Feel cheated or trapped? Don't worry Gulf News is here to facilitate the process and help resolve your issues. Since 2001, we have addressed a myriad of consumer complaints, with topics ranging from banking to parking, from overcharging to overbooking, from broken promises to broken devices... and the list goes on.

Fortunately, most of the companies involved have been very cooperative when it comes to resolving your complaints. Gulf News would like to recognise and commend them for their consistency over the past six months.

We have ranked companies based on the following criteria: speed of response, clarity of resolution and customer satisfaction in dealing with reader complaints.

Organisations in the A List have been short-listed for being consistent and thorough with their customer service feedback they are prompt, cooperative and often resolve issues in the first correspondence with Gulf News. Those in the B List, while pro-active, require frequent reminders and follow-up. They are encouraged to increase their speed of response and adopt a consistent pace for feedback.

Furthermore, we have asked the top three organisations for insight on how they process reader concerns and why they have secured a place in the A List.

How do you provide good customer service and enhance the level of customer satisfaction?

Ms Sabrina Couto, Head of Service Quality and Training, RAKBank: "Customer service at RAKBank is given paramount importance. As our general manager says, "service is part of our DNA" — we place our customers at the centre of all that we do. The bank spares no effort when it comes to keeping our customers delighted at every touch point. We have created a "super service" culture by training staff to perform the promised service consistently, accurately and efficiently. This culture is monitored, measured, and benchmarked with competition to constantly raise our bar higher every year."

Mr Suvo Sarkar, General Manager, Retail Banking, Emirates NBD: "At Emirates NBD, customer focus and service excellence are part of our core value set. We strive to deliver a personal and superior customer experience, which is included in our mission statement. We measure the level of customer satisfaction on an on-going basis and bring in the necessary changes from the feedback we receive from our customers."

Ms Maha Yassine, Head of Corporate Communications, First Gulf Bank: "We put our customers in the heart of everything we do. They always come first. We therefore ensure that we provide them with the most innovative products and services that exceed their expectations. Our staff are trained to the highest standards and always endeavour to provide unparalleled customer service. We ensure that we have a two-way dialogue with our customers — we carefully listen to them, welcome their inputs and take their comments and feedback very seriously."

How do you process consumer complaints which were sourced through Gulf News?

Couto: "All customer complaints at RAKBank are treated with utmost importance and accepted as an opportunity for improvement. The receipt of any complaint is immediately acknowledged, then probed and investigated and responded to with an effective resolution. In a few cases where the customer is not satisfied with the resolution provided by RAKBank, they may escalate the same to Gulf News. In this situation RAKBank forwards to Gulf News the same response that was provided to the customer."

Sarkar: "We give utmost importance to resolving customer complaints. As part of the process, the complaints received from Gulf News are received centrally by our corporate communications and directed to our service quality department personnel who analyse, send it to the concerned department and follow up to resolve them quickly. For easy tracking of complaints, we do provide our customers with a complaint reference number that is logged in our customer relationship management system and respond to them in writing, before we close the complaint."

Yassine: "We investigate the issue internally with the various relevant departments to ensure that the customer is provided with detailed clarification about any matter in question."

What is the impact of these complaints to your business?

Couto: "The impact of all complaints are positive, as each complaint is treated as an opportunity to turn around an unhappy customer by solving the issue, getting to the root of the issue and filling in the gaps in either process, policy or people training."

Sarkar: "There are a few impacts worth mentioning. Firstly, it is an opportunity for us to convert dissatisfied customers into satisfied ones and enhance their experience. Secondly, customer complaints and feedback also gives us a chance to review our policies and processes and initiate the required changes that will improve the overall service quality of the bank. Thirdly, complaints resolved satisfactorily invite referrals of prospects from our existing customers. To sum up, we view customer complaints as an opportunity to enhance our service levels and customer satisfaction."

Yassine: "As mentioned earlier, we do welcome inputs and do carefully listen to customers and if there is an area for improvement, we definitely work on it."

Great customer service helps build trust and confidence in the service sector. We hope other companies follow suit, for smoother and swifter action to your concerns. It is no secret customer satisfaction is key to business success.

List A

1. RAKBank
2. Emirates NBD
3. First Gulf Bank
4. Etihad Airways
5. Royal Bank of Scotland
6. Citibank
7. Emirates
8. Turkish Airlines
9. Emirates Islamic Bank
10. HSBC
11. Barclays Bank
12. du
13. Pehla
14. Dubai First
15. Samba Bank
16. Arab Bank
17. Standard Chartered Bank
18. Emirates Post
19. Air Blue
20. Air Arabia
21. Malaysia Airlines
22. Indian Airlines
23. RAK Airways
24. British Airways
25. Gulf Air
26. Jazeera Airways
27. Commercial Bank
of Dubai
28. Royal Brunei
29. Kenya Airways
30. Amlak Finance
31. National Bonds
32. Jet Airways
33. ICICI Bank
34. Air Miles
35. Mashreq

List B

1. etisalat
2. e-Vision
3. KLM
4. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
5. National Bank of Abu Dhabi
6. Dubai Bank
7. National Bank of Fujairah
8. FlyDubai
9. Qatar Airways
10. Alico Gulf
11. Air India
12. Pakistan International Airlines
13. Dubai Islamic Bank
14. Dubai International Airport
15. Roads and Transport Authority