“The customer care employee doesn't pick up!” is a common cry of complaint against public and private businesses. “Answering all calls is not necessary!” is the usual reply of officials and employees on the other end of the phone. The lack of proper communication leads to an untold number of transactions getting delayed. Al-Riyadh newspaper interviewed several people to find the cause of this problem and possibly even a solution. Lack of awareness Abeer Sulaiman has often waited at the end of a phone with his call unanswered. He believes that if an employee does not answer calls, it proves his irresponsibility and shows that he doesn't care about the transactions of service seekers. “I went to an agency to enquire about something and found that most of the staff were sitting idle and not working. When I asked them why they didn't answer my calls, they told me that they hadn't received any calls. You realize then that it's pointless to argue with them because they will keep on denying everything,” he said. Maha Al-Otaibi said she was annoyed by the phenomenon as well. “Some people live far away and cannot travel long distances to enquire about a transaction. However, sometimes these people are forced to do so because their calls are not answered.” Negligence Amal Zaid said: “Most officials spend their time having breakfast and coffee. Some of them go out for an errand and take too much time before coming back to the office.” She believes that many of these officials do not pick up the phone because they don't want to do any work. She feels that managers should monitor the work of their staff and remind them of their responsibilities. Chitchat and tea Huda Al-Haidar agrees that some employees prefer to drink tea and engage in chitchat. “This behavior reflects a low level of religiosity and a lack of awareness of the importance of time. We all suffer from the behavior of such officials and we have to leave our jobs to go to the department where the employee works to enquire in person when we could have done so over the phone.” Being busy on mobile Abdul Kareem Fahd says that some employees are busy on mobile phones or the Internet when they should be helping customers with their transactions. “Employees are paid for this job and they should perform their duties or leave the job for people who are better than them and who can answer the calls of service seekers.” Finally, Maha Al-Dakheel suggests that public and private departments should use modern technology and websites so clients can contact the department. “The contact section should be run by employees whose sole job is to respond to clients' enquiries.” Maha Al-Dakheel's suggestion could do wonders for these businesses, that is of course if somebody answered the phone to listen to Maha in the first place.
