Opinion – Maria Inês Dolci: Adverse scenario in customer service

It is very positive that suppliers want to know the consumer’s opinion about products purchased and services provided. It opens the possibility for critical or complimentary manifestations, which can contribute to improving the quality of care. But there should be common sense not to bombard people with excessive searches, as well as requests for notes to the attendants and the website.

Perhaps this excess can be avoided with a simpler form of customer consultation. For example, asking you to speak up if you are not satisfied or have unmet demands. It is always worth improving service channels, linking them to quality management.

I also suggest that marketing emails should not be used to harass the consumer. For example, as in the subtle nothingness “we miss you”. Or even worse, pulling the ear of “missing”, a term used for a customer who hasn’t purchased in a few weeks. A good control, moreover, would avoid contact to offer products to those who have just made an in-person or virtual purchase.

Likewise, it is very unpleasant to receive a call offering an asset as expensive as a property, because our registration data has been sold and bought. And the use of chatbots (service robots) that simulate being human attendants has become irritating.

I confess that I did not expect that a decree to update the SAC would improve this scenario much. After all, the defense of consumer rights, in recent years, has taken a back seat to the interests of the market and suppliers. But Decree 11,034/2022, which appeared unilaterally and by surprise, not only did not improve the 2008 SAC Law. As experts pointed out, it represents a setback.

It was a disappointment! The chance to adjust the customer service to the new technologies and Brazilian demands (with more humanization) was lost. Decrees lose their effectiveness from the beginning if they are not converted into law within 60 days of their publication. Will it happen?

The proposal seems far from what we needed: to guarantee easy access to the company to present demands, with a prompt solution, for loyalty based on good service! I don’t see the decree indicating the quality criterion to be adopted. It did not innovate or solve old pending issues. In other words, we’re not moving forward!