Lots of New Zealanders say companies aren't meeting their expectations, and they're upset about new customers getting better deals than existing ones.
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
A survey by Accenture Song measured the gap between what brands promised and the reality that customers experienced.
It showed 69% of people said companies were falling short.
The greatest gap was in media and entertainment, followed by groceries, then the utilities sector and telcos, general insurance and banking.
New Zealand lead Storm Day said loyalty tax was a particular gripe.
She said across banks, power companies and telcos, people were upset about seeing new customers offered better deals than existing customers.
"One of the biggest themes that came through was this idea of loyalty tax... people are seeing new customers getting way better treatment, way better deals and people are just frustrated and over it.
"I think that is also a real opportunity for brands…if you can identify and demonstrate value, and even in your messaging to your loyal customers, I think that that is a real opportunity to win them over and win back trust and make sure people are choosing your brand over another, especially with agentic AI, you can almost make switching so much easier."
People were also wondering whether their bills were deliberately hard to decode, and whether specials were as good as they appeared to be.
In the utilities sector, people were upset about new apps that were not an improvement on the old one, and only being contacted when prices were increasing.
"In the utilities sector specifically there's been a whole heap of disruption, also with AI as well it makes it easier for customers to decode complex policies and things and now they can do that I think they're also really voicing why brands haven't ever stepped in.
"There's a feeling that policies are almost impossible to decode and pricing structures are really impossible to compare. There's little differentiation in that category specifically.
"People are really frustrated."
Day said increasing use of AI was helping people to identify when they were not getting a good deal.
"Consumers are already using AI to compare prices, decode policies, translate jargon, and hunt better deals. They're increasingly expecting brands to proactively do this for them, with clear communication and greater transparency.
"The brands closing the gap and winning are the ones using technology like AI to simplify the customer experience, while keeping the experience human-led.
"That's how they build trust, deepen loyalty, and drive long-term growth."
Consumer NZ spokesperson Jessica Walker said the research echoed some of the themes Consumer has found in its surveying. She said there had been a big dip in trust across all sectors in April but that had rebounded.
Its most recent update found that customer satisfaction was improving in most sectors, except energy.
She said the idea of a loyalty tax was something that she saw upsetting people too.
"There's a lot of people that assume they are being looked after by a provider.
"We know that especially when it comes to electricity people tend to stick.
"They presume that the retailer they're with is going to be giving them the best possible price. In fact at our last count we found 38% of people think all electricity providers charge the same.
"That's just not true, the average saving on Powerswitch at the moment is about $470 a year. So there definitely is money to be saved by switching.
"But then it seems that New Zealanders are a really loyal bunch.
"So there's this assumption that your retailer is looking after you, but then when you find out that that's not the case then that leads to upset."
She said people were often shocked that they could save money but also hurt that their loyalty was not rewarded.
"In fact worse than unrewarded, they're being taxed. They're paying a penalty."
Walker said people could also be caught out by bundled deals, where one household had multiple services with the same provider.
Consumer research indicated that people who bundled services tended to get tied in with their provider because it felt more complicated to switch.
"For a year, you might be getting a good deal. But if you stick, you could be paying over the odds for all the utilities that you've bundled together.
"And it's also another barrier to switching, psychological … it's all bundled together and it just feels like too much hassle. So it's something that we urge caution on.
"If you are going to sign up to a bundle, look how long the fixed term is and then just double-check if you're able to switch. You can probably make savings off the back of your fixed term as well."
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