ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK

’ S GROUNDBREAKING CUSTOMER SERVICE LAW

The Customer Service Law , passed in 2022 and set to come into effect in 2024 , aims to enhance the customer experience ( CX ) across all contact points , such as phone , chat and social . It requires businesses to provide immediate customer support , minimize hold times , reduce misrouting of calls , and ensure swift resolution of issues .

The Customer Service Law incorporates the provisions of the EU Directive 2013 / 11 / EU into Spanish legislation . It applies to all companies conducting business in Spain , regardless of the country in which they are established . Which means that if they have Spanish customers , regardless of where their enterprise is headquartered or contact center or agents are located , they must comply with it .

The central aspect of this legislation is businesses ' phone-based customer interactions . Businesses must ensure that 95 % of personalized attention requests are addressed within three minutes . Terminating a call due to long hold times is now strictly prohibited under this new regulation .

There are several other critical features of this new law . Companies are mandated to separate their customer service departments from other departments and provide them with sufficient means and human resources to execute their tasks .

In addition , companies are required to provide 24 / 7 customer service throughout the year . Customers also should have the right to speak to an operator who can respond in real time . The law also stipulates that customer service employees should have specific training in accordance with the sector and activity of the company .

ENFORCEMENT

The new Spanish law is expected to impact various sectors that may need to make significant investments to adapt to the new regime and comply with the new obligations , such as providing 24- hour customer service , which might lead to an increase in the cost of employees .

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