A new study, by careers experts, StandOut CV, has analysed 784,444 customer reviews from Google Maps to reveal the best and worst cities in the UK for customer service by highlighting the frequency of positive and negative comments left by customers in each city. The full list of phrases and words analysed can be found in the methodology.
The analysis reviewed a variety of industries which included B&Bs, barbers, bars, cafés, gyms, hairdressers, restaurants, plumbers, shops and supermarkets to reveal how many times positive and negative phrases were used.
The full results and findings of the study can be found here: https://standout-cv.com/uk-best-and-worst-customer-service
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Retail businesses at their best in Wells and York
Looking solely at retail businesses, the data revealed that the best-reviewed city for retail customer service was Wells in Somerset, with 9.3% of reviews posting positive comments about their customer service. The study also discovered York was the second best, with 8.4% of the city’s reviews containing positive customer feedback.
Top 10 cities for positive customer feedback in retail:
- Wells (9.3%)
- York (8.4%)
- Truro (8.2%)
- Ripon (8.2%)
- Ely (7.3%)
- Chichester (7.2%)
- Winchester (6.9%)
- Salisbury (6.7%)
- Manchester (6.5%)
- Chester (6.5%)
When it came to cities underperforming in their retail customer service, Leicester led the way with 3.25% of its retail business reviews containing various negative customer comments.
Top 10 cities for negative customer feedback in retail:
- Leicester (3.25%)
- Westminster (2.91%)
- Southampton (2.90%)
- Bradford (2.86%)
- Birmingham (2.85%)
- Manchester (2.53%)
- Oxford (2.53%)
- Bristol (2.34%)
- Nottingham (2.30%)
- Cambridge (2.27%)
Cities providing the worst customer service in the UK
When looking at the overall data, which takes into account retail businesses as well as many others, relative to the number of reviews left per city, the analysis found the city of Westminster to have the highest proportion of customer service reviews where 2.42% of business reviews contained negative comments from customers, followed by London (2.41%), and Birmingham (2.3%).
Overall, the percentages for negative comments in each city was found to be far lower than the percentages of reviews containing positive comments, indicating Brits are more likely to leave positive comments online than criticise.
| Rank | City | County | Percentage of Reviews Containing Negative Comments |
| 1 | Westminster | London | 2.42% |
| 2 | London | Greater London | 2.41% |
| 3 | Birmingham | West Midlands | 2.30% |
| 4 | Leicester | Leicestershire | 2.25% |
| 5 | Bradford | West Yorkshire | 2.20% |
| 6 | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | 2.14% |
| 7 | Manchester | Greater Manchester | 2.08% |
| 8 | Oxford | Oxfordshire | 2.05% |
| 9 | Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | 2.01% |
| 10 | Salford | Greater Manchester | 2.00% |
Cities providing the best customer service in the UK
The study found Wells in Somerset had the highest percentage of positive customer comments, relative to the city’s overall total, with 26.9% of reviews mentioning any of the positive customer service phrases analysed in the study. Ripon in North Yorkshire was found to be the second best city (20.7%) of their reviews having positive feedback, followed by West Sussex’s historic town, Chichester (19.9%).
Cities in the UK generally had a higher percentage of positive comments than negative, however, most reviews were left with no comments, where users only left a star rating.
You can see the top ten cities ranked by the city’s percentage of positive reviews below:
| Rank | City | County | Percentage of Reviews Containing Positive Comments |
| 1 | Wells | Somerset | 20.89% |
| 2 | Ripon | North Yorkshire | 20.73% |
| 3 | Chichester | West Sussex | 19.90% |
| 4 | York | North Yorkshire | 19.19% |
| 5 | Truro | Cornwall | 18.54% |
| 6 | Lichfield | Staffordshire | 18.50% |
| 7 | Plymouth | Devon | 18.24% |
| 8 | Salisbury | Wiltshire | 18.24% |
| 9 | Norwich | Norfolk | 17.72% |
| 10 | Bath | Somerset | 17.67% |
Cities where customers used positive and negative descriptors the most:
In addition to this data, StandOut CV’s researchers were also able to discover where in the UK customers used different terms the most. Brummies used ‘disappointed’ to review their local businesses the most out of anyone else, while those in York commented on how ‘lovely’ their service had been.
| Phrase/word | City where customers use this phrase the most |
| Disappointed | Birmingham |
| Polite | Bradford |
| Good value | Cardiff |
| Great value | Cardiff |
| Terrible service | Coventry |
| Bad service | Greater London |
| Highly recommend | Greater London |
| Speed (Took ages) | Greater London |
| Poor value | Leeds |
| The best job | Leeds |
| Cowboy | Manchester Westminster |
| Above and beyond | Newcastle |
| Pleasantly surprised | Oxford |
| Excellent service | Sheffield |
| Great service | Sheffield |
| Speed (Only took) | Southampton |
| Disgusting | Westminster |
| Don’t recommend | Westminster |
| Rude | Westminster |
| Bad value | Winchester |
| Lovely | York |
Hospitality businesses:
StandOut CV’s analysis of the Google data discovered Ripon in North Yorkshire had the highest percentage of reviews containing positive phrases within the hospitality sector (25%) followed by Wells (23.3%) and York (23.2%).
