The UK Complaint Culture
Well, it's nothing short of fascinating to be involved in handling and investigating customer complaints against a couple of our AR firms! And just a tad depressing, if one previously entertained any optimistic views about human nature or the effectiveness of our beloved regulatory system.
Human Nature & The Complaint Culture
It's no great surprise that, with the onset of a fairly serious recession, certain types of client are on the lookout for someone to blame. Of course, when a financial institution is AA-rated on a Friday, and then bankrupt on the following Sunday, the poor intermediary is left wondering what on earth financial information is worth any more. These considerations don't however, deter the motivated complainer. He or she may have read about the collapse in property values every day in their newspaper, and perhaps heard about it every day on the Six O'Clock News, but if they didn't also hear it from their IFA then it's all your fault.
It's worth remembering that. Even if we don't particularly like keeping in touch with our clients, we must be complete idiots not to do so at the present time.
Recent, sad, experiences in handling complaints for our Members have reinforced the following lessons:
- there are 'Serial Complainers'. If you obtain a new client who has complained before, the chances are that, through a process of positive reinforcement, he's learned his lessons well. Perhaps this could be a new FactFind question: "Have you ever complained about financial advice before?" An affirmative answer should be an immediate disqualifier for your services.
- there are 'Retributive Complainers'. If pressed to pay an agreed invoice, following the completion of financial advice work, the client responds with the threat of reporting the IFA to the FOS. Nice, very nice.
- there are 'I Believe In Narnia Complainers'. The things that the IFA is supposed to have said (verbally) beggar belief. The fact that no sentient being with his CFP and a few years worth of experience could ever, possibly, have said those things - or, for that matter that said verbal claims contradict everything in the Suitability Report - makes not a blind bit of difference. In fact, the more fanciful the accusations, the more forcefully they are pressed home. These people know that the regulators are impressed by conviction.
- there are good old fashioned 'Opportunistic Complainers'. They have friends, who they talk to down the pub. They know that, regardless of the groundless nature of their complaint, the FOS is almost bound to award them a nominal sum for 'inconvenience and distress'. There's nothing personal in it. They don't hold any animosity towards the IFA - but this is free money, ok? And who knows, they might strike it lucky - on a hot, stressful afternoon, the Ombudsman may just be keen to close a case.
We'd all like to think that these people are few and far between. They are not. Traditional IFAs, who hold so much knowledge about their clients in their heads, who've dealt with folk so long that they've become 'family friends' never consider that they are at risk from complaints. Such well-meaning naivety forgets that financial stresses are enough to destroy marriages, so they are certainly enough to undermine your relationship with your clients.
So, if we're not inclined to do the right thing for our clients, let's do it for us. During horrendous financial conditions, let's keep in touch with them, provide informed comment about what's going on, proactively help them with guidance that might improve their circumstances if they only acted on it. |
