[A] customer advisor who gave fantastic service to a customer who was struggling to cope with her son’s very serious illness and had fallen into arrears with her water bill has been nominated for a national customer service award.
Victoria Chester, from Whitehaven, in Cumbria and works for water company United Utilities, received a call from a customer whose son was undergoing intensive chemotherapy.
A house move was also taking place and with everything going on the customer had completely forgotten to arrange her water bill, placing further financial pressure, during what was an already challenging time.
The understanding, compassion and helpful support Victoria gave was singled out by the customer for personal praise.
Victoria’s story was hand-picked by judges after being nominated for a special award in The WOW! Awards, which give customers the chance to commend any worker from any company for good service.
Victoria, aged 21, has been shortlisted in the unsung hero award category and will be attending the award ceremony in London on November 6.
“We can all benefit from a bit of extra support at some stage in our lives and I wanted to do all I could to give the customer one less thing to worry about,” she said.
United Utilities does offer a free Priority Services scheme, providing help in managing debt; support for customers facing mental health issues or struggling with ‘life events’ such as illness.
“It’s fantastic I work for a company who really does want to offer support to its customers and I was overwhelmed to hear the feedback from the customer on just how much difference I made during the difficult circumstances she found herself in. I am really looking forward to the award ceremony in November,” Victoria said.
The introduction of Priority Services is just one way the water company has been developing its services to better meet the needs of customers to ensure they offer the best experience possible.
United Utilities is one of a growing number of organisations who also use The WOW! Awards to recognise and reward great customer service.
