Wednesday 14 September 2022: Call Centres

Wednesday 14 September 2022: Call Centres

1. What are your thoughts and expectations of a contact centre?

• Is there anything in particular that annoys or frustrates you about contact centres?
• When it comes to contact centre wait times, would you say you are more, the same or less patient than before the pandemic?

2. Imagine you called an Affinity Water contact centre:

• What would you say is a reasonable time to wait to get through to the right person, and why?
• What kind of service would you want to receive from the call agents? How would you define the ‘ideal experience’?
• Is there anything you feel you should be able to do online rather than having to call Affinity Water?

From my experience, I like it best when I am directed to the most appropriate method for contacting an organisation about my issue or concern:

1. telephone conversation;

2. online chat - which can be cumbersome, but has the merit of being able to save the text for reference;

3. online message application - which I dislike because the character limit is usually far too small, and the has the same disadvantages as e-mail without the advantages;

4. e-mail - which is best because it permits me to write precisely what it is that I wish, but has the disadvantages that I might not be sure that the e-mail was even received or read, and might never be acted on because of being asynchronous (whereas telephone conversations and online chat are in real-time).

Simple reporting, say regarding a water meter reading, is best handled by an application on the website.

If I telephone, then I prefer to speak directly with a call handler, and dislike having to navigate through multiple levels of branching in order to arrive at the correct (or incorrect) departmental call centre. 

I dislike being passed between different call handlers, although I also appreciate that my issue may be most competently dealt with a person who actually knows what they are talking about, rather than a call handler who knows nothing or who might as well be a robot. I am willing to wait for the right person to become available, but it is important for me to know roughly how long I shall be required to wait. I prefer it when the original call handler breaks into my waiting to tell me that the right person is still busy but knows that I am waiting. Ten minutes would be fine, half an hour would not be okay.

I like it best when the call handler takes their time and is obviously making notes about my issue or concern on a computer record. I like it when my issue can be dealt with during the space of one telephone conversation, although I appreciate that many issues require much more than that - such as further information, or decisions being made by other departments. I also like it when the call handler instructs me what I should do if what they have explained ought to happen doesn't actually happen.

I am not bothered about the call handler's name, because I know that I am extremely unlikely to speak with the same call handler twice. I greatly prefer the call handler to call me by my family name (Mr Hughes), and I dislike it when the call handler calls me by my given name (Peter), especially if they are easily young enough to be a great grandchild.

When my call is put on hold, I prefer to listen to some 'classical' music rather than silence, but this must be punctuated with an indication that the call remains live - such as the call handler occasionally breaking into the music (or silence) to say that they are still dealing with my issue. I hate it when, after half an hour of nothing I have to decide whether to end the call and start all over again. 

Have you ever had to contact customer services in any way (call/ email/ Twitter/ Instagram etc.)?

• If you have, please tell us about the experience, and how you think it could have been improved.
• What would you change to make Affinity Water’s overall customer service experience better?

I have been in contact with Affinity Water's customer services by telephone and by e-mail. I do not use social media.

As I recall, my experience was straightforward. I liked the fact that I received an automatic acknowledgement that my e-mail had been received. I was less enthusiastic about the length of time suggested before a response was likely to be forthcoming. Improvement? Speed up.

1. How likely are you to check Affinity Water’s website to find solutions before calling?

• Are there any topics where you prefer talking to a call agent rather than going online? If so, when and why?

2. What about if you reached out to Affinity Water via email/Twitter/Instagram:

• What kind of service would you want to receive? How would you describe the ‘ideal experience’?

3. Are there any key differences between your expectations for the contact centre vs email or other forms of communication? If yes, please tell us why!

It is my practice to scour a website before picking up a telephone. Partly, I need to know if the company concerned already recognises the kind of issue that is concerning me; partly I need to find out if there are already solutions to the issue; partly, if possible, I need to know if the company has a preferred route to engaging with my experience of the problem.

Every time I raise a problem with a call-handler it feels like my issue may be too complex for them to address, and I typically spend time and effort trying to get them on my side sufficiently to listen to my actual needs rather than simply than a clichéd, generalised need.

As I do not use social media, and do not have a smartphone, there is no possibility of me communicating using a smartphone application  I have already explained about my use of e-mail.

I should prefer to use videoconferencing. 

Imagine you contact Affinity Water and tell them about an issue you are having. How long would you expect to wait for the below issues to be resolved?

In each response below, please give us a sense of A) what you think a fair wait is before Affinity start working on the issue, and B) why you think this is a fair wait period…

1. A billing issue or query
2. A problem with low pressure
3. A leak in your property
4. A leak further down your street

My response to each of the examples is the same: Affinity Water should have a responsibility to begin addressing the issue, in whatever way is appropriate, immediately. This does not mean that the issues are of equal urgency: for example, a major leak (wherever) should be stopped as soon as possible. However, I see no reason why delay should be tolerated. More importantly, there should be a target time for resolution of the issue. A billing issue should be resolved within a fortnight. Low water pressure, if proving disruptive, should be resolved within 48 hours. Minor leaks (losing little water, and causing no damage) should be resolved within a fortnight, whereas major leaks should be resolved within 36 hours.