Gov’t launches Customer Service Care Centre for BVI
Government has launched its Customer Service Care Centre which is aimed at enhancing the customer service relationship between government and its clients.
The Office of the Deputy Governor said in a media release that the new initiative will be utilising customer service specialists who will serve as the only point of contact for the public to communicate with government.
“The Customer Service Care Centre is intended to provide different channels for the government to address what is happening throughout the territory by public indication; facilitate the booking of appointments for the ministries and departments that are open for business; provide updates and share information on the government’s Facebook page,” the release stated.
“Officers will document and report incidents or issues to be addressed and provide responses to frequently asked questions when members of the public reach out by phone, email, live chat, website forms or social media.”
To provide the public with an elite service
Deputy Governor David Archer, Jr said the centre will provide the public with an elite service during and after the COVID-19 period.
“Persons can dial 468-3701 and be helped with appointments, receive answers and questions about services, and [it’s] a way by which we can answer to all the calls and concerns to the public service at this particular time,” stated Archer in a subsequent statement.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Deputy Governor Sharleen DaBreo-Lettsome said she believes the centre will provide the public with the level of efficiency desired for in the past.
She along with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation, Works & Utilities Ronald Smith-Berkeley called for public officers to take pride in improving the service standard of government which will contribute significantly to the BVI’s development.
The initiative is a joint venture between the Office of the Deputy Governor and the Ministry of Transportation, Works & Utilities, and is expected to soon facilitate online payment of services in a consolidated manner.
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Phoned it all morning and it rang out
Keeps ringing out
I CALLED THIS MORNING BEFORE READING THIS AND WAS VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED HOW THE PHONE WAS ANSWERED. I COMPLIMENTED THE YOUNG LADY. SORRY FORGOT TO ASK FOR HER NAME.
Her name is Laura she stated her name when she answered the phone. I was also very surprised when I heard her answer the phone. Her customer service was AMAZING. I give her five stars, a rare sound you hear over the switch board.
Undoubtedly, the public sector is the multi-fuel engine that drives the territory. Government is truly needed now. Nevertheless, the level of customer service provided by sections of the public sector is horrible.
Sometimes you go into some offices and like you are invisible, especially if they are yapping on the phone. And when you do get their attention, often times they cannot answer simple questions. And if the person responsible for a function is out of office, then all bets are off; you got to wait for that person to return. Calling on the phone is another nerve racking experience; you get transfer from one office to another and back to the starting office.
Punctuality is not a priority and there is no respect for customers time. Customers have to spend unnecessary hours running around trying to get their needs satisfied. To be fair, some civil servants go all out to deliver high level quality customer services but too many deliver poor service. But all the blame should not be dumped on subordinates, for every employee has a supervisor. As the saying goes don’t expect what you don’t inspect.
All departments, statutory bodies….etc should be inspected/audited at least every 3 years. Some services may need to have unannounced audits. Similarly, what gets recognized and rewarded gets repeated. Recognized workers for above and beyond performance. Coach and counsel employees with performance issues and part ways with those who are not responding to either.
It is an open secret that the civil service is bloated; it is operating like a pre-technology entity. Yes, I understand the dignity of work, that government is a major employer, that people need to feed their families, that restructuring the civil service is political (we are political animals)………etc but when will the bloat be addressed? There are ways to reduce the force without sudden or dramatic vertical cuts. Does anyone has the stones to take the bold steps.
I’m sure Barbadian PM Mia Mottley and leader of CARICOM would be glad to share how Barbados did it. Yes, I know that the VI is facing a peril, a perfect storm, ie, Coronavirus pandemic, tanking economy and an approaching hurricane season so this would be a bad time to unnecessarily layoff anyone but civil service restructuring must be on the short-term TDL.
One of the most frustrating experiences is to call from overseas to a government office to get information or get a question answered. Showing up in person is not too much better. Even Job, the central figure in the book of Job in the Bible, would have lose his cool with customer service in the BVI.
By the way, why does conducting business at a bank take so damn long. The simplest transaction seem to take an eternity. Can the bank mangers take a look at their level of service and the high level of customer dissatisfaction. At some businesses, you get hog up. The BVI needs to embark on a national level of customer service retraining. In case it has forgotten, it has a service economy.
Say ditto to what Diaspora and VI Stateside said.
What I have found is too often customer service is not viewed as an important training. Employees must be trained and monitored there after to ensure the training sticks. Additionally too often in Government persons with bad, poor or nasty attitudes are allowed to be unchecked. This creates a workforce of nepotism for some and distrust for others.