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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-05-14 Daily Xml
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Consumer and Business Services

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Business Services and Consumers a question about customer services.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: Consumer and Business Services (CBS) provides a diverse range of services to support the everyday activities of the South Australian community. Can the minister tell the house what CBS is doing to improve accessibility of services and information?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. We all know that prevention is better than the cure; however, it is almost inevitable that, at some stage, consumers will need advice about buying, hiring or leasing goods or services in South Australia.

All consumers are entitled to a fair deal and should expect reasonable satisfaction under the Australian Consumer Law (the ACL) and the Fair Trading Act 1987. Everything a consumer buys must last or remain in good order for a reasonable amount of time. In fact, some goods also have a written warranty for a specified period. Even with these protections, there are times when consumers need advice about their rights and obligations and those of the trader.

CBS now offers a web chat service that offers a simple to use web interface that will allow consumers to communicate in real time with the CBS customer service centre team and receive prompt responses to their questions. With more and more customers switching online and using various devices to do so, communication with customers should no longer be limited to traditional methods.

Until now, online customers seeking information that is in addition to what can be found on the CBS website have only had the option to contact CBS either by telephone or visiting the customer service centre, or by using email and having to wait for a response. CBS have identified that a live help service will provide businesses and consumers with a quick and easy way to get information needed to assist them with their consumer issue.

I am sure that members have experienced the frustration of waiting endlessly on the phone or waiting for an email response when they want to access assistance in a timely way. A web chat is a type of customer interaction that is gaining popularity amongst customer service organisations globally. Unlike inquiries received face-to-face or over the phone, web chat customer service representatives will now be able to respond to several customer online inquiries simultaneously, enabling more inquiries to be dealt with overall.

The web chat appears as a pop-up window if the customer requests it while using the CBS website. It will not require customers to install specialised chat software, as all customers will need is a web browser. A transcript of the web chat is emailed to the consumer after the chat to ensure a simple process for any CBS representative to follow up, as well as ensuring that the customer has a record of all the information including websites that they may have been referred to.

Importantly, the web chat will also be of benefit to people who may experience difficulties communicating over the phone, such as those with hearing impairment, as they can now avoid the requirement of having to use often expensive support such as the National Relay Service.

The new feature will initially be offered on the website between nine to five from Monday to Friday. It is anticipated that, once established, the web chat function could be expanded to a range of CBS functions in line with the digital design principles, and these could include tenancy and things like fair trading advocacy.

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