MP disputes waiting time cut claim

Reports today that Housing New Zealand has reduced their wait time at its call centre to five minutes are wrong, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran says.

Housing New Zealand ‘revamped’ its services in April, launching an 0800 number that could take increased volumes in calls, however this has only resulted in long wait times and frustrated tenants.

“These reports are mystifying. I have been contacted my many constituents over the past few weeks telling me how hard Housing New Zealand is to get hold of since they launched their new service,” Clare Curran, MP for Dunedin South said today.

When contacted by a constituent in urgent need of after-hours help at the end of May, Ms Curran phoned the Housing Corporation herself on a Friday night.

“I spent more than 30 minutes on the phone waiting for someone to answer, I was left wondering if their service really was 24 hours a day and I am seriously concerned for my constituents should they need help with an urgent housing matter after hours,” Clare Curran said.

‘‘Here we have an 0800 number which is a soulless means of communication and removes any face-to-face contact with clients and an ability for Housing NZ to understand their circumstances, and they are not even as available as they say they are,’’ Clare Curran said.

“I am urging anyone who has experience with the Housing New Zealand call centre since they have launched their new service to get in touch with me and reveal what the true waiting times are,” Clare Curran said.

“I don’t believe that the wait times have been reduced to five minutes, and I would like people to contact me to prove Housing New Zealand wrong because the service they are currently providing is simply unacceptable,” Dunedin South MP Clare Curran said today.