WASHINGTON–The Consumer Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association have told the CFPB they oppose proposed changes to the agency’s current complaint intake form.
Credit union trade groups in their own comment letters have raised similar concerns.
The groups are responding to a proposal made in August by the CFPB to add a survey that consumers may choose to respond to, providing their feedback on the company’s response to their complaint. Under the proposal, consumers would be able to opt-in and provide their feedback publicly, much the way they can with their complaint narrative. According to the CFPB, the proposed survey would replace the existing “dispute” function that currently allows consumers to indicate their dissatisfaction with a company’s response. Instead, a consumer will have the option to score the company’s response from 1 to 5 and provide a narrative description of the rationale for the number he or she selected.
The CBA and the ABA told the CFPB they believe consumers will not benefit from a highly subjective rating system, suggesting it is subjective in two ways: The pool of customers who take the time to respond will likely be those who are most dissatisfied with the company’s handling of their complaint, and that those who submit a complaint are dissatisfied already with the company.
The two banker trade groups argued it is unlikely a company’s response will meaningfully alter their opinion of the company or improve the customer’s perception from the circumstances contributing to the complaint. As a result, any additional feedback the consumer provides likely will be based on the underlying complaint, and not on the company’s efforts to resolve that complaint, their comment letters suggest.