in its retail stores.

Hibernian Insurance offers multiple channels of communication for complaints. It says that within five business days of receiving a complaint, an acknowledgment will give the client the contact name responsible for dealing with it.

The firm commits to investigating complaints "as swiftly as possible and where applicable, the complainant will receive a regular written update on the progress of the investigation at intervals of not more than 20 business days". It gives itself 40 business days after having received the complaint to resolve it.

FOR ITS PART, An Post offers phone, e-mail and traditional mail mechanisms for making complaints. According to a spokeswoman they get about 1,300 calls every day "the vast majority of which" are queries about postage rates, regulations and tracking requests. It also gets about 120 e-mail inquiries and a similar number by post. It has 43 staff working in the An Post Customer Services Centre in the GPO and they deal directly with all queries relating to national and international mail.

We got through to a phone operator pretty swiftly but the automated response to our e-mail was worrying. "We are currently experiencing problems with our central server which has resulted in difficulties accessing our e-mail system. Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your inquiry."

Hmmm.