Yeah, Nah Awards: The worst-rated companies in NZ, rated by you

Here are the five companies that got the highest dissatisfaction ratings across all our surveys. We’ve also looked at which ones have the happiest customers.

The worst

These five companies had the highest number of people score them between just 0 and 4 on our 0–10 satisfaction scale.

1. Westpac – in the life insurance survey

With a dissatisfaction score of 33%, that means a third of Westpac’s life insurance customers aren’t happy with their choice. If that’s you, check out the results of our life insurance satisfaction survey, carried out towards the end of 2023, and see where you might have a happier time while planning for the worst.

2. Ray White – in the real estate survey

When we asked people about their experiences using real estate agencies, we had the most responses about Ray White. Unfortunately, nearly a quarter of the 374 respondents (23%) said they were dissatisfied with the experience.

3. AON – in the contents insurance survey

Insurance providers keep popping up when we look at companies with high dissatisfaction rates, but some stand out as doing an even worse job than the rest of keeping customers happy. Aon shares our third highest dissatisfaction score of 22%, for its contents insurance offering, with the other two companies below.

4. ASB – in the house insurance survey

ASB is another bank insurance option with a lot of dissatisfied house insurance policy holders. In general, people who use their bank for insurance report higher dissatisfaction levels compared to those who use specialist providers – with the exception of travel insurance. Our advice is to not default to your bank for insurance just because it’s convenient. Shop around and consider specialist providers that are rated highly by their customers in our insurance satisfaction survey. It can make a big difference, especially when it comes to making a claim.

5. NIB – in the health insurance survey

With a dissatisfaction score of 22%, that means about one in five of those with health insurance from NIB aren’t happy.

The best

These five companies had the most people giving them a score of 8–10 on our satisfaction scale.

1. 100% Home – in the small and large appliance category of the retailer survey

When we asked people about their shopping experiences, it was amazing to see just how highly 100% Home customers rate it. In the large appliance retailer category, 87% of customers said they were very satisfied. It did even better in the small appliances category, where 91% were very satisfied.

2. Stihl Shop – in the hardware and gardening category of the retailer survey

Stihl Shop was another store to pull a high satisfaction score. A whopping 86% of those who had shopped there said they’d been very satisfied. That score put it way ahead of the next highest scoring store in the category, which was Mitre 10 with a score that was still impressive at 74%.

3.The Co-Operative Bank – in the banking survey

With an outstanding satisfaction score of 86%, The Co-Operative Bank has the happiest retail banking customers in the country by a distance. It was the best-performing bank on 11 out of the 13 measures we ask customers about. It was rated particular highly by customers for its personal loan interest rates, being a responsible lender, timely responses to inquiries and the value for money it provides.

4. MAS – in the car insurance survey

MAS (Medical Assurance Society) is the only insurance company to feature in our list of companies with highly satisfied customers. When we asked about car insurance, 85% of MAS customers said they were very satisfied. That’s much higher than the industry average of just 53%.

5. Macpac – in the sports and outdoor category of the retailer category

Macpac is another store that pulled a high satisfaction rating. With 83% of customers very happy with their experience, it left other stores like Kathmandu, Torpedo7 and Rebel Sport in its wake.