SOCAP in Europe

SOCAPiE is Europe’s oldest and foremost professional body for customer service and consumer affairs, formed in 1986. We are a not for profit membership organisation for customer service professionals throughout Europe, run by and for our members.

We promote the exchange of ideas, expertise and opinions within the customer service and consumer affairs industries and amongst academics, opinion formers and governments; and we develop and encourage a higher professional profile for those working in customer service and consumer affairs.

We do this by dialogue and engagement with our various stakeholders and providing products and services to help organisations achieve world-class service delivery.

Latest news

Is this the UK's top complaints job?

Website logo

How about this for a job title Complaints Manager - House of Commons.

The role really does exist and is currently being advertised. It is a three year fixed term contract role.

If you are interested or just curious, check out the job advert.

Announcement of the role has got the media interested. Read what the Evening Standard has to say.

Bypassing the Call Answering Mechanism

A new website that claims to help customers bypass the call handling route being promoted by an organisation and provide direct contact with someone who can help is receiving publicity.

The Daily Mail under the headline 'Sick of wasting ages on automated phone calls?' has an extensive article. The Times also reports the new website.

This may be useful if you are a consumer. It may have operational or financial implications for an organisation. To start with, we recommend that an organisation should check how the site is portraying access to its services.

Is your organisation's service up to standard?

Survey

A simple question - and now SOCAPiE offers an easy way to find the answer.

Launching a new service for customers

111 logo

Are there lessons that all organisations can learn from the difficulties encountered in the recent launch of the 111 service?

We've read stories of:

If you use the NHS website to find details of a service near you, a warning at the top of the screen, about how distances are calculated (in a straight line), can easily be missed. For example a hospital is shown as 12.86 miles from a home. By road, it is over 17 miles. The direct route goes over the sea!

And now (May 1st) NHS chiefs say 'the service is in a fragile state in a number of areas ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend'.

The latest advice (May 22nd) is to email your GP.

The great consumer fightback

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The internet is forcing firms to listen to consumer complaints. Holding on in a queue of 'calls that are really important' or wondering if a letter or email is ever going to get a response could be consigned to the history book.

Increasing use of social networking sites is changing the face of consumer complaints.

To read more, including an updated checklist of how to complain, read Jessica Winch's article in the Daily Telegraph.

Abandoned and silent calls

The latest organisation to be fined by Ofcom for repeatedly making abandoned or silent calls is TalkTalk - the bill was £750,000. 9,000 calls in just two months!

Read a full report from Ofcom.

Read how a national newspaper reported the fine.

Regenerating UK High Streets

Dream high street

Boots, JD Wetherspoon, Lloyds and Marks & Spencer are among the leading retailers which have backed a drive to regenerate Britain's embattled high streets. The Daily Telegraph reports a new initiative.

Read the full article.

Creative service in the North-West