Top 10 cities for positive customer feedback in hospitality:
- Ripon (25%)
- Wells (23.3%)
- York (23.2%)
- Plymouth (22.8%)
- Salisbury (22.7%)
- Chichester (22.7%)
- Truro (22.0%)
- Lincoln (21.9%)
- Chester (21.6%)
- Bath (21.3%)
When it came to the worst hospitality reviews, the analysis found Greater London to have the highest percentage of negative feedback (3%), followed by Birmingham (2.6%), and Westminster (2.5%).
Top 10 cities for negative customer feedback in hospitality:
- Greater London (3%)
- Birmingham (2.6%)
- Westminster (2.5%)
- Coventry (2.5%)
- Leeds (2.5%)
- Bradford (2.4%)
- Salford (2.4%)
- Manchester (2.4%)
- Brighton (2.3%)
- Lichfield (2.3%)
Hairdressers and barbers:
Chichester, West Sussex, was found to have the best customer service by barbers and hairdressers with 24% of reviews containing positive comments from customers, the highest in the country.
Top 10 cities for positive customer feedback in hairdressing and barbering:
- Chichester (24.0%)
- London (22.7%)
- Oxford (22.6%)
- Lichfield (22.6%)
- Brighton (21.7%)
- Truro (20.4%)
- Norwich (20.4%)
- Canterbury (20.2%)
- York (19.9%)
- Wells (19.5%)
Top 10 cities for negative customer feedback in hairdressing and barbering:
Despite the Big Smoke ranking highly with many positive customer comments, the study found Greater London also had the highest percentage of negative comments (9.5%) followed by Oxford (8.2%). The high percentage of reviews for both positive and negative experiences in Greater London does indicate the city polarises clients more than any other hair destination in the country.
- London (9.5%)
- Oxford (8.2%)
- Westminster (8.1%)
- Brighton (7.9%)
- Chichester (7.5%)
- Exeter (7.3%)
- Norwich (7.2%)
- Chelmsford (7.0%)
- Chester (6.8%)
- Cambridge (6.8%)
Gyms and fitness centres:
StandOut CV found Bath in Somerset had the highest percentage of positive comments for its gyms (14%), followed by Winchester (13.8%) and Wells (11.9%).
Top 10 cities for positive customer feedback in gyms and fitness centres:
- Bath (14.0%)
- Winchester (13.8%)
- Wells, (11.9%)
- Ely (11.9%)
- Chichester (11.4%)
- Ripon (11.3%)
- Westminster (11.2%)
- Truro (10.4%)
- London (9.9%)
- Cambridge (9.0%)
Top 10 cities for negative customer feedback in gyms and fitness centres:
The worst gym experiences in the UK were found to be in Cambridge which had the highest percentage of negative comments (3.2%) followed by Chelmsford (2.3%).
- Cambridge (3.24%)
- Chelmsford (2.32%)
- Westminster (2.12%)
- Portsmouth (1.86%)
- Norwich (1.86%)
- Bristol (1.73%)
- Oxford (1.72%)
- Wells (1.71%)
- York (1.70%)
- London (1.62%)
Plumbers:
Bradford was found to have the highest percentage of positive comments (55.2%) for plumbers, while Leicester and London came joint first when it came to the highest percentage of negative comments per city.
Top 10 cities for positive customer feedback in plumbing:
- Bradford (55.2%)
- Canterbury (49.0%)
- Lichfield (47.0%)
- Cardiff (45.8%)
- Plymouth (43.3%)
- St Albans (43.1%)
- York (42.7%)
- Wakefield (42.6%)
- Birmingham (42.6%)
- Derby (42.6%)
Top 10 cities for negative customer feedback in plumbing:
- Leicester (3.1%) + London (3.1%)
- Salford (2.5%)
- Swansea (2.4%)
- Preston (2.3%)
- Lincoln (2.2%)
- Stoke-on-Trent (2.2%)
- Edinburgh (1.9%)
- Worcester (1.8%)
- Wakefield (1.8%)
StandOut CV also spoke to Jane Hawkes, ‘Queen of Customer Service’ and Radio Presenter, about the study’s findings and the UK’s customer service crisis:
“We have been riding on a tide of mediocrity for years with falling standards of customer service evident in an increasing number of areas yet still only around 90% of customers were complaining. However, the pandemic has proved the final straw as customers have become increasingly frustrated with the old Covid chestnut excuse for poor customer service.”
“Although a number of companies responded well during the pandemic by adapting their offering to suit the changing landscape, others struggled to step up to deal with the new challenges and long-standing pre-pandemic issues were exacerbated. As a result, we are seeing record levels of complaints about everything from long waits on hold, poor quality products and services, delays issuing refunds, time taken to resolve complaints and difficulty in getting through to customer services.”
“I don’t think it’s necessarily that these smaller towns and cities are more polite, just that there’s a different social culture. In large towns and cities, customer service is delivered very much on a ‘grab and go’ basis with easy, quick and convenient topping the priority list rather than the meet and greet smiles and pleasantries you may find elsewhere. Londoners aren’t rude or unfriendly, it’s just a different pace of life as you would expect from a city so in some instances less time for casual ’chitty chat’ in the working day.”
