FSA: Customer complaints 'must be dealt with'
28 April 2010 at 16:37
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned financial organisations, and banks in particular, that customer complaints must be dealt with well and quickly.
Dan Waters, the FSA's director of conduct risk, said that a culture of fair complaint handling is an "important indicator" of whether it is committed to treating its customers fairly.
It comes after the regulator issued a review into five banks' handling of customer complaints and found that there were several weaknesses in each organisation's process.
"While we found some good practice, there is clearly evidence of unacceptable standards of complaints handling in banks. Delivering change in this area is a major priority, and we are determined to use all the tools available to us" he explained.
Mr Waters added that it is "vital" that customers know that if something goes wrong, their complaint will be dealt with in a "reasonable way" and that they will get a fair outcome.