E-ZPass Call Center Spanish Language Frustrations

MYFOXNY.COM - If you speak Spanish and have or want E-ZPass service and you telephone the call center on Staten Island, there is a good chance no one will help you.

NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is demanding the E-ZPass call center change the way it handles calls from Spanish-speaking customers after his office uncovered what he calls a disturbing pattern.

"This isn't customer service when it comes to Spanish speaking customers," de Blasio said. "It's telling them they don't matter, telling them they don't count and their calls are irrelevant, which to me is unacceptable."

According to the report, 46 percent (or 93 out of 205) phone calls de Blasio's office made to the Spanish-speaking e-z pass line were either disconnected; no one was available; or transferred to a recorded message.

De Blasio's office provided audio clips on calls they say were typical.

The call center services three public authorities: the MTA, Port Authority, and New York State Thruway share a $200 million contract with ACS, a company now owned by Xerox, to manage the call center.

Each agency said it is aware of the situation and that Xerox is improving the Spanish-speaking line.

De Blasio points out that everything being done at the call center is paid for with taxpayer dollars, including paying the customer service representatives, who are now paid, in part, by the number of calls they handle.

A call center customer service rep for 5 years told Fox 5 that the new pay-per-call system means Spanish calls, which tend to take longer, are immediately transferred to a Spanish recorded line or handled by one of the few Spanish-speaking representatives.

A Spanish-speaking Fox 5 producer called the E-ZPass line twice and was helped almost right away.

But the public advocate said the call center system still needs to improve.

"It's absolutely unacceptable," de Blasio said. "This is a city with 2 million Latinos. You can't provide a service only to people who speak English and you know there are so many people who speak Spanish who use the service, because it is a public service."