CUC not likely to renew call center contract

The board of directors of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has instructed the agency’s management to develop within the next 30 days a “transition plan” for CUC’s customer call center service.

By this decision, the board hinted at the unlikely renewal of the $360,000 two-year contract of CUC’s current call center agent, IT&E. CUC pays IT&E $15,000 monthly for this service.

Saipan Tribune learned that IT&E’s contract is expiring on Nov. 28 this year.

Six months to its expiration, the board is looking at stopping the service despite the CUC management’s claim that the call center program is working, recording over 7,000 customer calls monthly.

CUC chief financial officer Charles Warren earlier disclosed that the contract saves CUC a lot of money. It was learned that prior to contracting IT&E for the call center service, eight CUC employees used to handle all calls. They were paid over $200,000 yearly—or more than $400,000 in two years’ time.

Warren compared this cost to what CUC currently spends for the call center service contract, which is $180,000 each year.

Board member Adelina Roberto said, however, that CUC should not rely on the service of a “third-party” contractor because “the only person that really cares for our customers is us.”

Like board chair David J. Sablan, Roberto is convinced that the agency’s own workers must be used for this important service. The two board members emphasized the “connectivity” needed to effectively perform the job.

Even if it costs CUC to retrain some staff to do the job, the two board members expressed willingness to go that route.

“The direction is to go back to the old system but retrain our people. And if it will cost a little more, let’s invest in it to make sure our customers are satisfied. Based on what we received, satisfaction is not being met, which is making a much larger negative picture for CUC,” said Sablan.

The “fair treatment” of customers, he added, must always be practiced.

He cited specific complaints received by the board about the existing call center service. “They call in and they get referred to two to three different people and still nothing is done. They call in and get referred to personnel and there is no call back. They call in for information, but personnel can’t explain,” Sablan said, adding that he has raised these issues with the management.

CUC’s Warren later asked the board to allow the contract to just naturally expire in November. Warren is expected to present in future meetings a plan on the transition to in-house call handlers.