Checklists

#52-GENERAL INQUIRY

•Customer contacts the Call Centre with a general inquiry that can be answered by the CSR.
•CSR is to use their knowledge, systems and resources to answer the customer’s inquiry.
•Some examples of a general inquiries are as follows:
oDoes Reliance have a website?
oHave you changed the name of the Company?
oAre you the same as Union Gas?
oCan I contact Union Energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
oI have misplaced my return envelope; can you tell me the mailing address.
oWhat is the mailing address of your head office?


•The CSR should respond to the customers request unless the customer is better served by being transferred to another department.
•Complete account verification is required if it is necessary to transfer the customer to another department.
•Account verification is not required if the customers general inquiry does not require the CSR to access the customers account in order to provide an accurate response. CSR should ask the customer if they require their account accessed for any other inquiries. If the account is accessed then it is necessary to complete account verification.
•Offering the Customer Satisfaction survey is not required if you do not access the customers account.

#22-ACCT SET UP FEE

•CSR should explain to the customer that the account set up fee, of $30.00, is a one time fee that is charged on all new and existing customers accounts.
•Customers agreeing to have their account set up on a pre-authorized payment at the time of requesting that an account be set up will have a reduced fee of $25.00. At this time we accept the customer’s word that a PAP application will be sent to us and charge only a $25.00 (plus GST) account set up fee.
•If a PAP agreement is set up on their account before a customer’s second bill is sent the customer will receive a $5.00 credit on their account for setting up the PAP. Some customers don’t make the initial call to have their account set up (vendor or lawyer could have requested it) and by doing this we allow them the opportunity to take advantage of the $5.00 reduction in the cost of the account set up fee.
•There are situations when it is acceptable for the CSR to adjust off the account set up fee. These situations are limited and include the following: where the customer only owned the property for less than a month or where a customer is a landlord and where this landlord was responsible for rental charges for a period of less than one month. Rental charges would apply in these situations.
•If a customer is disputing the account set up fee and requesting to speak to someone else, ie – Supervisor or Manager, then transfer to Customer Relations (CR).
•The rate code “ACSU” (for account billing on an M cycle) or “EACF” (for accounts billing on an O cycle) is used to apply the charge. 6% GST is also added to the fee, using the GSTO rate code.

#14-HOT WATER TANK DIFF

•We do receive calls from our customers inquiring about the difference in the cost of rental equipment.
•Although not the only situation to trigger this type of call the following illustrates an example of what might prompt this type of call. The customer has moved from a home where there is a conventional water heater to a different home where there is a power vented water heater, they have received their first bill and are curious as to why the rental rate is different
•The customer is usually seeking understanding as to why they must have a power vented tank and why these tanks cost more to rent.
•Customer should be informed that the major difference between the types of tanks is the way they are vented out of the house. Conventional tanks are in homes with working chimneys. Power vents are not vented through a chimney, but rather they use a blower fan to exhaust flue gas through an outside wall. Power vent water heaters also use electricity to run a blower motor that is part of the water heater.
•A power vented water heater is not more efficient. It will use a smaller amount of gas because it does not have a pilot light; however electricity is used to power the blower motor.
•The cost to manufacture and to service are higher on a power vented water heater then the conventional water heater. Therefore, the rental rate for a power vent is higher.
•The other major way in which water heaters can differ is the way in which they are powered, water heaters can be fueled by electricity or by natural gas.


If asked about Direct Vents
Direct Vent Water Heaters.
•A direct vent water heater uses a dual channel venting system and permits horizontal venting through an outside wall up to approximately 4 feet with no electrical power required. There are several ventilation requirements for the installation of the direct vent water heater and installation is not always a possibility in all applications

#42-BILLING EXPLANATION

•CSRS must be able to respond to any type of question pertaining to the customer account as asked by a customer.
•CSRS must thoroughly understand what services are being billed and the charges for these service(s). CSR must be able to explain if asked the following: all charges on an account, the account balance, services on the account, the coverage period of all services on the bill, broken up charges due to a rate increase, excess installation charges, the reason for all types of adjustments (due to an upgrade/downgrade, frequency changes, billing cycle changes, a removal, a buyout, a move), late charges and when past payments were received.
•If needed CSRS can access a copy of the actual bill in question through Kubra.

#2-WELCOME PACKAGE

•After a new rental account is set up in banner and before the customer receives their first billing statement we send our customers a welcome letter.
•The letter outlines that the amount of the rental water heater, includes a copy of our terms and conditions and will normally inform the customer about other products and services we have (ie – CPPS, 21 point inspections etc).

Confirmation Letter – issued after receipt of first payment
•Since August 2005 we have been required, by CPA Legislation (Consumer Protection Act) to send another communication to customers after receipt of their first payment. The letter is sent within 60 days of receipt of their first payment. The letter confirms the rental agreement between the customer and the company. The date referenced in the letter as the effective date of the rental agreement is the date we received the customer’s first payment, it is not their move in date or the start date of the service.
•The letter further details the rental amount of the rental service. The amount listed in the letter includes the GST. A copy of the rental terms and conditions is also included in this mailing.


Other:
•In addition, customers will receive these letters (both the original welcome package and a follow up letter) when ever a new rental service is set up on an account, so if a customer has an upgrade (not a replacement) to their existing rental water heater or has an additional water heater installed the letters will be issued.


