Wells in Somerset has the best customer service in the UK, while Westminster and Greater London claim the top spots for rudest staff, according to a study of customer service reviews by StandOut CV analysing over 784,000 customer reviews.
- The politest city in the UK was found to be Wells in Somerset which had the highest percentage of customer reviews praising staff, followed by Ripon, and Chichester.
- The rudest city in the UK for customer service was found to be Westminster in London, which had the highest proportion of customer reviews slating staff, followed by Greater London, and Birmingham.
- Chichester is home to the best hairdressing and barbering experiences in the UK, with the highest percentage of reviews expressing their positive customer experience, but London had the highest proportion of negative reviews.
- Fitness fanatics will get the best customer service in Bath, which had the highest percentage of positive gym reviews in the UK, with Cambridge having the nation’s highest proportion of negative customer reviews.
- Those in Bradford, West Yorkshire, are getting the best plumbing service in the UK, as the city had the highest percentage of positive reviews for plumbers, while those in Leicester had the worst plumbers.
A new study, by StandOut CV, has analysed 784,444 customer reviews on Google Maps to reveal the best and worst cities in the UK for customer service by highlighting the frequency of positive and negative comments left by customers. The full list of phrases and words analysed can be found in the methodology.
The analysis reviewed a variety of industries which included B&Bs, barbers, bars, cafés, gyms, hairdressers, restaurants, plumbers, shops and supermarkets to reveal how many times positive and negative phrases were used.
The full results and findings of the study can be found here: https://standout-cv.com/uk-best-and-worst-customer-service
UK Cities with the Rudest Staff:
Relative to the number of reviews left per city, the analysis found the city of Westminster to have the highest proportion of customer service reviews where 2.42% of business reviews contained negative comments from customers, followed by London (2.41%), and Birmingham (2.3%).
Overall, the percentages for negative comments was found to be far lower than the percentages of reviews containing positive comments, indicating Brits are more likely to leave positive comments online than slate staff.
| Rank | City | County | Percentage of Reviews as Negative |
| 1 | Westminster | London | 2.42% |
| 2 | London | Greater London | 2.41% |
| 3 | Birmingham | West Midlands | 2.30% |
| 4 | Leicester | Leicestershire | 2.25% |
| 5 | Bradford | West Yorkshire | 2.20% |
| 6 | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | 2.14% |
| 7 | Manchester | Greater Manchester | 2.08% |
| 8 | Oxford | Oxfordshire | 2.05% |
| 9 | Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | 2.01% |
| 10 | Salford | Greater Manchester | 2.00% |
UK Cities with the Politest Staff:
The study found Wells in Somerset had the highest percentage of positive customer reviews, relative to the city’s overall total, with 26.9% of reviews mentioning any of the positive customer service phrases analysed in the study. Ripon in North Yorkshire was found to be the second best city (20.7%) of their reviews having positive feedback
| Rank | City | County | Percentage of Reviews as Positive |
| 1 | Wells | Somerset | 20.89% |
| 2 | Ripon | North Yorkshire | 20.73% |
| 3 | Chichester | West Sussex | 19.90% |
| 4 | York | North Yorkshire | 19.19% |
| 5 | Truro | Cornwall | 18.54% |
| 6 | Lichfield | Staffordshire | 18.50% |
| 7 | Plymouth | Devon | 18.24% |
| 8 | Salisbury | Wiltshire | 18.24% |
| 9 | Norwich | Norfolk | 17.72% |
| 10 | Bath | Somerset | 17.67% |
The Best and Worst Cities for Hospitality Businesses:
StandOut CV discovered Ripon in North Yorkshire had the highest percentage of positive reviews within the hospitality sector.
Top 10 Cities for Hospitality Customer Service:
- Ripon (25%)
- Wells (23.3%)
- York (23.2%)
- Plymouth (22.8%)
- Salisbury (22.7%)
- Chichester (22.7%)
- Truro (22.0%)
- Lincoln (21.9%)
- Chester (21.6%)
- Bath (21.3%)
When it came to the worst hospitality reviews, the analysis found Greater London to have the highest percentage of negative feedback (3%), followed by Birmingham (2.6%), and Westminster (2.5%).
Top 10 Cities for Hospitality Customer Service:
- Greater London (3%)
- Birmingham (2.6%)
- Westminster (2.5%)
- Coventry (2.5%)
- Leeds (2.5%)
- Bradford (2.4%)
- Salford (2.4%)
- Manchester (2.4%)
- Brighton (2.3%)
- Lichfield (2.3%)
Best and Worst Cities for Hairdressers and Barbers
Chichester, West Sussex, was found to have the best customer service by barbers and hairdressers with 24% of reviews being positive, the highest in the country, with 10.68% of those reviews stating how ‘lovely’ their experience was.
