TMO study reveals mid-morning and afternoon peaks in hourly rate of case submissions by consumers

Motor Ombudsman study reveals mid-morning and afternoon peaks in hourly rate of case submissions by consumers

A new study conducted by The Motor Ombudsman, using data gathered from the first half of this year, has profiled and mapped the hours around the clock, day and night, when consumers are most likely to submit a case about their vehicle, on both a ‘typical’ weekday and weekend day, to it’s automotive-specific, and fully impartial and independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service. Motorists are able to log a dispute in relation to their vehicle via The Motor Ombudsman’s website (available 24 hours a day) or on a call with a member of the customer service team (Monday to Friday).

The latest research comes after The Motor Ombudsman hit another daily record average of 100 new cases (created via its website and through calls to its dispute resolution service) and 235 phone calls from motorists to log cases and get answers to their enquiries, during the first six months of 2024*. This is likely to have been driven by individuals looking to recoup costs against the backdrop of the heightened cost of living.

 

Not all cases fall within the remit of the Ombudsman for the automotive sector, or relate to one of its accredited businesses, meaning around half of consumers may be redirected to other points of assistance, such as Citizens Advice, for help with resolving their dispute.

 

In fact, findings from a recent YouGov poll commissioned by The Motor Ombudsman, showed that around nine in ten car owners (91%) are likely to raise a concern if they experienced a problem with their vehicle, and most (55%) said they’d be comfortable in taking such action**.

 

Consumer case submissions on a weekday

Around 90% of consumers submit cases on a weekday. The start of a typical working day, i.e. 09:00 to 10:00, when The Motor Ombudsman opens up its phonelines to consumers, already sees 8.6% of the day’s new cases logged by the ‘first-hour pioneers’ – people who like to hit the ground running to get the day off to a productive start. However, once the nation truly settles into the rhythm of the day, after commutes and school runs are done for example, this is where the first and extended peak of the day for lodging disputes, comes to the fore. In fact, between 10:00 until 13:00, the rate of case submission increases to an average of nearly 11% of cases logged every hour, thereby making up a third of the day’s volume solely within this three-hour window. This is likely driven by the ‘mid-morning maestros’ who look to get the day’s most challenging and important tasks done before a well-earned lunch break.

 

After this, between the hours of 13:00 and 15:00, complaint traffic tails off very slightly to 9.8% of the day’s new cases being created every hour on average, at the hands of the ‘afternoon energisers’, who form the backbone of productivity beyond midday. It is then that a comparatively shorter second spike of the day is seen between 15:00 and 16:00, driven by ‘afternoon peak performers’ – individuals who might experience lulls in energy after stopping to grab a bite to eat, but then experience a ‘second wind’ by mid-afternoon. This pushes the rate of submission back to 10.6% for the one-hour spark of activity, but slightly behind the peak figure seen earlier in the day.

 

For the last official trading hour of a typical working day, this is where the ‘end-of-day achievers’ i.e. those who like to get tasks done at the tail end, take the reins from 16:00 and 17:00, and where case submissions maintain a robust hourly pace at around 8.5% of the day’s total, before The Motor Ombudsman’s phonelines close at 16:30.

 

As the evening then draws in, the average hourly rate of case submissions sees a marked drop to 2.6% amongst the ‘evening achievers’ who are finishing off any remain errands and tasks before calling it a night by around 23:00. However, beyond this, the baton is handed to the ‘night owls’, who enjoy the peace and quiet of the nocturnal hours to plough through their remaining jobs for the day, sometimes working up to the cusp of dawn before the ‘early risers’ wake at 4am to follow suit. For these latter two groups, the generation of new cases is at its lowest, at less than 1% every hour of the day’s total tally.

 

Average rate of daily case submissions to The Motor Ombudsman via its website and customer service team, per hour, on a typical weekday (01 January – 30 June 2024) 

Consumer case submissions at the weekend

Around 10% of consumers submit a case to The Motor Ombudsman over the weekend (online only), and with people likely to start the day at a more leisurely pace on a Saturday or Sunday, compared to when going to work, the ‘first-hour pioneers’ are less prominent in terms of a productivity group (at 3.19% versus 8.60%). The morning peak between 10:00 and 13:00 is also a slower hourly rate of submission than on a weekday (7.11% versus 10.86%), with the spike in the afternoon seen earlier in the day on the weekend between 13:00 and 15:00 (8.19%), when the ‘afternoon energisers’ look to get jobs done after lunch, compared to 15:00 to 16:00 for Monday to Friday.

However what is more noticeable when looking the rate of case submissions over the weekend is that, when compared to a weekday, consumers are more active in the evening and the early hours, as many will likely be focused on enjoying leisure activities or spending time with others during the day. This is shown by an average hourly rate of submissions at nearly 6% for ‘evening achievers’ at the weekend versus around 2.5% for a ‘typical’ weekday, and ‘night owls’ and ‘early risers’ submitting double the proportion of cases on an hourly basis through the night on a Saturday and Sunday.

 Average rate of daily case submissions to The Motor Ombudsman via its website and customer service team, per hour, on a typical weekend day (01 January – 30 June 2024) 

TMO Top Tip

Before submitting a case to The Motor Ombudsman, it is important that consumers give the business a chance to resolve their issue via their own in-house complaints process, and up to eight weeks to receive a formal response in writing.

The Motor Ombudsman can also only look at a dispute that is both in relation to an accredited business, and that falls within the remit of its Motor Industry Codes of Practice.

ENDS

Further information

 

*In the first six months of this year (01 January to 30 June 2024), The Motor Ombudsman received 42,365 phone calls from consumers (versus 33,871 for H1 2023 and 74,385 for full year 2023), and saw 17,141 case submissions (versus 11,862 for H1 2023 and 24,851 for full year 2023), highlighting the notable year-on-year increase in volumes.

 

**The YouGov study of 1,557 UK car owners commissioned by The Motor Ombudsman, was conducted in March 2023.