Poor customer service the number one complaint from golfers

Brits love to complain. They may not do so in person, but we are a nation of online moaners, taking to sites such as TripAdvisor to express our latest groans, so GolfSupport decided to highlight the importance of customer service in the world of Golf.

Approximately 1,000 TripAdvisor reviews written in the last year regarding golf clubs around the country were analysed. We managed to identify that the most common complaint was of poor customer service, which accounted for nearly 33 per cent of all complaints collected. Closely followed in second place, was the food, with 30 per cent of negative reviews and then the quality of the golf course itself which was collectively 8 per cent of all complaints.

Having found that poor customer service was the most complained about factor when playing golf across the country, it seems that golf staff in England need to buckle down to a little more training to improve its biggest downfall in the services industry. Many reviewers articulated that ‘they would not return’, and other complaints included strictness and policies, pace of play, friendliness and overbooking.

The analysis from reviews had also illustrated a concern over pricing to play a round of golf. As mentioned, membership fees are in decline and it’s becoming a challenge to entice the younger generation to play when fees are extremely high. GolfSupport found that of all complaints, 5.7 per cent were regarding the price of golf courses and closely followed were golf course policies, receiving 4.7 per cent of complaints.

The quality of the food cannot be overlooked, having come second in the analysis, receiving 30.5 per cent of complaints by the general public. You wouldn’t necessarily rank the quality of food as a top priority for golfers, but food was below par for nearly a third of avid golf club reviewers. The worst food was reported in Greater London, also being the worst place to play golf, receiving the highest proportion of negative reviews with 34 per cent of all appraisals. The golf courses in Greater London were discredited for being outdated, possessing the worst customer service and worst food.

Other statistics found from the research concluded that Cornwall golf clubs had the largest amount of positive reviews, (10.5 per cent) in England, making it the happiest place to play golf. Surrey was found to have the highest number of golf clubs with a certificate of excellence, with eight out of 25; making it the most prestigious place to play golf in the country. By assessing 1,000 reviews, we also found that 21 clubs in England received no bad reviews, and 29 clubs had a certificate of excellence collectively.

The research had also unveiled that the busiest county to play golf was Buckinghamshire, with one fifth of reviewers, complaining about overbooking. In complete contrast, Leicestershire had the most boring golf courses in the country and Cumbria had the most challenging, with 50 per cent of complaints regarding difficulty.

To view the full results visit: https://golfsupport.com/blog/whats-wrong-with-englands-golf-clubs/

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.