"Oh no, you need Sales for that, we're Customer Services"

You probably guessed most of this from the title. Except it's about a UK insurance company with a fantastic reputation in a competitive and profitable niche ...

I call to change the starting date on an insurance policy. I talk to the Customer Services team (I'm skipping the part about how it took seven minutes for my call to be answered). I am told I will need to cancel the policy and start a new one - OK, not ideal, but no problem, until I learn that Customer Services can only do the cancellation part; "No, we can't set up a new policy for you, you have to talk to Sales for that".

Where to begin with this ... well:

1. You could at least have offered to put me through to the other department
2. You could have recognised that this was possibly a bit of a pain for me, and therefore it was a distinct possibility that I just might not do it
3. This is a competitive marketplace - why don't you behave as if you know that?
4. How come we are still dealing with companies organised around the needs of the operation, rather than the needs of the customer?

It's amazing, and pretty sad to witness a corporate mentality that seems not to recognise the link between service and sales