The Corona virus causes trips and services to be cancelled, and many customer service lines are completely congested on account of the situation. Clear guidelines provided by companies will help consumers, thereby reducing queueing times in company customer services. Exceptional circumstances require a degree of restraint from consumers, and they should use other means of communication instead of the telephone.
Many customer service lines are completely congested due to the Corona virus. Some customer services have even been impossible to be accessed by the telephone.
The Consumer Ombudsman reminds companies of the fact that, in exceptional circumstances, consumers must also be offered a channel through which they can conduct their business with companies. It would therefore be a good idea for companies to provide as clear guidance as possible for their communication channels on how the companies would like to see their customers to act in order to provide the best possible customer service.
Since telephones are not the best channel at the moment for transacting business, companies should pay attention to the guidelines that they provide for their websites and social media channels. You can also reassure the customer that they will receive an automatic reply to their email messages. Being aware that the matter is pending will ease the mind of the customer.
Do this when contacting customer service
An exceptional situation also requires restraint from consumers. Companies should only be contacted by telephone if the matter is urgent or otherwise impossible to handle otherwise. Businesses can normally be approached by e-mail or online forms, for example. Before contacting a company, the consumer should follow the communication channels of their own service providers and those of the various authorities.
Furthermore, not every matter needs to be immediately clarified. If the matter is not urgent, the consumer should wait in peace. Many matters can be resolved afterwards.
Complaints about service deficiencies must be filed within a reasonable time and, preferably, always in writing. Complaint Assistant, available on the Consumer Advisory Services website, helps consumers to draw up a written complaint.