WE'VE all experienced it. You've got what should be a simple query about your gas or electricity bill, or a complaint about a bank or credit card statement. You dial the technical support line of the company concerned, hoping they will be able to sort you out - and instead find yourself immersed in a nightmare world of recorded messages, push button options and staff who say it's not their responsibility or never return your phone calls.

If that rings any bells with you, there is one crumb of comfort - you're not alone. And the indifference of the company which is causing you to tear your hair out isn't only hurting you - it's hurting them, too.

New research by direct marketing company Brann Worldwide reveals that four in ten people living in the north of England are so incensed by the very telephone helplines companies set up to 'help' them, they never shop with the offending company again.

Top irritant, and most likely to cause customers ever going back again, is the "technical support line", which charges high rates for help in sorting out a faulty product or explaining a complicated instruction manual.

Next is breaking a promise to return a phone call.

Other customer care crimes driving people in the north to desertion include:

Being passed around from one person to another and asked to report your story over and again

lJobsworths - people who refuse to help because it "isn't their job"

Customer services who appear more determined to get you off the phone than solve your problem

Push-button options that lead to more recorded voices

Failure to reward loyal customers while new customers are offered inducements;

Small print disclaimers

lPromotional products which expire before you can get hold of them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems older people are less tolerant of shoddy service than younger people. The Brann survey found that just 33 per cent of people under 35 in the North of England would actually abandon a company - compared to 53 per cent of the over-54s. So it seems Victor Meldrew wasn't that far from real life after all.

The extent of customers' anger could well come as a nasty shock to company chiefs, according to Brann.

"Businesses ignore these findings at their peril," said Alan Syler, Brann Worldwide's strategy director. "It's often the very marketing practices introduced to help customers that companies get so wrong.

"Providing poor customer support highlights shortcomings, and companies must be vigilant and test their marketing practices regularly to iron out these gremlins.

"Sadly, many customers feel trapped by companies; tied in by contracts which they are unable to sever. These are the very customers that businesses should be wooing rather than offending."

If you have been driven to distraction by an unhelpful customer service manager who never returns your calls or by a helpline that passes you from pillar to post, there's now a way to vent some of your frustration.

Brann Worldwide has set up a website to help consumers channel their frustration. By logging on to www.buyers-experience.com consumers can share their own experiences with others - and make suggestions to a Buyer's Experience Forum about how companies can improve.