I understand the frustration of every one these reviewers from this first snow event and will answer all these recent reviews from the last storm (the first 'big one' of the season) in a 'common response.
Every one of these reviews likely stems from the same issue:
A driveway not done for too long or quickly and/or 'lack of communication' from the office.
I will address both clearly and honestly below.
Of course after 25 yeas in business I cringe every time we get a poor review.
Not getting cleared in time: (affected 2 areas of 230 areas we service)
Firstly, we messed up on 2 of over 230 routes terribly and I fully own that and apologies for them being missed so late in the storm.
(Ive sent an open email to these areas apologizing as well yesterday and responded personally to at least 90% of emails received on this)
Okay, so here's where things got confused. At the last minute I rearranged some routes in order to get clients done faster and particularly on these 2 routes.
In our 'rush to get out clearing snow' these two Drivers did NOT receive these new Route Lists in there Tractors before heading out.
My mistake, myself and my office staff and Field Managers own this error and apologize for it. An expensive lesson learned for me and it won't happen again. It took quite a while to recognize these two routes weren't being addressed by a tractor.
Again, we apologies for the error.
Second issue: Communications
Almost all of the reviews come from 'first time customers' not used to using a snow service. That's fine as we sign up hundreds of new clients each fall and maybe this is an opportunity for education.
The last 6 weeks I have sent out countless emails to EVERY Metro customer new and old reminding them of the following communication policies:
1) We clearly state upfront and advise clients from the beginning 'we don't return phone calls during storms'. That quite simply is our policy.
Why?
Each storm our phones are 'jammed ' with new people trying to sign up just before and during a storm and as a result we can't always get back to our existing customers. This with over 15 Customer Service Reps there and a very expensive phone system in place.
Or
Frustrated newer clients call the office 5 or 10 times jamming up the phones and mailboxes with messages of 'when are you coming'.
( We DO sent you an Snow Alert Email before and during the storms advising timing AND the tractors even send you an alert when near you!)
No other company in Ottawa does these two things but Metro! Do people read them?
We would spend more time 'taking messages off' and never getting to the issues. It's like pressing the elevator button 10 times. Doesn't make it get there any faster.
2) We have an 'Email Service Issue Ticket" system that works very efficiently and promote and encourage people to use it. Once only!
By one reviewers own admission...."I did over 30 Service tickets'!...that's 29 other people that won't get addressed as we delete her other 29 Service tickets.
So...you Email us ONCE...your 'auto reply' says an email ticket has been created and sent to your Driver. He has it, he knows of it, your CSR person oversights it. No different then Apple, Bell and other larger companies do.
Every Snow Bulletin I send before each storm states......"Click the button below' if there's an issue....it takes you to a 'fast-form' to quickly send your address and issue. This works! Many just don't use it.
Lastly, I personally read and responded to I would guess about 80% of every email received on this issue within about an hour of receiving them. If I missed you I apologize. In cases some people just aren't satisfied until they are told 'what they want to hear', but we do reply and do our best.
Proper Perspective:
There's a reason Metro is the biggest company in Ottawa after 25 years doing residential snow: Reliability
Metro efficiently serviced well over 11,000 customers this first storm with very few complaints through 8 area offices.
We sign up 2000 'new' clients who have never used a Residential clearing service (usually 'just' before a storm) and 'don't know how it works and what to expect'. I get it, and I get the get and frustration that goes with being new. Education of new users is essential and I guess this takes time.
Of 11,000 clients I received about 20 plus 'bad reviews' which after the first storm of the year historically happens, usually from first time frustrated customers.
All this being did, I apologize again and will humbly refund any person who is not happy with their first time, first snow event experience.
I do however hope that most people reading this will keep things in relative perspective and yes, if you come to Metro better understand the methods of communication and 'complaint process' we used to quickly try to address concerns.
I hope this helps.
KEN Dale
President
Metro
Reply created 17 Dec 2017