Council debates customer service

Customer service challenges were a topic of debate June 8 at Lorain City Council as members discussed what could done to improve the experiences of residents when seeking out information from municipal departments.

The conversation was prompted as the city is examining proposals to lower sewer rates and overall improvements to the Utilities Department.

Paul Wilson, director of the Utilities Department, said employees currently undergo about six hours of customer service training annually.

Council President Joel Arredondo said he would give Lorain’s customer service a two out of 10 rating, drawing from his 35 years in sales and has advocated improving the experience for a number of years.

Arredondo said he gets constant complaints from residents and has had less than optimal experiences in the times he has called.

“We have to remember, all employees of the city of Lorain, our customers are our citizens and we have to do our best to service them,” he said.

“We know there’s always the one or two or the small minority that you can never do anything to please them.

“But at the same token, they are our taxpayers, our customers.

“So, don’t treat them as an imposition as if you’re bothering me today.”

Ward 6 Councilman Rey Carrion said many cities in the region handle customer service much better than Lorain and he encouraged any changes made to be implemented across all departments.

In his current job as facility director at Kendal at Oberlin, Carrion said he contacts several other municipalities and stated Lorain stands out and changes need to be made.

“It’s sad to see the reaction,” he said.

“Because for most of the cities I’ve reached out to, they were so accommodating, so welcoming.

“They made you feel special as a customer, even if their answer was not what we were looking for. We felt fine, but we did not get that feeling when we called here.

“When we called Lorain, we feel like we are an imposition; we feel like we are bothering somebody and we’re putting somebody outside of their work and you’re going to ‘get it when you get it.’

“And it’s that attitude. And I think it’s a culture issue to address.”

Carrion said the changes need to come from the top and stressed his belief that Mayor Jack Bradley and his administration possess the necessary understanding of people skills in order to make those changes.

“That needs to happen now because it is a problem here, a major problem.

“You call Lorain, you have your great employees, but a big chunk of them, you hang up the phone and ask why the hell did I call here?”

Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski also said the city needs to do more in improving how municipal employees share information with residents.

“We need to do a better job of explaining things to the public so they’re comfortable with their understanding of it,” Springowski said.

“And we’re always very quick to defend the employees of the city, but we need to defend the residents as well.”