When one is a complainant

Walk a mile in someone's shoes? Whenever I dealt with a complaint (and that is many times) in my career, I always asked the solicitor complained about whether they had themselves ever been a client as the answer was usually instructive. It is better still to be a complainant oneself.

My bank recently sent me some poorly focused AML questions - which I was very much looking forward to parsing - with its very own data breach - cut and paste of another customer's details. Top Trumps. I told the breacher that she wasn't treating me fairly as a bank customer and would she refer me to her complaints team. Oh no, she said, she was treating me fairly as 'we take your data *very* seriously'. Perhaps mine but not the other client's?

The complaints team sent me a text (no-reply@ of course) saying they were looking in to it, then an email saying that £100 was now in my bank account. All very prompt and apologetic. But no time was spent asking me about why I was complaining and the main issue for me (had my details been cut and pasted elsewhere) was not addressed. An object lesson in spending a little more time and ensuring true satisfaction. I couldn't help smiling wryly that my regulators have much higher standards than everyone else's. Name of Bank to remain anonymous as they did try (and have been my bankers since I was 13).