TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
Game-changing customer service law on the way: How the consumer experience is set to improve in 2022
02/02/2022
CUSTOMER service legislation under construction since November will force companies to give 'personalised attention' to the public and recognise their right to speak to a human being rather than a machine.
Struggling to find contact details for a company on their website, the only online contact option being a chat-bot which gives standard, computer-generated answers, and phone numbers with automated services and no option to connect to an operator will eventually become a thing of the past this coming year, the ministry for consumer affairs has announced.
Free, inclusive, human and personal, for all 'basic' and 'essential' services
Customer evaluations of complaints-handling and service in general must be made public, and firms will be obliged by law to provide information, attend to problems and resolve complaints.
A legal right to be given free, efficient, accessible, inclusive, non-discriminatory service which can be easily evaluated or rated will be at the centre of the new customer service law, and it will apply to all corporations of 250 or more employees, with an annual turnover of €50 million or more, a business balance of above €43m a year, or any one of these.
Those firms which provide 'basic services' or 'services in the public interest' will be required to comply with the terms of the law, irrespective of their turnover, sales or numbers of employees.
Such services include telecommunications, energy, water, postal, financial, transport, and paid-for audio-visual.
For energy companies, the new law will oblige them to give customers the option to access ways of saving on their consumption, improving energy efficiency, and accessing renewable energy sources.
In the event of complaints, queries, problems, breakdowns, and similar, corporations will be obliged to communicate personally with the affected customer, not merely expecting them to use an automated 'chat' service or push-button options from a recorded list by telephone.
If the customer is not happy with the service received, he or she will be given the right to be transferred to a manager or supervisor, either by telephone or their chosen digital communication means, and must be attended to by said superior within the same conversation, rather than having to wait to be called back or instructed to redial.
This communication with a supervisor must be to an actual human, not a standard reply message or automated phone call.
No more hanging on listening to 'hold music'
The consumer care legislation will establish time limits for customers being left on hold when they call, even on toll-free lines – which will probably also prevent companies from giving a recorded, 'all our lines are busy, please call back later' message prior to cutting them off – and, where the customer rings a free-phone line, they cannot be transferred to another number, or instructed to dial one, which carries a cost.
Customer service must be available throughout the full opening hours of the company – for example, if the firm operates 24 hours a day, it cannot restrict its helplines or online communication channels to mornings only – and 'basic services' companies must be available for customer contact at all times.
This means an electricity, water or internet company cannot shut for the weekends without having an 'emergency' number for customers to report their supply or connection failing – nobody will be expected to wait until Monday morning with no power before being able to contact their supplier.
Time limit for dispute resolution
Complaints will also have a time limit for resolution – companies will be required to solve customer problems 'as quickly as possible', and always within one calendar month.
Submitting complaints or reporting issues must be permitted via the same channels as the service or product was acquired – if the customer signed up or made the purchase online, he or she will always be permitted to file a complaint about it online; likewise if the initial transaction was made by telephone.
Once a complaint or issue is logged, customers must be given a reference number in writing – by email or letter – allowing them to track the progress of their case.
“Customers will be permitted to access correct, effective, sufficient, transparent and up-to-date information about any incident involving interruption to normal service provision,” the legislation states.
“While you're complaining, can we interest you in our brand-new product...?”
Customer service advisors will not be permitted to try to sell anything to those who call or email with a complaint or issue, nor try to tempt them with 'offers', 'new products', or 'improved service packages', or try to convince a non-customer calling on another's behalf with their permission to move companies.
The only time an attempt to up-sell, cross-sell or sell from scratch to a complaining customer will be allowed is where a given product or service might be a direct solution to the issue they are reporting.
In all cases, any offers, packages or products notified to the customer, whether they are contacting with a complaint or otherwise, must, by law, constitute an improvement on either the service they currently enjoy, or the price, or both.
Where the service is superior and involves a higher price, or the price comes down at a cost of any element of the service, this must be clearly communicated to the customer being offered the new deal.
Fair compensation
Customers must always be offered a fair refund or other compensation – such as an in-store voucher or equivalent discount off their next bill – where a contract or offer terms have not been complied with, or their compliance was in any way defective.
All communication channels with the company must be clearly stated in the contract, on invoices, and on the firm's website, in an accessible format, in font size clearly readable, and in a prominent position – in the case of a website, right on the home page.
Where a complaint is notified by telephone, the company will record the call in full, send the customer a 'complaint receipt', and in this, advise how he or she can obtain a copy of this recording.
All responses to customers must be 'properly motivated', correctly logged, and no case can ever be closed for reasons outside the consumer's control, such as 'automatic expiry' or a company-imposed time limit.
