That's what the Swedish government is trying to achieve with a new legislative proposal.
"Our goal is for consumers to experience much smoother interactions with company customer services than they do today," Public Administration Minister Erik Slottner told a press conference.
There are already rules in place for companies operating customer services. For one, there are requirements regarding the visibility of contact information, as well as promptness – meaning they must respond within a reasonable timeframe. What is lacking, however, is the ability to impose sanctions.
"We are now going to tighten the requirements on companies' customer services," said Slottner. "Courts will, to a greater extent, be able to issue conditional fines to companies that fail to meet the requirements for accessible customer support. "If customer services do not become more efficient and customer-focused, there is a high risk that customers will be kept trapped in contracts they actually want to cancel, he believes.
According to Slottner, there is a vast number of unreported cases regarding company shortcomings, making it difficult to keep statistics on the matter. While it is possible to report faults in goods and services to the Swedish Consumer Agency and the National Board for Consumer Disputes, it is not possible to report deficiencies in the customer service itself, he explains.
"Therefore, we don't have much knowledge today about how big the problem is, apart from the supervision reports that the Consumer Agency has produced."
The proposals in a draft referral now submitted to the Council on Legislation – which scrutinises bills before they go before parliament to ensure they are in line with the Swedish constitution and existing legislation – are based on an investigation carried out by the Consumer Agency and apply to sectors including retail, hotels and restaurants, construction and trade services, and personal services such as hairdressers and beauty salons.
The Consumer Ombudsman would monitor compliance with the rules and be able to take action against non-compliant companies and report them to court. If the company does not comply with the directive, it would face a conditional fine, meaning a demand for improvements. Ultimately, fines and injunctions would be decided by the Patent and Market Court, under the government's proposal.
A typical fine for a non-compliant company could range from one to two million kronor. However, the amount would be determined based on the company's size and financial circumstances, and would be of a scale that acts as a deterrent.
The new law, if approved in parliament, is proposed to enter into force on March 1st, 2027.