Santam systems are broken - including customer service

Santam merely forwarded emails from one person to another, never taking the time to actually look at the complaint or the response from EuropAssist. Several of the points in my complaint were completely ignored. Others were glossed over. A shocking lack of professionalism from both Santam and EuropAssist.

The Complaint Hi This morning, I tried to book a lift home for Saturday night. It was a frustrating and stressful process. Please try to use your own systems, and you will see what I mean. The Santam app doesn't work. It kept giving me error messages related to both the pickup and the dropoff points. Despite both points having been used for previous trips. Then the phone calls. First, we have to listen to 3 full minutes of recorded voice messages before we can actually speak to a person. Come on, people, in this day and age, we don't have time for this. Then, the person himself. This one kept mumbling and having to repeat himself. He also kept asking me to repeat myself. It was not a pleasant conversation. I checked the app shortly afterwards to confirm the booking, and my fears were confirmed. He had typed some of the information incorrectly. In this case, listing 1 passenger instead of 2. I fixed this on the app. Then I received a phone call from someone else, rattling on quickly about some kind of details he wanted to confirm. He had actually called a few minutes before, but I was busy and didn't take the call. Your man did not leave a voicemail. Instead, he kept calling, persistently. So I stopped what I was doing - important business where I was trying to concentrate - and took the call. Turns out he was just confirming the booking. Except that he picked random pickup locations in what seemed to be some kind of game. "Are we picking you up from the airport?" "No, let's stick to the actual location I gave your colleague, shall we?" Really, guys. From the technology involved, to the systems and processes themselves, and finally your staff training - it all needs to be addressed and improved. A simple sanity check. Try using the system yourself, and you will see exactly what I mean. And this was me booking well in advance, while I am sober. I can only imagine the frustration when someone calls you after they've had a few drinks. Regards.

The Response Good day Thank you for granting us the opportunity to investigate your concerns. We referred your complaint to Europe Assist to investigate and they provided the following feedback.

14 April 2023 10h21 · The client requested the Take Me Home Service, for the evening of the 15 April 2023 at 23h00. · A case incident was registered and the client requested to be collected at ***X, to be dropped off at his residence. 11h38 · The client was contacted and the case manager requested to confirm the service details. · The client stated that he was not impressed that we had to call to confirm the details and that he would register a complaint. 15 April 2023 20h48 · TMH Drive team 206 was appointed to assist with the service request. It is evident that based on the initial call recording, that the client was already irate, as he made reference to the fact that it took 3 minutes, following the voice prompts and different options , with having to listen to the disclaimer, for the call to divert to an available Agent. The case manager had to in certain instances, ask the client to repeat certain details, as the client was very unclear at some points and we encourage effective probing, that forms part of the first call resolution. We would like to highlight that we are not in a position to change the IVR (Interactive Voice Response), as the function directs clients on how to proceed, with the aid of the voice prompts, thus ensuring that the call is routed in accordance with the chosen option. The IVR has not been designed by Europ Assistance and if any changes are required, the respective stakeholders at Santam will have to refer the request to the Client Relationship Manager. The client also raised his concerns with regards to the inconsistencies with the “App”, we can also not provide any feedback as we do not manage the designated functionality of the “App”. Contacting the client to confirm the details, forms part of the standard process, to ensure all information has been captured accurately before a Drive team is appointed. We trust you find this in order and do apologise for the frustrations and inconvenience caused.