Service Recovery in The Australian Banking Industry

Abstract

Considering the importance of service recovery as a corrective measure for service failures, this paper explores: (a) when Australian customers complain (b) the process they follow to look for solutions to their complaints and (c) how they evaluate banks' service recovery efforts. To address these objectives, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with Australian retail banking customers. Results show that the main reasons for complaints were incorrect transactions, performance not meeting expectations, and unfair fees. The study also showed that Australian customers perceive two steps of the complaining process are very important to have a control over the complaint: gathering all required information and lodging a complaint in person. In relation to evaluating banks' service recovery efforts, Australian customers felt that banks were not paying much attention to their complaints and that there was a lack of acknowledgement and responsiveness.

Switching Barriers’ Influences on Service Recovery Evaluation in the Retail Banking Industry: Construct Development and Testing

“…Casado et al (2011) also revealed that lower levels of explanations and distributive justice and higher levels of dissatisfaction with service recovery increase the probability of complaint and exit of banking customers in Spain. In a study to examine service recovery of Australian banks, Valenzuela et al (2013) found that the concepts pertaining to fairness (procedural, interactive, and distributive) were found to be highly relevant in consumers' evaluations of service recovery efforts of Australian banks.…”

Consumer responses to the failure of self-service banking technology: moderating role of failure stability

“…This is necessitated to prevent the loss of a valued customer, which is especially penalizing for the banking industry as their success depends on the ability to tackle service failures and preserve long-term customer relationships (Laczniak et al, 2008). Valenzuela et al (2013) argue that banks need to make extra efforts to provide reliable service delivery every time and prevent dissatisfactory service experiences for consumers.…”

“…, 2008). Valenzuela et al. (2013) argue that banks need to make extra efforts to provide reliable service delivery every time and prevent dissatisfactory service experiences for consumers.…”