Top 10 Cities for Hairdressers and Barbers
- Chichester (24.0%)
- London (22.7%)
- Oxford (22.6%)
- Lichfield (22.6%)
- Brighton (21.7%)
- Truro (20.4%)
- Norwich (20.4%)
- Canterbury (20.2%)
- York (19.9%)
- Wells (19.5%)
Top 10 Worst Cities for Hairdressers and Barbers
Despite the Big Smoke’s recommended hairdressing, the study found Greater London also had the highest percentage of negative reviews (9.5%) followed by Oxford (8.2%). The high percentage of reviews for both positive and negative experiences in Greater London does indicate the city polarises clients more than any other hair destination in the country.
- London (9.5%)
- Oxford (8.2%)
- Westminster (8.1%)
- Brighton (7.9%)
- Chichester (7.5%)
- Exeter (7.3%)
- Norwich (7.2%)
- Chelmsford (7.0%)
- Chester (6.8%)
- Cambridge (6.8%)
The Best and Worst Cities for Retail Customer Service:
The best-reviewed city for retail experiences was found to be Wells in Somerset, with 9.3% of reviews posting positive comments about their customer service. In addition, the study also discovered York was the second best, with 8.4% positive reviews.
10 Politest Cities for Retail Customer Service
- Wells (9.3%)
- York (8.4%)
- Truro (8.2%)
- Ripon (8.2%)
- Ely (7.3%)
- Chichester (7.2%)
- Winchester (6.9%)
- Salisbury (6.7%)
- Manchester (6.5%)
- Chester (6.5%)
10 Rudest Cities for Retail Customer Service
- Leicester (3.25%)
- Westminster (2.91%)
- Southampton (2.90%)
- Bradford (2.86%)
- Birmingham (2.85%)
- Manchester (2.53%)
- Oxford (2.53%)
- Bristol (2.34%)
- Nottingham (2.30%)
- Cambridge (2.27%)
Best and Worst UK Cities for Gyms
StandOut CV found Bath in Somerset had the highest percentage of positive reviews for its gyms (14%), followed by Winchester (13.8%) and Wells (11.9%).
Top 10 Cities with the Politest Gyms:
- Bath (14.0%)
- Winchester (13.8%)
- Wells, (11.9%)
- Ely (11.9%)
- Chichester (11.4%)
- Ripon (11.3%)
- Westminster (11.2%)
- Truro (10.4%)
- London (9.9%)
- Cambridge (9.0%)
Top 10 Cities with the Rudest Gyms:
The worst gym experiences in the UK were found to be in Cambridge which had the highest number of negative reviews (3.2%) followed by Chelmsford (2.3%).
- Cambridge (3.24%)
- Chelmsford (2.32%)
- Westminster (2.12%)
- Portsmouth (1.86%)
- Norwich (1.86%)
- Bristol (1.73%)
- Oxford (1.72%)
- Wells (1.71%)
- York (1.70%)
- London (1.62%)
The Best and Worst Cities for Plumbers
Bradford was found to have the highest percentage of positive reviews (55.2%) for plumbers and had the highest portion of reviews where customers mentioned the plumber’s politeness (11.17%).
Top 10 Cities for Polite Plumbers:
- Bradford (55.2%)
- Canterbury (49.0%)
- Lichfield (47.0%)
- Cardiff (45.8%)
- Plymouth (43.3%)
- St Albans (43.1%)
- York (42.7%)
- Wakefield (42.6%)
- Birmingham (42.6%)
- Derby (42.6%)
Top 10 Cities for Rude Plumbers:
- Leicester (3.1%)
- London (3.1%)
- Salford (2.5%)
- Swansea (2.4%)
- Preston (2.3%)
- Lincoln (2.2%)
- Stoke-on-Trent (2.2%)
- Edinburgh (1.9%)
- Worcester (1.8%)
- Wakefield (1.8%)
StandOut CV also spoke to Jane Hawkes, ‘Queen of Customer Service’ and Radio Presenter, about the study’s findings and the UK’s customer service crisis:
“We have been riding on a tide of mediocrity for years with falling standards of customer service evident in an increasing number of areas yet still only around 90% of customers were complaining. However, the pandemic has proved the final straw as customers have become increasingly frustrated with the old Covid chestnut excuse for poor customer service.”
“I don’t think it’s necessarily that these smaller towns and cities are more polite, just that there’s a different social culture. In large towns and cities, customer service is delivered very much on a ‘grab and go’ basis with easy, quick and convenient topping the priority list rather than the meet and greet smiles and pleasantries you may find elsewhere. Londoners aren’t rude or unfriendly, it’s just a different pace of life as you would expect from a city so in some instances less time for casual ‘chitty chat’ in the working day.”
To view the full findings and learn more about the study, please see here:
https://standout-cv.com/uk-best-and-worst-customer-service
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