Gill Montia, reporting recently in an Insurance Daily article, discusses a worrying trend – that the handling of consumer complaints is actually getting worse, with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) reporting increasing numbers of consumers getting “dismal” treatment.
The FOS suggests that this is a symptom of “weary cynicism” on the part of firms in the financial services industry. Well, in my experience, many organisations – across all industries – want to ignore complaints, and consider them a necessary evil; giving them scant consideration and overlooking the huge intrinsic value in listening to customers. So this is not a new phenomenon.From the ombudsman’s perspective, there is increasing evidence of regulated firms not properly assessing cases – resulting in increased, and inappropriate, referrals. This is a worrying trend given the emphasis over recent years on Treating Customers Fairly. Whilst it is true to say that financial organisations are facing massive business problems, that is no reason to ignore customers – retention must be a priority in the current economic circumstances with new customers hard to find.Plans by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to publish league tables of individual firm’s performance and the recent statements around closer and more intrusive regulation, give hope that the interests of complainants may (forcibly) become central to firms’ customer strategies. But if history is anything to go by, with the majority of firms it is only a very faint hope …. competitive differentiation through excellence in customer experience (including complaint management) may never have been easier!illustration courtesy of Whotheheckareyou.
