Gulf residents have slammed the quality of service offered by Gulf banks, with one in three condemning it as "inadequate" in an extensive online survey conducted by Arabian Business.

Customer displeasure with poor client service is such that 62 percent admitted they have considered switching their bank to a rival, according to the survey.

The Arabian Business Banking Survey 2010 attracted more than 800 respondents across the six Gulf states.

Conducted over a six-week period, it collected information from readers of 63 different nationalities, who were the customers of more than 60 different banks in the region.

More data from the Arabian Business Banking Survey will be published online soon.

Last November a Bank Benchmarking Study undertaken by Ethos Consultancy found many Gulf banks lagging in various areas, including the time taken in answering customer calls, waiting time, the way employees greeted customers, whether the customers received correct and sufficient information and follow-ups from banks.