Essential services: No waiting for customer complaints
If a service provided is considered 'basic', 'essential' or 'in the public interest', such as electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, banking, or transport, the supplier must not wait for a complaint from a consumer before giving out information.
For example, if the power supply cuts out on an entire street, the electricity board must contact each and every single affected consumer and inform them of the reasons, steps being taken to resolve the issue, and what their rights are, including reductions in bills, refunds or compensation.
The firm must not wait for a customer to call them and ask why the service is interrupted before telling them, “oh, there's been a fault on the line/burst pipe/overhead cable down,” but must be proactive in informing the public themselves if they were already aware of the issue without being told by a consumer first.
'Vulnerable' consumers
All companies affected by the new legislation must take steps to ensure that everyone, irrespective of age, disability or diversity, is able to contact them to report supply problems, issues, complaints or queries, and allow them to use their services.
As an example, a company cannot refuse to attend to customers online or in writing and insist on telephone calls only, as this would exclude deaf people from filing complaints; likewise, the firm cannot limit itself to online-only contact, as the blind or partially-sighted would be unable to get in touch with them.
'New technology', such as email, Apps and websites cannot be the only contact channel, since this would exclude the very elderly from getting in touch or using the service.
Likewise, contact or use of the service cannot be restricted merely to mobile phone Apps where it had previously been available via other channels, since this precludes those who do not have an up-to-date SmartPhone from contacting the company or using the service – again, excluding the very elderly and, potentially, those with certain disabilities.
Contact services such as video calls with sign-language interpreters, subtitles, or both must be an option where a customer is deaf and cannot use a 'standard' telephone.
Company staff must be given specific training on customer service – how to speak to the public, what to say and what not to say, consumer law and consumers' rights, and in particular, how to communicate with and resolve problems for those with disabilities or diversities, such as being deaf, blind or partially-sighted, elderly, or similar.
It could mean customer-facing staff automatically get sent on sign-language courses – which would be welcomed by employees and consumers alike, as it provides them with a new skill.
This training will, naturally, cover data protection, to ensure the company does not share personal information with anyone other than the customer or their authorised representative.
It could also mean an end to customer-facing staff at the lower end of the 'supply chain' being unable to make decisions in resolving queries, or at least, forcing companies to always have a supervisor contactable by junior employees to guarantee immediate attention to complaints.
Also, this training will teach staff not to 'scapegoat' colleagues or departments, such as saying 'I wasn't in on that day so I can't help you' or 'it must have been my workmate, who's off sick at the moment'.
Employees will be taught to realise that a customer with a complaint or incident is addressing the company as an entity when reporting the matter, not an individual person, and expects said entity, rather than a specific staff member, to solve the problem to their satisfaction.
Rating service received
The new legislation will force companies it covers to provide 'satisfaction rating' systems, where customers can evaluate the service received, be it the standard services provided in accordance with the firm's raison d'être or dispute-resolution services.
All these ratings must be publicly on display, and must be independently audited annually by an approved outside company.
'Satisfaction surveys' or rating systems must not be provided before a complaint is resolved, and all documentation relating to customer relations, complaints and issue reports, including ratings and evaluations, must be kept on record and made available for inspection by the appropriate legal and administrative organisms.
Companies are required to work closely in line with consumer protection organisations – the key ones being FACUA and the OCU, and municipal customer resolution boards (OMIC).
Banks targeted
Bank branch closure is covered within the new law, given that around 25,000 have been shut in the past few years.
This has forced 'digitalisation' of banking services, which is welcomed by those who had long struggled to get their banks to attend to them without going to their branch in person – normally taking time off work to do so – but which has caused major problems for those who are not internet-users.
In Spain, the very elderly were born and raised at a time when even basic school education was not guaranteed, meaning literacy levels among the oldest inhabitants are lower than in countries which, at the time of their childhood and early adulthood, were more modern and evolved; as a result, many of those who were born around the time of the Civil War do not even trust cashpoint machines and have never used a debit card.
Even, to a certain extent, the middle-aged, or youngest pensioners, may be in a similar situation, especially in the rural world – national government efforts to ensure every single residential area in Spain has a mobile phone and internet connection are ongoing, meaning many of the remotest villages have never had either until fairly recently – so bank branch closures are bad news for the over-65 population in general, not just the elderly.
It is estimated that over nine million over-65s in Spain have no access to banking services as a result of branch closure and not being able to use digital means.
Spain's consumer affairs ministry is working to reverse this, by forcing banks to provide at least basic services, such as over-the-counter and face-to-face cash withdrawal and enquiries, without extra charge, in small villages and rural parts.
Related Topics
CUSTOMER service legislation under construction since November will force companies to give 'personalised attention' to the public and recognise their right to speak to a human being rather than a machine.
