What all plane passengers want - to be treated politely

Nearly six in ten respondents said that they felt customer service was less human than it was ten years ago, the poll, carried out by YouGov for Singapore Airlines, said.

This made them less likely to complain about a bad experience, with results suggesting they were twice as likely to complain to or dole out praise if they could do so face-to-face rather than over social media.

This is despite the popularity and convenience of being able to post a review online on websites such as TripAdvisor, suggesting instead that customers still yearn for traditional human interaction from businesses.

Politeness was the quality customers most wanted to see from a business, the survey showed, followed by transparency and clarity.

"This is why we keep all lines of customer communication open – including face-to-face and telephone options – to ensure we provide the human response to complaints that customers are seeking, alongside insightful resolution to their feedback," said Wilson Yong, general manager for Singapore Airlines.

The poll also showed that more than one in 10 (14 per cent) businesses said they receive at least one complaint a day, with 16 per cent saying their brand has been affected by poor customer service, something that Ryanair clearly realised when it decided to overhaul its image and become more "friendly".​

No doubt Michael O'Leary would be pleased to learn that consumers can be 'won back', with 67 per cent of consumers saying that they would feel more favourable to a company if they were willing to listen and admit fault.

Hotels were the best businesses thought to offer the best customer service overall, followed by long-haul airlines and restaurants.

The Telegraph, London

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