Published Jan 2005.
Whangarei, Jan 10 – Northland’s largest taxi company is bringing its call centre back to Whangarei after customers were dissatisfied with an Auckland centre’s “poor service”.
In 2000, Kiwi Cabs employed the Auckland Co-op Taxis call centre to dispatch Whangarei taxis. However, Kiwi Cabs is reopening its Whangarei call centre after complaints about the Auckland service.
Kiwi Cabs manager Fraser Cann said customers had complained that call takers lacked local knowledge and took too long to answer the phone.
Some customers had stopped using Kiwi Cabs due to the “poor service”, such as call centres failing to give priority to booked taxis and getting mixed up with street names such as Kaiwaka Road in Onerahi and Kauika Road in Maunu.
Taxi drivers were also getting instructions for Tauranga pickups or given Auckland destinations, such as “downtown” Bank of New Zealand.
The company had initially moved the call centre to Auckland to take advantage of Auckland Co-op Taxi call centre’s GPS technology, which tracks taxis via satellite.
However, dispatching Whangarei taxis from Auckland had proved too difficult.
“Centralising is a bad idea. You lose touch with the local area and activities — it all comes down to service,” Mr Cann said.
Auckland Co-op Taxis could not be reached for comment.
