MONEY COMMENT
How To Complain...And Win

By Cliff D'Arcy
February 13, 2003

One common complaint on the Fool's discussion boards is the indifferent service commonly encountered when dealing with financial services providers. Whatever the firm, someone, somewhere, has posted a message describing their suffering at the company's hands.

There are so many grumbles along these lines; it makes me wonder whether dreadful service has become the norm, thanks to some widespread problem in the financial services industry.

From my personal experience, there are five main reasons why firms disappoint their customers:

1. Products that are over-priced, poorly designed or badly implemented.
2. Unhelpful or unsympathetic staff (often down to inexperience or lack of training; low morale; job cuts; demanding business targets; tedious or routine jobs; and low wages).
3. Inflexible or bureaucratic procedures and infrastructures ("I'm sorry but that's how we do it, there's nothing I can do").
4. Legacy issues and integration problems following mergers and acquisitions.
5. Poor IT systems (adding a technological twist to even the simplest task).

With increasing consolidation and cost cutting in the industry, I can't see this situation improving.

So, what steps can you take to ensure that you get the best service and, if not, what should you do about it?

1. Shop around. Look for a better deal. Vote with your feet. Switch and save. Become disloyal. Got the message? Remember, you're not just part of the process, you are the reason the service exists.

2. Advertise. If you're getting a great service, tell people that value your opinion. If you're getting bad service, tell everyone (other Fools are happy to join in). Warn people off the bad guys and towards the good guys (whose shares you should consider buying).

3. Keep decent records. Always take down the details of the people you're dealing with: names, direct line numbers, e-mail addresses, dates and times. Wherever possible, get things in writing - especially the important stuff. It's hard for companies to deny anything when you've got their letter in your hand.

4. Read the money pages. Good companies get good coverage; the bad companies are always in the readers' letters pages.

5. Do your research. Check the Web (especially the Fool) for advice. If you have a problem with a financial product, we've probably written about it.

6. Don't bother the staff at the "coal face", as many simply don't have the time to put your interests first. Find someone who cares about the company's strategy and its future. Go straight to the top - the Chief Executive, Chairman or Marketing Director are usually my first points of call, not the call centre supervisor.

7. As a customer, you know more about the way many businesses work than the executives and managers running them. Tell them where their strategy is going wrong and damaging the business and its future prospects.

8. Don't give up when you believe you're right. I've worked for half a dozen financial firms of varying competence, where everyone knows that "the squeakiest hinge gets the grease". Keep on complaining until someone starts listening seriously.

9. Always demand a written apology and monetary compensation. Bottles of wine and bouquets of flowers are all very well but money shows they value your custom. In a typical year, I aim to make about a thousand pounds thanks to poor service.

10. Charge for your time. If you've wasted time and suffered inconvenience and annoyance through bad service, charge for all the calls, letters and visits it takes to solve your problem. About £25 an hour is a good rate of pay!

11. Know your regulators. The Financial Services Authority and Financial Ombudsman are there to help when companies' internal complaints systems are faulty.

12. If all else fails, consider suing. In my experience, almost all large companies don't bother turning up to my local Court to defend a claim for under £500. It's just too expensive to pay someone to attend - far cheaper to pay your Summons when it's received!