Tenancy Services introduced their much-published new way of handling Tenancy Tribunal applications this Monday the 19th June.
Too bad someone in power forgot to calculate how many applications per day they normally receive. Property Managers all round the country have been up in arms about the hopeless service. Tenancy Services have directed that there are only three ways to lodge applications. You can fax the applications in, post them, or email them in. Most of us normally either fax applications in or drop them into the local office. They will no longer permit the applications to be dropped into local offices.
Today I tried to lodge my first application. My fax machine scanned all the pages then dialled up the number in Wellington. I was a bit alarmed to notice that the wonderful new forms took ages to be transmitted. The machine obviously did not like all those colours and various shading. As the toll call carried on and on I was getting a bit annoyed at the cost of the toll call. Then beep the call failed and all the repeat attempts by my clever machine resulted in no answer by Tenancy Services fax.
So in accordance with the instructions on the forms I rang the call centre. After a lengthy delay they answered and the only answer to my dilemma was to post the applications in. They have replaced a system that worked with a hopeless service that does not work. We now have a third world tenancy service that has deliberate built in processes to prevent applications proceeding in a timely manner. One would have thought that if they really cared about their customers, like we have to, they would have at least communicated their problems to us all. Have you noticed how many civil servants think that if you centralise a service it must be better and more cost effective.
They have tried to fix something that was not broke. Now they have well and truly smashed it. Hold it folks. Breaking news. At 4.30 pm this afternoon one of their junior staff rang and said it will be fixed with a new machine on Monday. Boy I cannot wait to try the new steam driven machine they might have bought. Hold onto you seats landlords. I think we are about to experience a jerk.
Too bad someone in power forgot to calculate how many applications per day they normally receive. Property Managers all round the country have been up in arms about the hopeless service. Tenancy Services have directed that there are only three ways to lodge applications. You can fax the applications in, post them, or email them in. Most of us normally either fax applications in or drop them into the local office. They will no longer permit the applications to be dropped into local offices.
Today I tried to lodge my first application. My fax machine scanned all the pages then dialled up the number in Wellington. I was a bit alarmed to notice that the wonderful new forms took ages to be transmitted. The machine obviously did not like all those colours and various shading. As the toll call carried on and on I was getting a bit annoyed at the cost of the toll call. Then beep the call failed and all the repeat attempts by my clever machine resulted in no answer by Tenancy Services fax.
So in accordance with the instructions on the forms I rang the call centre. After a lengthy delay they answered and the only answer to my dilemma was to post the applications in. They have replaced a system that worked with a hopeless service that does not work. We now have a third world tenancy service that has deliberate built in processes to prevent applications proceeding in a timely manner. One would have thought that if they really cared about their customers, like we have to, they would have at least communicated their problems to us all. Have you noticed how many civil servants think that if you centralise a service it must be better and more cost effective.
They have tried to fix something that was not broke. Now they have well and truly smashed it. Hold it folks. Breaking news. At 4.30 pm this afternoon one of their junior staff rang and said it will be fixed with a new machine on Monday. Boy I cannot wait to try the new steam driven machine they might have bought. Hold onto you seats landlords. I think we are about to experience a jerk.
Comment