In an attempt to cope with the harsh criticism of its services, Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT.B1) announced today that it is adding 450 customer service staff to its hotlines. Over recent months, the company’s service sunk to unacceptable levels, with thousands of customers complaining daily about service so poor, it can hardly be described in polite language.
The company announced that it will hire more than 450 customer service representatives over the summer - 200 already in July, and it is expected to invest more than NIS 25 million by the end of the year in improving the customer experience.
Hot CEO Ilan Zachi said today: “Improving service is at the top of the company’s agenda. To this end, we are taking a series of steps that the entire company is invested in. This is a process to which we are all committed - we will work to make the improvement felt already in the near future.”
Hot’s quality of service suffered a severe blow from the moment it was decided to outsource it. This holds true for both representatives and technical support, which were outsourced to a third-party company. The process reached its peak in the first half of the year, and it seems that it reached new lows, the likes of which had never before been known in the history of communications company-customer relations. Thousands of Hot customers have protested the service and, only now, after the Ministry of Communications levied a fine of NIS 1.3 million for deficient service and hours-long waits for representatives, it was decided to increase the number of representatives.
Hot’s service has had ups and downs for many years, and it can safely be said that service has never been the company’s strongest suit - this stems from financial considerations alone. The company’s service is characterized by the fact that the moment they want to improve profitability, they cut service, and then experience a wave of complaints, after which they again hire representatives, then see that the service has stabilized, and again lay off employees to improve their bottom line. We can only hope that, this time, in light of the waves of public protest, the service will stabilize and not deteriorate.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 7, 2014
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