Consumer Vulnerability Research Paper

Vulnerability is not affiliated with the state of a consumer. It can be caused or forced by the actions or processes of firms. The consequences of vulnerability are strong and many people are trying to cope with challenging situations and narrow resources, energy and time. Stress can affect state of mind and the ability to manage effectively. In such conditions, being confronted by a complex telephone menu system that contributes no preference of talking to a person; a ‘computer says no’ response; a call handler without time or inclination to listen, or a system that fails to record what may be distressing statuses and forces the customer to replication themselves at every point of contact, can all create a spiral of stress and difficulty,

For an example, • Physical disability:
Physical disability is one of the factors that cause severe vulnerability within a consumer. For an example, a customer awaiting surgery for cancer was expected to make a full recovery, but would miss work for three months because of the surgery. Holding a current account, overdraft and unsecured loan with the same bank and anticipating a problem meeting repayments during this period, the customer contacted the bank to discuss options to manage the temporary loss of income. The bank refused to consider any options as no payments had yet been missed and told her to call back when in arrears.
• Severe illness:
Severe or Long term illness is another sort of consumer vulnerability which can be observed at any age and point of a consumer’s lifecycle. For an example, a registered blind person was asked to go into his branch with photographic identification to withdraw funds from his account as his card had been blocked following fraud on his account. He didn’t possess a driving license or passport, and was told by the bank that his blind person’s bus pass with a photo on it was not adequate. He was unable to obtain money from his account while awaiting new

For an example, • Physical disability:
Physical disability is one of the factors that cause severe vulnerability within a consumer. For an example, a customer awaiting surgery for cancer was expected to make a full recovery, but would miss work for three months because of the surgery. Holding a current account, overdraft and unsecured loan with the same bank and anticipating a problem meeting repayments during this period, the customer contacted the bank to discuss options to manage the temporary loss of income. The bank refused to consider any options as no payments had yet been missed and told her to call back when in arrears.
• Severe illness:
Severe or Long term illness is another sort of consumer vulnerability which can be observed at any age and point of a consumer’s lifecycle. For an example, a registered blind person was asked to go into his branch with photographic identification to withdraw funds from his account as his card had been blocked following fraud on his account. He didn’t possess a driving license or passport, and was told by the bank that his blind person’s bus pass with a photo on it was not adequate. He was unable to obtain money from his account while awaiting new