Businesses came in for a record level of criticism from customers last year, according to a long-running survey.

Product quality, suitability, and availability were the main causes of complaints flagged up by the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), produced by The Institute of Customer Service since 2008.

The twice-annual survey, which polls 10,000 consumers to track the effects of customer service on business performance, found that despite an overall improvement in customer satisfaction, 16.4% of customers have experienced problems with a brand's service in the past six months.

As the nation continues to deal with supply chain and resource challenges caused by Covid-19 and Brexit, the research shows that consumers are experiencing fewer problems with staff and more problems with availability, suitability, and the quality or reliability of goods and services, compared to 12 months ago.

As customer frustrations grow, the proportion of customers willing to pay more for better service has risen to 34% - the highest level ever - and triple the proportion prepared to sacrifice service to get the cheapest price at 11.4%.

Jo Causon, CEO at The Institute of Customer Service, said: "There is no easy remedy for rising prices and shortages of goods, so we must all become better at dealing with delays and disappointments.

"Although satisfaction with complaint handling and overall satisfaction has improved, we need to address wider service chain issues if we are to improve the nation's performance and productivity."

The top ten rated businesses for customer service were:

• Pets at Home

• first direct

• Saga insurance

• UK Power Networks

• Timpson

• Skoda UK

• John Lewis

• Jet2holidays.com

• Nissan

• Greggs