Abu Dhabi: A plan designed to evaluate the services of the Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars in the emirate of Abu Dhabi (TransAD) called Mystery Shoppers revealed that 96 per cent of the project’s undercover evaluators received their taxis within 10 minutes of placing their orders.
Yousuf Abdullah Al Madani, Director of Call Center and Customer Service, said: “Our Mystery Shopper project, launched in June 2011, was designed to enhance performance levels and service quality to international standards. Project results have been encouraging; for example, in 2012, we achieved a 4 per cent improvement rate in the call centre results for the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2011."
While many members of the public echoed the survey’s results regarding drivers’ interpersonal skills, courtesy and overall proper treatment, others still face difficulties with the taxi’s telephone-services.
“I find it difficult to navigate through their call centre’s Interactive Voice Response systems as one is often bound to forget what has been stored as their ‘last location’. I have also found the service unreliable at times when I am calling for a taxi to reach me at a location other than my home, as drivers often require directions which can be an issue especially when I am in a hurry,” said 34 year-old housewife, M.K. who is a frequent user of the order-service.
According to a statement released by TransAD, mystery shoppers conducted 180 calls in 2012 compared with 60 calls the year before and the results showed an improvement of 5 per cent compared with the first quarter and last quarters of 2012.
Additionally, taxis are also evaluated based on their cars’ cleanliness, efficiency of the air conditioner, drivers’ personal hygiene, their level of cordiality towards customers and their familiarity with the city’s streets, locations and tourist attractions.
“Complaints and suggestions given by the public are incentives for the centre to focus on progress and improvements. All suggestions and complaints are taken into consideration and analysed, and then drivers reinvestigated. If any driver is found guilty, he is fined or suspended for a certain period based on the approved policies,” Al Madani added.