#25-FREQUENCY CHANGE

•Most services provided by the company can be billed on either a monthly (once and month) or quarterly (4 times a year) basis.
•A frequency change request to go from a quarterly to monthly billing can only be completed by the Billing CSR if there is a PAP agreement already set up on the account. If not already on the account, then the customer must forward the PAP information by mail, fax or web and also at that time request the change to a monthly billing frequency..
•Customers requesting a monthly frequency will be billed for a coverage period in the past (the previous month), whereas customers requesting a quarterly billing frequency will be billed 3 months in advance.
•CPP billing frequency changes are completed by data entry. Complete a written request form and forward to data entry.
•Billing frequency changes where there is an HCOM package and a rental water heater on the account are completed by Call Centre representative responsible for Home Comfort. Complete a written request form and forward to Legal Administration.
•Billing frequency changes can be completed on services by the CSR (with the exception of the situations mentioned in the 2 previous bullets). The change to the billing frequency change must be performed on all services on the account as not changing the frequency for all services on an account can cause the account to stop billing for a period of time on the untouched services, until the frequencies are aligned, and this causes irregular and often large bills for our customers.
•The banner process must be followed when completing a frequency change.


#53-UPDATING CUST INFO

•Customer requests to change any of the following will be completed when ever requested by the account holder, spouse or authorized caller: contact telephone numbers, email addresses, name change due to marriage or divorce, change name on account due to death of a spouse, change to mailing address, temporary mailing addresses, requests to update initials listed in name field on account, spelling errors in the spelling of the customers name or address or a request to change a mailing address are all examples of customer information that can be changed at the request of the customer.
•In the situation where a spouse has died, place the name of the deceased spouse in the spouse field and type of the word deceased beside it.
•When changing a mailing address, the CSR must end date the current mailing address and create a new mailing address. You are not to type over the existing mailing address because by doing so erases this information from the account. Creating a new one will show the history of all mailing addresses on an account.
•It is not necessary to leave a note on the account for any of these situations.
•In the situation of marriage or divorce and the customer is calling to change the name on the account if the spouse’s name is in the spouse field the name can be swiped. If the name is not in the spouse field the customer should be transferred to the Moves department.


#50-DEFAULT ACCOUNTS

•A “Reliance Home Comfort Rental Customer” and “Rental Hot Water Tank Customer” are both default account names created when the account holders name is not known. Rather than not billing at all, a statement is created using a default name and sent to the premise; the intention is that the party responsible for paying the rental hot water tank charges will call to update us.
•Ensure that the customer number is not linked to more than one premise. If they are, the caller must be transferred to Moves, where a new account will be created.
•Once the CSR has determined that the customer number of the default account is not linked to any other premises they must ask the customer for the date that they moved into the property, in other words the day the caller became responsible for the rental costs.
•The CSR should compare the Service move in date with the actual move date. The Service move in date is located in the Service History screen.
•Confirm that the move in date on the account is correct.
•If the move in date is correct customers name can be typed over the default name. Type the customer's last name in the last name field; type the customer’s first name in the first name field.
•Complete the contact information that is required on the account, this includes inquiring about the contact telephone number, the mailing address and email address.
•When updating an account with the customer’s name and information ensure that the penalty exempt field is not checked. (this prevents late penalties from accruing on a “default” account). The penalty exempt field is located in the account maintenance screen.
•If the account start date is not correct and differs by more than 1 month the customer must be transferred to the Moves Department in order for the correction to be made.

#51-ADDITIONAL NAME ON AN ACCOUNT

•Only account holders can request that someone else’s name be added to an account.
•It is not necessary for the CSR to offer this to the caller.
•This name will be placed in the spouse field. (even if not a spouse)
•The relationship of this person if not a spouse, if known, can be typed in beside their name - ie – John, son
•The addition of the name in the spouse field will eliminate the need to ask this person if they are calling “with the knowledge and consent” of the account holder.

#19-DECEASED ACCOUNT HOLDER

•Spouse or authorized caller (executor, family member) calls to inform us that the account holder has died.
•In this situation it is acceptable to change the account holder name to the name of their spouse. This can be requested by the spouse themselves or by an authorized caller calling on behalf of the surviving spouse.
•If an executor (executrix) calls on behalf of the deceased and there is no spouse to have as the “account holder” it is necessary to change the name on the account to the estate format. If there is a PAP or PACC agreement on the account they must be ended.
•When changing an account into “Estate”, ensure that the mailing address is updated if necessary to ensure that future statements are received by who ever is going to be paying the statements.
•In these situations the account will stay in the “Estate” name until it is requested that the account be closed because there is someone else to assume.
•If there is a PAP or PACC on the account and there is a spouse to assume the account it is necessary to request some information from the caller.
•If the caller’s name is also listed in the bearers in the PAP set up screen then it is not necessary to request new banking information, the draft set up remains as is.
•If the caller informs us that they share the account, but this is not indicated on the banner account, then the CSR must send a request to PAP where a search will be completed to access the cheque to verify that they both shared the account. PAP will update the account accordingly once the VOID cheque on file is referenced, if this information is not verified a letter will be issued advising of this and requesting a new VOID cheque.
•If the caller shares the same credit card number than it is not necessary to request new PACC information.
•If necessary, either canceling or changing the PACC info, complete the appropriate PACC request form.
•If it is necessary to receive new banking information for a PAP arrangement and the customer is on a monthly billing frequency it is our policy not to change the customers billing frequency to quarterly while waiting for the new information.
•Pending drafts should be discussed with the caller to ensure that there is no problem having the money withdrawn. If there is a concern and we are able to delete a draft (as there is enough time between the current day and the date of withdrawal) than this should be done for the caller. Caller must be advised of payment options for current bill if PAP or PACC will not go through.
•If a home comfort package is on the account, transfer the caller to Legal Administration.