Brazilian decree aims to improve customer service

BRASILIA, July 31 (Reuters) - Brazilians are so incensed with business and government call centers that provide shoddy customer service that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued a decree on Thursday obliging them to fix customers' problems or pay a fine.

The number of complaints about call centers in Latin America's largest economy has risen sharply in recent years, consumer groups and the government said.

Customers wanting to fix their phone line or close a bank account are often placed on hold for extended periods of time or are repeatedly transferred from one department to another and their problems are never addressed.

Utilities, banks and some government agencies give customers the run-around for days or weeks to avoid losing revenue, experts say.

Under the new decree, call centers can only transfer a call once, cannot make a customer wait more than 2 minutes and must provide a confirmation number for every call.

If a client wants a service canceled, the business or agency must oblige immediately.

Fines will vary from 201 reais ($128) to 3 million reais

($1.92 million).