Product Recall is a serious issue companies are often struggling with. Latest figures by the European Commission show that the amount of product recalls hast increased over the last years, meaning more and more companies have to face serious threat to existence. TeleForwarding talked to Jeroen Spanbroek from the company Marsh Risk Consulting about product recall prevention.
The RAPEX, the Rapid Alert Exchange organization by the European Commission records the European Union's product recalls of non-food products in a central database. Alarmingly, the number of product recalls has constantly increased over the last years: in 2003 the amount of recalls was 139, in 2010 it was 2,244, meaning today it is 16 times higher than 7 years ago. The countries notifying recalls most frequently are Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary, each of them counts up to 10% of all notifications of product recall. Products that are recalled most belong to the categories clothing/textile, toys and electrical appliances.
Be prepared
TeleForwarding talked to Jeroen Spanbroek, Practice Leader at the company Marsh Risk Consulting – specialist in risk management. The threat of product recall and the right preparation for it have been discussed.
According to Spanbroek, companies should be fully prepared for the case of product recall because as soon as it captures, significant financial losses can be the result. 'Research shows that there are two sorts of companies: recoveres and non-recoverers. It is seen more and more that companies that are not well prepared take longer to recover from a product recall. Consumer claims, damages to the company's reputation and damages to the product's image can be significant – serious problems which can lead to a negative financial impact for companies', says Spanbroek. In order to guarantee the continuity of the business, the specialist in risk management advises preparation. Besides financial coverage, adequate insurance and an action plan for the emergency case, Spanbroek recommends: 'No matter the size of the company, priority should be given to full honesty and openness in communication to the client. Transparency, loyalty and easy accessibility for the client are very important to retain the company's image. The customer needs to feel well cared of.' The Liability Practice Leader supports TeleForwarding's idea that in some cases a toll-free number is needed so that the consumers can contact the company in a simple and customer-friendly way. Especially when it comes to an international product recall, meaning the product to be recalled has been sold in several countries, Spanbroek likes the idea of international toll free numbers. 'I definitely agree that a global contact number can be of great help for international operating companies. When it comes to product recall, transparency in communication is indispensable.' A 0800 or 00800 number guarantees that.
Global Contact Numbers
There are two sorts of international toll free numbers: the so called ITFN (0800) and UIFN (00800). While ITFN (International Toll Free Number) is a country specific service number that can be called for free from the country it has been established in, UIFN (Universal International Freephone Number) is one universal number that can be called for free from all the countries it has been activated in. The latter is getting more and more popular among international operating companies as it is one international number that unifies the incoming telephone calls.
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About TeleForwarding
TeleForwarding is a reseller of telecommunication solutions offering international phone service numbers and supporting facilities. Due to cooperation with worldwide experts in the telecommunication sector, the company guarantees reliable and high quality telephone connections.
About Marsh
Marsh, the world's leading insurance broker and risk adviser, has over 24,000 employees and provides advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Marsh provides thought leadership and innovation for clients and the insurance industry – introducing and promoting the concept and practice of client representation through brokerage, the discipline of risk management, the globalization of insurance and risk management services and many other innovative tools and service platforms.
Media Contact:
Anniek van Engelenburg
Tel. 0211 9350467
vanengelenburg@teleforwarding.com