I have had numerous complaints from residents about the length of time that Ugu call centre takes to answer the phone.
Every time that I have to phone them, I have experienced the same thing.
When one considers that many of the Ugu customers will phone them on the 0800 number and that Ugu has to pay for these calls, would it not be more cost effective for Ugu to employ extra staff members to actually answer the phone.
I cannot guestimate what Ugu’s Telkom bill is per month just from the 0800 number but it must run to tens of thousands of rand.
I imagine that is an underestimation. That money could be better spent on employing competent staff.
Can you imagine the hours of productivity that are lost each and every day by customers sitting on the phone to Ugu, sometimes literally for hours?
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This week I had to contact Ugu and held on for 50 minutes and 49 seconds before the call was answered.
The consultant to whom I spoke advised that she could not assist me and that she would put me through to a colleague.
At 54 minutes the colleague came on the phone and when I asked him his name, the phone was disconnected and I had to start all over again.
Why are Ugu staff reluctant to give their names? This is unacceptable.
As I have to contact Ugu daily for my residents, I know that the above is the norm and not the exception.
Ugu, this is frustrating beyond words. If this was an isolated incident, it could be forgiven.
However, this is what our residents, throughout the district, are going through every day when they try to contact Ugu to get matters resolved or to request invoices etc.
Please Ugu, employ more staff to answer your phones so that your customers receive the level of service that they deserve.
It will most probably cost you less than the Telkom bill that you are paying for your 0800 number and you will have happier customers.
I also deal with some outstanding employees in the accounts department at Ugu and am very thankful for the professional assistance that I received from them, unfortunately this is not filtering down to all the staff members.
All the residents on the South Coast are suffering almost daily because of a lack of water delivery.
For them to also have to go through hours of sitting on a phone waiting for it to be answered by Ugu is unacceptable.
CLLR JOHN WILLIAMS
Umtentweni
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