Study finds shopping-related anger can overwhelm happiness during holidays

PHOENIX — A new study found that feelings of anger from negative shopping experiences can overcome feelings of joy during the holiday season.

ASU’s 2015 Customer Rage Survey found about 54 percent of people will have an issue with a product or service they receive.

For those who try calling customer service representatives to resolve those issues don’t have it much better; The study found two-thirds of people will experience rage.

W.P Carey School of Business Professor Mary Jo Bitner said one of the causes is customers waiting on hold for a long period of time.

“If they can’t get the problem resolved after waiting and then they have to call back again or they need to repeat themselves to get another person, I think that’s when people definitely get enraged about the experience,” she said.

Bitner added that customers also get frustrated when they get handed off to multiple representatives, meaning they have to explain their problem more than once. She said companies need to equip their customer service representatives to deal with issues on the first call and not hand customers off to others.

“That can go a long way towards satisfying customers and saving time for the company, too,” Bitner said.

Bitner said many remedies companies can put in place aren’t even financial. She said people want to feel like they’ve been treated well, listened to and not have to explain the issue multiple times.