SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — After months of reporting by ABC 10News, the City of San Diego's Public Utilities Department has implemented significant changes to address customer service issues and billing problems.
"We've been able to make major strides in improving the customer experience for San Diegans," said Lisa Celaya, City of San Diego's Executive Assistant Director.
In April of last year, ABC 10News uncovered massive water bills and customer service issues plaguing the department. Residents and property managers reported extensive frustrations with the system.
"We would call the city to find out why we didn't get a water bill and we'd be on hold for over two hours," explained Robin Gunning, a San Diego property manager.
Bay Park resident Shawna McClure described taking extreme measures to reduce water usage.
"I put timers on showers. I mean, everybody got a three-minute shower," McClure said. "It made my life miserable for a little bit because I was trying to pay a $1,600 water bill."
The city reports that significant improvements have been made through technology upgrades and staff training. Michelle Costello from San Diego's Public Utilities Department explained during a City Council presentation, "We now have a system, our Amazon Connect system, that allows us to more effectively handle the calls."
According to Costello, the department has cut customer wait times at its call center by 92% compared to last year.
"So if I look at where we are right now, month to date, we are sitting at a minute and nine seconds," she said.
The department has also made progress on addressing the backlog of bills that never reached customers.
"As of last week, 98% of the held bills have been held for less than six months," Costello reported.
City data shows the department has reduced the backlog from nearly 25,000 held bills to just over 2,400 from February of last year to this March. Of those remaining bills, about 80% have been held for less than six months or three billing cycles.
"Actually, 91% of them have been only held for one billing cycle, which means we are keeping on top of these bills, seeing things that might look off, evaluating it and releasing those bills," Costello said.
The city indicates that as the backlog continues to decrease, more residents will receive their bills on schedule. However, officials acknowledge that more work remains to be done.
"It's very easy to I think to think we've checked the box and we're done. And, we're not done. We really have to have this continuous improvement mindset," Costello said.
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