New customer complaint cards will give Columbus Light & Water customers a more streamlined way to deal with disputes.
Tennessee Valley Authority, which has worked with 27 other distributors in the state to create a pilot program for the complaint cards, will bring the program to Columbus in coming weeks, according to CL&W General Manager Todd Gale.
“In the past, if one of our customers couldn’t get a resolution with this board, they would sometimes call TVA,” Gale said. “TVA had an ombudsman they’d call and he’d reach out to a local customer service rep — ours is in Starkville. They would call and make sure that we’re abiding by our rules and regulations.”
Gale said TVA will still call the CL&W board for complaints received via the customer cards.
He said the process will play out after TVA receives a complaint card. From there, TVA will have its local customer service representative contact CL&W. After making contact, the customer service representative will pass information from CL&W back to TVA, which will in turn contact the customer.
“They’re not changing our rules, they’re just making sure we’re abiding by our rules,” Gale said.
Gale said TVA wants CL&W to put the process on the website and in its rules and regulations. CL&W will keep the complaint cards at its customer service window in its main office.
The new process shouldn’t have a major impact on CL&W, Gale added. He said there have been about three such cases of customers contacting the TVA for disputes in the 10 years he’s been with CL&W.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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