There’s a number of things that have contributed to our repairs service not working as well as we would like.
As you’ll be aware, we had a backlog of repairs which arose from the COVID-19 pandemic and skills and labour shortages have meant that at times, we have struggled to recruit the right people with the skills we need.
There are three key areas we wanted to make improvements in:
- Reduce call waiting times
- Increase the number of repairs completed in one visit, and getting these right first time
- Increase appointment slots for repairs
How are we going to achieve this?
- We have made some changes to our Repairs Customer Service team. As well as recruiting more people into the team, we have invested in training, so our advisors are more skilled to deal with requests. They also have an online tool, similar to what you may have used on myHavebury, which helps the team diagnose repairs at that point. This maximises the chance of correct diagnosis, meaning we can get this right first time.
- We made some changes to our telephone repair lines, so you can select an option, depending on what repair type you have. You can report repairs via other routes too
- As a result of these changes, our call waiting times have reduced significantly, with an average wait time of 2 minutes and 26 seconds, with this continuing to improve.
- Monday continues to be our busiest day for reporting repairs, and we would encourage you, if you don’t have an emergency repair, to either log this via myHavebury, or to contact us later in the week.
- We now accept all requests for alterations to your home via our online form, this is quick, easy and efficient. Click here to find out more.
Changes to our repairs team
- We’ve separated the teams that deliver responsive repairs from the team undertaking larger planned repairs, aids and adaptations and works from fire risk assessments. So we can structure our teams and resources much more easily, leading to a better service.
- We have allocated our responsive repairs teams into three geographical areas, each of which is led by a team leader. This means they will get to know you, our tenants better. They’ll also spend less time travelling so increasing the number of appointments we can offer, as well as improving our carbon footprint.
- We have also been working with our materials supplier, Buildbase, to improve the time taken to supply non-standard parts. This will improve the time taken to compete a repair and our ability to complete repairs at the first visit.
We know there’s still more to do, and you will see information about further changes we’re making over the coming months
