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This
Tuesday Special Assignment tackles incorrect billing, a
major consumer headache. This follows our recent call
for input from viewers who fall under the Johannesburg
Metropolitan Council.
Complaints
about metro's billing are legion - you simply have to
open a newspaper or listen to radio talk-shows to know
that all is not as it should be in the corridors of Jorissen
Place, home to the Council's revenue section. Many
problems date back to the consolidation of greater
Johannesburg Metro's records into one central database
more than 4 years ago.
In
this report, titled OVERRATED,
Special
Assignment finds that far from billing
problems being resolved quickly,
the Council and many of its customers remain at
loggerheads for months, sometimes years. Complaints are
usually ignored and instead, residents are threatened
with the dreaded "cut-off". Even worse,
if they do relent and cough up, payments are often not
reflected on subsequent statements.
Service
excellence analyst Peter Cheales describes the council
as "a great big amorphic mass of incompetency,
staffed by people not prepared to take responsibility
for their jobs". Those in charge say if this was
indeed the case, the city wouldn't be functioning at
all.
However,
Jo'burg Metro admits it doesn't have enough employees
with the necessary skills to work in this high pressure
environment. Executive Director of Finance Roland
Hunter's frustration is that as soon as they find staff
who rise to the challenge and are able to deal and
communicate with customers, they move on to greener and
probably less frustrating pastures.
Many
residents resort to paying only small portions of their
monthly accounts - merely to avoid being cut off.
This means their arrears mount steadily until, faced
with bills of up to R20-thousand, they turn to whoever
will help. It's fertile ground for political gain and
more and more opposition parties now have dedicated
councillors who spend their days trying to sort through
a maze of figures.
These
and other metro billing queries are probed by producers
Jessica Pitchford, Anna-Maria Lombard and cameraman Jan
de Klerk.
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