Anyone who listens to the PC Pro podcast may have noticed my absence over the last couple of weeks, as instead of sitting in the office annoying my colleagues I’ve been busy filling boxes with books, CDs and what can politely be called odds and ends – those innumerable items that “might come in useful” at some future and uncertain date. In other words, I had the delight of moving house.

But there was one surprisingly pleasant part to the whole process, and it’s surprising because it’s the aspect of moving I dreaded the most: changing my address details with all the service providers that take my money each month.

Without exception, the web-based services I’ve used have been flawless – for example, using the Royal Mail redirection service online is 50 times easier than going into a Post Office (if you can still find one) and filling in a box-ridden form.

But what I’ve found most exceptional is when I actually spoke to people. Perhaps I called on a good day, but my ISP was efficient, friendly and delivered on its promises – not only to attempt to tie in my broadband connection with when my phone number went live, but to monitor the progress and let me know how it went.

It wasn’t just my ISP. I had to ring BT, British Gas, Ecotricity and others, and without fail I was met with a friendly voice and someone who genuinely wanted to help (or at least appeared to – perhaps they’re all jobbing actors).

Perhaps – and this is a tentative perhaps – we’re seeing a change. Companies are focusing on customer service as a differentiator to their rivals, perhaps they’re realising this is the key to their long-term survival. Whatever the motivation, I’ll be interested to see if this is reflected in 2009’s Reliability & Service survey, where PC Pro finds out which IT companies offer the best customer service (and, as the name might just give away, the most reliable products).

Click here if you want to take part in the survey, but I’d also be interested to see if I’m alone in this experience. Is customer service actually getting better as a whole? Or is it just the sunny weather going to everyone’s heads?