Firms lose billions as customers switch

FIRMS lost millions of clients, costing them billions of pounds, in the past few years – often because of poor customer service, says a report published today.

Three out of four switched at least one product or service in the past two years, a survey of more than 2,000 people showed.

Professor Merlin Stone, of Oxford Brookes University, who conducted the study, said firms had lost up to 20 million good customers, which cost them about 3.39 billion.