Consumer Watchdog Slams Card Companies for Poor Customer Service

An undercover investigation by consumer watchdog Which? has exposed  a woefully poor record of customer service from some of the leading credit card providers in the UK.

(Source: which.co.uk/news, January 23 2011).

During the investigation ‘Mystery shoppers’ from Which? phoned the 12 biggest credit card providers to enquire about making a claim for goods bought using a credit card.  Out of a total of 120 calls, only one provided the correct information on money limits for claiming under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Only 10 out of 120 advisers even mentioned Section 75 of the consumer Credit Act by name, and 71 of the 120 calls failed to give useful and correct advice on making a claim.

For example, an adviser at Lloyds TSB told the researcher to contact the Ministry of Justice, Barclaycard recommended contacting the local authority, and NatWest said they should pursue a claim for an undelivered sofa through ATOL – the insurance sheme  for holiday-makers!

Worst performers in the Which? test were Tesco and Nationwide, who failed to come up to scratch on every single call.  HSBC staff were described as ‘particularly unhelpful’.

Best performers in the investigations were MBNA staff, who passed the Which? Test in 7 out of 10 calls, and were described as the ‘best of a very bad bunch’.

Which? Chief Executive, Peter Vicary-Smith says: 'It’s not as if the rules on credit card claims are complicated. This situation is unacceptable - companies must accept that advice really matters. Consumers are potentially missing out on money they’re owed because they’ve been misinformed. The industry must know the rules, and it shouldn’t be up to the consumer to remind them of their rights.'

Which? says it will be writing to each of the 12 credit card providers they investigated to suggest ways they can improve the information they give out to consumers.