In Spain, the left-wing coalition government has prepared a bill that imposes fines of up to 100,000 euros on companies in the service sector who keep their customers on the phone for more than 3 minutes.
Consumer Minister Alberto Garzon, who gave information to the press about the bill that was accepted by the Council of Ministers and sent to the parliament, announced that new rules will be introduced for companies that provide customer service by telephone.
“3 MINUTE LIMIT MUST BE BROUGHT”
Stating that calls made on the phone to inform or solve problems in the service industry “are made in a slow and complex procedure and this causes headaches for the customer”, Garzon argued that it is a rule to impose a 3-minute limit on customer service on the phone.
Noting that these companies should have sufficient number of personnel with the capacity to avoid penalties, Garzon criticized that some companies “use practices that prevent good treatment and effective results in customer service, such as the robotic response system.”
THERE WILL BE A PENALTY OF 100 THOUSAND EURO
The Spanish minister said that personnel with specialist training in customer service should be employed. If the bill becomes legal, companies that provide essential services such as the energy sector will also be required to provide 24-hour customer service. Companies that do not comply with the rules can be fined up to 100,000 euros. (AA)