Connect Me with a Human, Damnit!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Are you tired of trying to talk to a machine when your cable or wi-fi service goes down?   Do you long for the good old days when you telephoned your insurance provider and an actual human answered the phone?  Do you catch yourself yelling obscenity-laced threats at recordings of demure individuals thanking you for your patience?

Each day it seems that American businesses place themselves further and further beyond the reach of complaining consumers.  It is a trend against the common decency that should not be allowed to persist!

Lawmakers in Spain (of all places!) have begun work on a comprehensive piece of legislation that would correct much of this injustice.  The bill, which will require the approval of the Spanish parliament, is being spearheaded by Alberto Garzon, Spain's Minister of Consumption.  He characterizes the effort this way:

"Customer service is a critical part of our relations with consumers which unfortunately and far too often causes endless headaches for Spanish families because far too many companies create bureaucratic labyrinths to stop you from exercising you right to service. These are difficulties which unfortunately waste an enormous amount of energy, time, and money."

Creating "bureaucratic labyrinths to stop you from exercising your right to service" sounds exactly like the dance that me and my internet provider do every few months.   And yes, every time I deal with their automated answering service, I waste inordinate amounts of energy and time!  But I guess that is part of the point - wear the bastard down and maybe he will give up and leave us alone.  

The proposed bill coming before Spain's parliament would require that:

•  companies offer a human service worker whenever it is requested by a caller;
• companies will have to answer calls within three minutes; 
• basic service providers (utilities, telephone, internet) will have to offer customer service 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year.  (Other companies will have to provide customer service during normal working hours.);
• all customer complaints will have to be responded to within 15 days;
• the law will apply to all utility providers regardless of their size, and all other companies with more than 250 workers or whose business exceeds $53 million per year;  and,
• fines for breaking the new law will range from $160 to $106,000.

Thieving, soulless corporations being forced to actually listen to customer complaints and then take action on those complaints!  What a concept!  Our Congress should look at borrowing this forward-looking piece of Spanish legislation - and it undoubtedly would if Congress wasn't already securely owned by those same thieving, soulless corporations!