Do customers get more frustrated by lack of updates than by the delay itself?

golfplayer224

Something I’ve noticed recently in a small business/admin role is that customers often seem more frustrated when they don’t know what’s happening than by a short delay itself.

For example, if a transfer/refund/order is taking longer than expected but there’s clear communication and updates, most people seem fairly understanding. Problems seem to escalate more when there’s uncertainty or nobody can confirm the current status.

Curious whether other businesses have found the same thing in practice, and whether improving communication/status visibility helped reduce complaints or chasing.

born_again

Sad indication of people & their ability to just wait. Then you get them complaining that you are emailing with no update, other than we know nothing more.

You can never please all the people all the time.

jackieblack

Speaking as a customer, absolutely!

Any delay is made way more frustrating by lack of communication

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6669197/do-customers-get-more-frustrated-by-lack-of-updates-than-by-the-delay-itself

Hence we have the saying that its better to under promise and over deliver… so if its going to take 2-3 days maybe tell them it will take up to 4 days so that they are happy when it arrives early. Maybe you dont want to push it out too far though as the disappointment of being told it'll be 3 months may not be offset by it turning up in 2 days.

There is some element of the customer responsibility in this though, sometimes customers are told up front and clearly how things will be but they simply dont read what's in front of them and then complain when it doesnt meet their expectations later.

carwheelsonfire

In my experience that’s absolutely true. Most customers are reasonably patient if they know something is being dealt with and have a realistic timeframe.

It’s the uncertainty that tends to cause frustration — especially when people feel they have to keep chasing for updates or aren’t sure whether anyone is actually looking into it.

Even simple things like clearer status updates, automatic acknowledgements, or setting expectations earlier can reduce a surprising amount of complaints and follow-up work.