Call centre comes home

The Fairfax Media classified advertising call centre has moved back to New Zealand shores making life easier for local advertisers.

The new inbound call centre, located in Palmerston North, was officially up and running on Monday. The new call-centre is on 0800 767 111 for all classified ads including public notices, situations vacant, wanted to buy, rentals and trades and services.

Customers calling about classified ads or public notices will no longer be connected to Manila in the Philippines.

Head of CRM and customer data Andrew Hassan said it had received feedback around language barriers. Calls were taking longer, which was frustrating customers, he said.

‘‘Customers will appreciate that it’ll make their lives easier. They’re showing loyalty to our publications and we need to respond to their needs.’’

The move will affect Fairfax newspapers across the country including daily and community publications.

The new call centre will employ two team leaders and 18 sales advisers, who will join 20 employees at the company’s outbound call centre, which opened a year ago.

Fairfax publishes community newspapers such as the East and Bays Courier and Central Leader and metropolitan dailies including The Dominion Post.