Ryanair has been rated as the worst firm for customer service, according to an annual Which? poll of 100 brands.
Passengers were left feeling undervalued by “unhelpful staff and terrible complaints-handling”.
When asked about how well the airline handles complaints, half of people gave it the lowest rating possible.
Presented with a choice of 50 words to describe the carrier, most of Ryanair’s passengers opted for “greedy”, “sneaky” and “arrogant”.
Ryanair was joined in the bottom five by energy company Scottish Power and three telecoms providers – BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
Other airlines also performed poorly, with British Airways coming 83rd in the list and EasyJet ranked 79th.
Travel agents were found to have an average customer service score of 75% compared with 60% for airlines.
The consumer organisation said: “Airlines received the lowest average score across all of the sectors.
“This is partially because they were dragged down by Ryanair’s particularly poor showing, but even top-scoring airline easyJet only made it into 79th place overall.”
The Which? survey asked around 4,000 consumers to rate the customer services at up to three of 100 well-known brands.
This included how the companies made them feel, how helpful and knowledgeable their staff were, and how well they handled complaints.
Telephone and online bank First Direct came top, followed by kitchenware retailer Lakeland, supermarket chains Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, and book retailer Waterstones.
Which? Magazine editor Harry Rose said:“While it’s good to see some familiar everyday brands flying the flag for great customer service, people spend a lot of money with their utility providers and on flights, so it’s disappointing to see some woeful performance across the board in those sectors.
“The best way to send a clear message to businesses about the importance of customer service is to spend your hard-earned cash with brands that make it a top priority – and don’t hesitate to complain if you feel you’ve been treated poorly.”
Travel Weekly has approached Ryanair for comment.