Struggling to find contact details for a company on their website, the only online contact option being a chat-bot which gives standard, computer-generated answers, and phone numbers with automated services and no option to connect to an operator will eventually become a thing of the past this coming year, the ministry for consumer affairs has announced.
Free, inclusive, human and personal, for all 'basic' and 'essential' services
Customer evaluations of complaints-handling and service in general must be made public, and firms will be obliged by law to provide information, attend to problems and resolve complaints.
A legal right to be given free, efficient, accessible, inclusive, non-discriminatory service which can be easily evaluated or rated will be at the centre of the new customer service law, and it will apply to all corporations of 250 or more employees, with an annual turnover of €50 million or more, a business balance of above €43m a year, or any one of these.
Those firms which provide 'basic services' or 'services in the public interest' will be required to comply with the terms of the law, irrespective of their turnover, sales or numbers of employees.
Such services include telecommunications, energy, water, postal, financial, transport, and paid-for audio-visual.
For energy companies, the new law will oblige them to give customers the option to access ways of saving on their consumption, improving energy efficiency, and accessing renewable energy sources.
In the event of complaints, queries, problems, breakdowns, and similar, corporations will be obliged to communicate personally with the affected customer, not merely expecting them to use an automated 'chat' service or push-button options from a recorded list by telephone.
If the customer is not happy with the service received, he or she will be given the right to be transferred to a manager or supervisor, either by telephone or their chosen digital communication means, and must be attended to by said superior within the same conversation, rather than having to wait to be called back or instructed to redial.
This communication with a supervisor must be to an actual human, not a standard reply message or automated phone call.
No more hanging on listening to 'hold music'
The consumer care legislation will establish time limits for customers being left on hold when they call, even on toll-free lines – which will probably also prevent companies from giving a recorded, 'all our lines are busy, please call back later' message prior to cutting them off – and, where the customer rings a free-phone line, they cannot be transferred to another number, or instructed to dial one, which carries a cost.
Customer service must be available throughout the full opening hours of the company – for example, if the firm operates 24 hours a day, it cannot restrict its helplines or online communication channels to mornings only – and 'basic services' companies must be available for customer contact at all times.
This means an electricity, water or internet company cannot shut for the weekends without having an 'emergency' number for customers to report their supply or connection failing – nobody will be expected to wait until Monday morning with no power before being able to contact their supplier.
Time limit for dispute resolution
Complaints will also have a time limit for resolution – companies will be required to solve customer problems 'as quickly as possible', and always within one calendar month.
Submitting complaints or reporting issues must be permitted via the same channels as the service or product was acquired – if the customer signed up or made the purchase online, he or she will always be permitted to file a complaint about it online; likewise if the initial transaction was made by telephone.
Once a complaint or issue is logged, customers must be given a reference number in writing – by email or letter – allowing them to track the progress of their case.
“Customers will be permitted to access correct, effective, sufficient, transparent and up-to-date information about any incident involving interruption to normal service provision,” the legislation states.
“While you're complaining, can we interest you in our brand-new product...?”
Customer service advisors will not be permitted to try to sell anything to those who call or email with a complaint or issue, nor try to tempt them with 'offers', 'new products', or 'improved service packages', or try to convince a non-customer calling on another's behalf with their permission to move companies.
The only time an attempt to up-sell, cross-sell or sell from scratch to a complaining customer will be allowed is where a given product or service might be a direct solution to the issue they are reporting.
In all cases, any offers, packages or products notified to the customer, whether they are contacting with a complaint or otherwise, must, by law, constitute an improvement on either the service they currently enjoy, or the price, or both.
Where the service is superior and involves a higher price, or the price comes down at a cost of any element of the service, this must be clearly communicated to the customer being offered the new deal.
Fair compensation
Customers must always be offered a fair refund or other compensation – such as an in-store voucher or equivalent discount off their next bill – where a contract or offer terms have not been complied with, or their compliance was in any way defective.
All communication channels with the company must be clearly stated in the contract, on invoices, and on the firm's website, in an accessible format, in font size clearly readable, and in a prominent position – in the case of a website, right on the home page.
Where a complaint is notified by telephone, the company will record the call in full, send the customer a 'complaint receipt', and in this, advise how he or she can obtain a copy of this recording.
All responses to customers must be 'properly motivated', correctly logged, and no case can ever be closed for reasons outside the consumer's control, such as 'automatic expiry' or a company-imposed time limit.
Essential services: No waiting for customer complaints
If a service provided is considered 'basic', 'essential' or 'in the public interest', such as electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, banking, or transport, the supplier must not wait for a complaint from a consumer before giving out information.
For example, if the power supply cuts out on an entire street, the electricity board must contact each and every single affected consumer and inform them of the reasons, steps being taken to resolve the issue, and what their rights are, including reductions in bills, refunds or compensation.
