Fewer Customers Complaining
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 3:56 PM
For the first time in four years, the number of customer complaints we received dropped from year to year.
Fewer customer complaints were logged in fiscal year 2008 compared to the previous year.
That's good news for the hard-working folks in operations who are trying hard to offer reliable and courteous service. In FY08, we logged 23,162 complaints compared to 24,361 complaints in FY07. That's a 4.9 percent decrease.
METRO's fiscal year starts Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30.
The complaints logged included issues about reliability of buses and rail, crowded vehicles or enforcement of HOV lanes.
Our biggest decline in complaints occurred from April to September, when complaints dropped by about 19 percent compared to the same period, previous year.
"We are ecstatic that the joint efforts between management and the operators have resulted in such a significant drop in complaints in the last two quarters of FY2008," said Tangee Mobley, senior director of transportation.
And our bus operators also received high marks.
Among operator-related complaints, the largest decrease was complaints about rude bus drivers. Complaints about discourteous operators declined by 25 percent in FY08, compared to the year before.
Complaints about driver safety also dipped by 13 percent; and complaints about the behavior of operators fell by almost 14 percent.
Those bus operators who did not have any verified customer complaints against them were rewarded for their spotless records last fiscal year. The operations department launched its Top Customer Service Ambassador program, honoring these top-performing drivers.
"We believe that the combination of incentive packages that we gave to our top customer service ambassadors, coupled with looking at operators who received a high number of complaints, has really netted a behavior change that can only benefit our riding customers," said Mobley.