Customer Service, as defined by Wikipedia, is:
"the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase"
However, there has been examples, that I've been made aware of, where the City of Williams Lake has, in my opinion, demonstrated a double-standard of customer service to the public, when it either comes to information being requested and the City asking what the information will be used for or no response over a period of days or when a certain blogger expresses his personal opinion on City Staffing (based on publicly available information) and the City of WL CAO responding in hours
Examples of where residents' putting in a request(s) for information, where the City has asked what the information is going to be used or taken days ( 5 days or more in some cases) to respond include:
1) Status of Long-Term Debt
2) Relationship between Registration Fees + New False Alarm Bylaw
In these cases - the City has no right to ask what a resident, etc what they plan to do with the information if the information is publicly available or simply not responding at all. Simply put - if the information that is being asked for is not contrary to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, then the information should be released as quickly as it can be arranged, subject to any applicable photocopy fees for a paper copy of the information being requested. In the case of not responding at all - this is not acceptable at all. When the City of Williams Lake receives a request for information, then it should, at a minimum, acknowledge receipt of the request and advise when a decision, on whether or not the request for information can be complied with, will be rendered.
I should note that whenever I've asked for information - I've personally not had an issue. The latest example of this is request of Gaming Fund expenditure information for the 2009-2011 Fiscal Years. Information was requested, late on a Thursday, and a respond was received on a Monday (roughly 24 hours to respond, which is acceptable, in my mind, and is a example of how a request for information should be treated)
In conclusion - when a request for information is received (at least, in my opinion):
1) Acknowledge receipt of the request for information, not later than 24 hours after receipt (or in cases of holidays, a response acknowledging receipt be provided on the 1st business day after a 24 hour period between submission for information and when the request is received by WL City Staff, although if a response can be provided sooner, then that would be better for the public perception that WL City Staff do go out of their way to assist the public)
2) If the information can not be provided, explain why and what mechanisms are available for appeal
3) If the information can be provided - do not ask what the information will be used for but simply provide it. Extend an offer if they require additional information or clarification, to contact them (WL City Staff) again. This is what CRD (Cariboo Regional District) Staff do whenever I put in for information.
Given that WL City Staff (or so I'm told) read my blog on a daily or bi-weekly basis - I hope that they'll heed my advice and agree to implement my suggestions ASAP.
SBF
"the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase"
However, there has been examples, that I've been made aware of, where the City of Williams Lake has, in my opinion, demonstrated a double-standard of customer service to the public, when it either comes to information being requested and the City asking what the information will be used for or no response over a period of days or when a certain blogger expresses his personal opinion on City Staffing (based on publicly available information) and the City of WL CAO responding in hours
Examples of where residents' putting in a request(s) for information, where the City has asked what the information is going to be used or taken days ( 5 days or more in some cases) to respond include:
1) Status of Long-Term Debt
2) Relationship between Registration Fees + New False Alarm Bylaw
In these cases - the City has no right to ask what a resident, etc what they plan to do with the information if the information is publicly available or simply not responding at all. Simply put - if the information that is being asked for is not contrary to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, then the information should be released as quickly as it can be arranged, subject to any applicable photocopy fees for a paper copy of the information being requested. In the case of not responding at all - this is not acceptable at all. When the City of Williams Lake receives a request for information, then it should, at a minimum, acknowledge receipt of the request and advise when a decision, on whether or not the request for information can be complied with, will be rendered.
I should note that whenever I've asked for information - I've personally not had an issue. The latest example of this is request of Gaming Fund expenditure information for the 2009-2011 Fiscal Years. Information was requested, late on a Thursday, and a respond was received on a Monday (roughly 24 hours to respond, which is acceptable, in my mind, and is a example of how a request for information should be treated)
In conclusion - when a request for information is received (at least, in my opinion):
1) Acknowledge receipt of the request for information, not later than 24 hours after receipt (or in cases of holidays, a response acknowledging receipt be provided on the 1st business day after a 24 hour period between submission for information and when the request is received by WL City Staff, although if a response can be provided sooner, then that would be better for the public perception that WL City Staff do go out of their way to assist the public)
2) If the information can not be provided, explain why and what mechanisms are available for appeal
3) If the information can be provided - do not ask what the information will be used for but simply provide it. Extend an offer if they require additional information or clarification, to contact them (WL City Staff) again. This is what CRD (Cariboo Regional District) Staff do whenever I put in for information.
Given that WL City Staff (or so I'm told) read my blog on a daily or bi-weekly basis - I hope that they'll heed my advice and agree to implement my suggestions ASAP.
SBF
2 comments:
I'm pretty sure any government has 30 days to respond to an FOI.
I agree that folks should get some notification soon after the request with an estimated timeline but expecting a full response with all information requested in 24 hours is ludicrous.
I also agree they don't need to know what it is for.
I know you'l find this hard to beleive but I suspect the folks at City Hall don't sit around waiting to fulfill FOI requests and likely can't drop everything to immediately address them.
Exactly Jim.
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