The firm must not wait for a customer to call them and ask why the service is interrupted before telling them, “oh, there's been a fault on the line/burst pipe/overhead cable down,” but must be proactive in informing the public themselves if they were already aware of the issue without being told by a consumer first.
'Vulnerable' consumers
All companies affected by the new legislation must take steps to ensure that everyone, irrespective of age, disability or diversity, is able to contact them to report supply problems, issues, complaints or queries, and allow them to use their services.
As an example, a company cannot refuse to attend to customers online or in writing and insist on telephone calls only, as this would exclude deaf people from filing complaints; likewise, the firm cannot limit itself to online-only contact, as the blind or partially-sighted would be unable to get in touch with them.
'New technology', such as email, Apps and websites cannot be the only contact channel, since this would exclude the very elderly from getting in touch or using the service.
Likewise, contact or use of the service cannot be restricted merely to mobile phone Apps where it had previously been available via other channels, since this precludes those who do not have an up-to-date SmartPhone from contacting the company or using the service – again, excluding the very elderly and, potentially, those with certain disabilities.
Contact services such as video calls with sign-language interpreters, subtitles, or both must be an option where a customer is deaf and cannot use a 'standard' telephone.
Company staff must be given specific training on customer service – how to speak to the public, what to say and what not to say, consumer law and consumers' rights, and in particular, how to communicate with and resolve problems for those with disabilities or diversities, such as being deaf, blind or partially-sighted, elderly, or similar.
It could mean customer-facing staff automatically get sent on sign-language courses – which would be welcomed by employees and consumers alike, as it provides them with a new skill.
This training will, naturally, cover data protection, to ensure the company does not share personal information with anyone other than the customer or their authorised representative.
It could also mean an end to customer-facing staff at the lower end of the 'supply chain' being unable to make decisions in resolving queries, or at least, forcing companies to always have a supervisor contactable by junior employees to guarantee immediate attention to complaints.
Also, this training will teach staff not to 'scapegoat' colleagues or departments, such as saying 'I wasn't in on that day so I can't help you' or 'it must have been my workmate, who's off sick at the moment'.
Employees will be taught to realise that a customer with a complaint or incident is addressing the company as an entity when reporting the matter, not an individual person, and expects said entity, rather than a specific staff member, to solve the problem to their satisfaction.
Rating service received
The new legislation will force companies it covers to provide 'satisfaction rating' systems, where customers can evaluate the service received, be it the standard services provided in accordance with the firm's raison d'être or dispute-resolution services.
All these ratings must be publicly on display, and must be independently audited annually by an approved outside company.
'Satisfaction surveys' or rating systems must not be provided before a complaint is resolved, and all documentation relating to customer relations, complaints and issue reports, including ratings and evaluations, must be kept on record and made available for inspection by the appropriate legal and administrative organisms.
Companies are required to work closely in line with consumer protection organisations – the key ones being FACUA and the OCU, and municipal customer resolution boards (OMIC).
Banks targeted
Bank branch closure is covered within the new law, given that around 25,000 have been shut in the past few years.
This has forced 'digitalisation' of banking services, which is welcomed by those who had long struggled to get their banks to attend to them without going to their branch in person – normally taking time off work to do so – but which has caused major problems for those who are not internet-users.
In Spain, the very elderly were born and raised at a time when even basic school education was not guaranteed, meaning literacy levels among the oldest inhabitants are lower than in countries which, at the time of their childhood and early adulthood, were more modern and evolved; as a result, many of those who were born around the time of the Civil War do not even trust cashpoint machines and have never used a debit card.
Even, to a certain extent, the middle-aged, or youngest pensioners, may be in a similar situation, especially in the rural world – national government efforts to ensure every single residential area in Spain has a mobile phone and internet connection are ongoing, meaning many of the remotest villages have never had either until fairly recently – so bank branch closures are bad news for the over-65 population in general, not just the elderly.
It is estimated that over nine million over-65s in Spain have no access to banking services as a result of branch closure and not being able to use digital means.
Spain's consumer affairs ministry is working to reverse this, by forcing banks to provide at least basic services, such as over-the-counter and face-to-face cash withdrawal and enquiries, without extra charge, in small villages and rural parts.
Related Topics
More News & Information
A MERGER between two key telecommunications providers has now been finalised – Orange and MásMóvil will operate as a single company from April onwards.
A GROUND-BREAKING new customer service law has finally been approved by Spain's Council of Ministers after being shelved for nearly two years.
EVERY January in Spain sees the start of a new tax year and, with it, changes in prices of utilities, commodities and certain consumer goods, along with amendments to State benefits, the minimum wage, and contributory...