The survey, by customer relationship management experts Convergys, also reveals that 83 per cent of customers that had a bad experience with an organisation told friends or colleagues.

David Lopes, director of technology and business development at Convergys says, ‘Advancements in internet services mean we now live in an era of instant results and personalised attention.

‘Although consumers aren’t willing to pay extra for customer service, they are more empowered than ever to complain. And consumers’ increasing affinity with social media means new emerging communications channels are likely to be the hottest venting ground for impatient customers irritated by a lack of resolution from a given company.’

The 2011 findings of Convergys’ annual ‘Customer Service Scorecard’ show that of the 83 per cent of consumer respondents who say they told friends or colleagues of a bad experience, 16 per cent used social media and 8 per cent used texting.

These findings have important implications for reputation management, since the average Facebook user has 130 friends as a potential audience to the complaint.

Some 35 per cent of customer survey respondents say they have read about a bad customer experience during the last six months on a social media channel.