Devil's Advocate: CRM - when the customer is always wrong?

You'd think the idea of customer relationship management is a simple one, one that companies couldn't help but follow through on. Not so, finds Martin Brampton. But is there something more sinister going on?

The idea of customer relationship management stemmed from the realisation that businesses need to look after their customers. Obvious, you might say. Yet the sad fact is that many businesses think of CRM as exactly the opposite.

Originally, questions were asked about understanding customers and determining products or services in relation to customer expectations. By making the customer the focus of thinking about a business, new opportunities would become apparent. Some businesses have taken the idea to heart with excellent results. Others have taken it seriously only when customers started to leave.

But all too often, CRM means finding cheaper ways to ignore the wrath of customers who are not getting what they want. Departments with sympathetic sounding names are created to persuade customers that they are wrong and that the company's offerings are always right. Genuine feedback is avoided, as the customer-facing departments often have no interface to the main business.

Lately, I've been suffering this treatment. Some weeks ago, the credit card arm of one of the best known high street banks mislaid my payment. The delay pushed the payment beyond the due date, so a charge was levied. Naturally, I objected to this and the quickest way to a resolution seemed to be to phone an 0870 number and speak to customer services. Instead of accepting the blame on behalf of the bank, the call centre operator said I must complain to the internet.

That was puzzling. What is the phone number for internet complaints? Then she explained that she meant the bank that provides my internet banking was at fault. It seemed unlikely but I had to contact my own bank before I could say much more. They confirmed that nothing in their system would have delayed the payment. So I wrote to the credit card company to say that if they were losing payments, they should own up to it.

While writing, I took the opportunity to grumble about the scam that is 0870 numbers. When they were introduced, they were called 'national rate' and cost the same as long distance calls. Since then, the phone market has changed enormously. Nowadays, most people get their long distance calls at a substantial discount, whereas 0870 numbers have become, if anything, more expensive. And much of the reason for this is that a chunk of the call charge goes straight to the company at the other end.

This led to a frustrating series of exchanges with people who insisted that an 0870 number was chosen purely for customers' convenience and asserted that the bank received nothing. They repeatedly wondered how they could resolve my complaint. I consistently replied that an honest answer on 0870 numbers would go a long way.

After several letters in this vein, I was referred to a customer care department, evidently one step up from mere customer service. The writer assured me of his concern for my case and his inconsolable grief at the bank's inability to provide any satisfaction. He insisted that there was nothing he could add on the arcane subject of 0870 numbers.

So I sent him a table of BT call charges and an example of the advertising of 0870 numbers that assures companies they can receive 2.5 pence per minute from callers. The tone of the next letter was quite different. The solicitousness had gone and instead I was curtly informed that the bank's telephone systems were a matter for its own commercial judgement.

My reply to that letter offered a summary of the position. The bank is taking money from people who phone its customer support lines, relying on public ignorance of call charges. Its customer service staff are happy to make false claims on the matter without taking the slightest trouble to check the facts. When customer service staff are made aware of the facts, they have no discernible influence over the business. Curiously, I am still waiting for a reply.

In short, this is not CRM as it should be. Not by a long way.