Spotlight on customer service (East of England Liberal Democrats)

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Spotlight on customer service

February 2, 2012 11:18 AM
Originally published by Norwich Liberal Democrats Online

Is the customer contact system at City Hall fit for purpose?

That was the question discussed at this week's Full Council meeting. Cllr Caroline Ackroyd, Liberal Democrat Ward Member for Eaton, raised the issue after receiving a number of complaints from local residents trying to contact the Council. In one incident, a resident sent three emails to the customer contact centre and after receiving only an automated reply she then emailed the chief executive, but still did not receive a proper reply. Officers at City Hall said that the first email was directed to the wrong department whilst the next three were lost in the system.

The e-mail problems follow a wider performance report from December that shows performance in the contact centre has worsened, with only 41% of telephone calls being answered within the target time of 20 seconds and 1 in 5 customers unsatisfied with the service they receive.

Cllr Ackroyd commented:

"The Council needs to ensure that its contact centre is working effectively. If a resident contacts the Council by phone, e-mail, post or in person they should get a prompt and useful reply. It is hugely frustrating for council taxpayers when their inquiry is unanswered or moved from department to department. The Council has recently implemented a new customer contact system and I hope this improves performance."