Help In 80 Minutes
Newcastle Herald
Monday April 30, 2001
ON the morning of Thursday, March 22, Peter Minehan phoned the NRMA to pay his car's comprehensive insurance premium.
He dialled 131144 and after being answered by a computer and pushing various buttons in response to the computer's questions he waited to talk to a human being.
A wonderful thing, technology.
Centrelink, for example, uses this technology to handle the inquiries of people who receive a government income. It's now 11am and I have dialled the inquiry line for pensions, 132300, four times and received a busy signal each time.
All big organisations have embraced the computerised switchboard to save, they assure us, time and to free us from the vagaries of a human switchboard operator.
Most urge us to pay our bills by phone, from the comfort of our home, as they say. No need to stand at a counter, and indeed often now there is no counter.
Technology working for us.
Ninth call to Centrelink's pension number, and it's still busy.
Twenty minutes after the computer answered his call Mr Minehan ended the call. He knew it was 20 minutes because the phone in his Merewether home gives a digital reading of the length of a call.
Mr Minehan then phoned the NRMA Insurance general inquiries line and asked to speak to the senior executive who signed a form letter that had accompanied the insurance renewal notice.
That executive is the chief general manager of NRMA Insurance's sales and marketing, Pierre Fenech. The relayed call was answered by the recorded voice of Mr Fenech's personal assistant, inviting the caller to leave name, telephone number and a brief message.
Mr Minehan did that. He expressed his unhappiness about being put on hold for 20 minutes.
But he had to pay his premium and he had to pay it that day, so at 8.55am he phoned 131144 again and was answered by the same computer and pressed the same buttons and sat down to wait.
Twenty minutes later he was still waiting to speak to a person. Forty minutes later he was still there, quite determined now. Sixty minutes later he was sick to death of the good news about NRMA products but there was no way he was going to admit defeat.
At precisely 80 minutes into the call, at 10.15am, Mark came on the line.
Call number 19 to Centrelink's pension line, still busy. I am hoping to compare Centrelink's waiting time with NRMA Insurance's, but first, of course, I need Centrelink's computer to answer the phone.
Anyway, Mark apologised, punched in the various numbers and Mr Minehan's car insurance premium was paid.
An amazing advance, isn't it, this technology!
But Mr Minehan, an environmental consultant, had lost one hour and 45 minutes from his working day, when the business of paying NRMA Insurance's bill should have taken no more than a few minutes.
So he sent his own bill to NRMA Insurance's Mr Fenech.
Mr Minehan related the detail of his experience in accepting NRMA's invitation to pay its bill by phone and informed Mr Fenech that his charge-out rate is $100 an hour plus GST.
So the accompanying invoice was for $192.50, covering that rate plus GST for one hour and 45 minutes.
Call number 27 and Centrelink's pension line is still busy.
NRMA Insurance's customer relations manager, Tara McClenahan, responded by letter to Mr Minehan's invoice, telling him that `NRMA Insurance prides itself on the efficient service we provide'.
But, `after careful consideration NRMA Insurance has respectfully declined your request for compensation'.
Mr Minehan is considering taking a statement of liquidated claim, the new small debt summons, against NRMA Insurance. The $60 cost of that statement would be added to his bill.
Things may have improved, though. When I phoned NRMA Insurance's 131144 I waited only 27 minutes and 33 seconds to talk to a person.
Then I phoned another major car insurer, AAMI, which kept me waiting only four minutes and 52 seconds.
I'd like to tell you how long Centrelink kept me waiting but that government agency has just declined my 43rd call.
An hour later, it's 4pm, and I've just made seven attempts to call Centrelink, making the number of calls over the day an even 50. Still busy.
Wonderful thing, technology.
© 2001 Newcastle Herald
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