So last night I was sitting watching the news and saw the Water and Sewerage Authority peeps making the rounds in neighbourhoods to enforce their water conservation programme in light of an apparent water shortage in the country. I thought to myself, wow...there is a job I would not like to have- walking around villages and towns to tell people to turn their hoses off and give them a $100 ticket, risking abuse and worse. But in any event, in typical Trini fashion, they have started off "hot and sweaty" with the thing.
As I was leaving my house this morning, I found the flow of water in the drain to be heavier than usual and as I drove up the street, there it was - a burst water main. I, being a good citizen (yes, I am) decided I would call the Authority and make a complaint, since you cannot be pushing water conservation on citizens, and telling me to shower in 3 minutes, while you have water leaking out of your mains across the country.
I got to their website and looked up the Hotline info and saw that the hotline was available from 6am - 10pm. Grumble grumble, cause I had very little confidence that anyone was actually going to be there to take my call at 6am. This is a public service authority and sadly, having worked in the public service, I know that customer service is not always the best, nor do employees respect time. Dial. 6.04am.
*ring ring* Generic message with American voice (please address this, WASA) comes on and tells me service attendants are all busy and asked me to be patient
Me: I wonder if this is a mamaguy to make people think they have all these calls, when in truth, the call centre is empty and will be empty until 8am.
But I am a positive thinker and I waited. Besides, it was toll free.
Two minutes later, at 6.06am, to my complete astonishment, a pleasant young lady took my call. I must say, I was surprised. I gave her the relevant information and she took mine. Very pleasant, very thorough. And at 6.06am - as communicated via their website. No mamaguy. Talk backed up by action. I loved it. With that tiny assurance, they have built my confidence in them just a little, and I can appreciate the effort made to ensure that they are doing what they are saying they will do. At least with the hotline.
Fifty percent down. The real test will come when I call home later this morning to see if anyone came to fix the burst main. But still, kudos WASA for getting the first part right.
EDIT: Just to be clear, this was the SOUTH office hotline. The North office rang and rang. You cannot win them all!
