During March 2019, the Office of the FAIS Ombud established a Client Care Centre to enhance the customer experience. The objective of the establishment of the Client Care Centre was to give life to some of their core values which include increasing awareness and educating those they serve about the services provided, so as to improve and enhance access to justice, values that remain central to the service provided.
A further enhancement is the announcement of the implementation of a shared call number 086 066 FAIS (3247). The number 086 066 FAIS(3247), went live on 6 November 2019 and will provide the FAIS Office with a nationwide presence, where the cost of the call will be shared by the caller and the Office, with the caller paying the local cost of the call and this Office paying the difference.
We have for many years advocated the need for generic complaints handling facility, but the office of the Ombud in the past elected not to make use of the opportunity made available years ago. The share call number is certainly a step in the right direction.
Recent statistics from the Pension Fund Adjudicator show a marked increase in the number of people who elected to visit its offices in person, so perhaps consideration should be given to providing such an option. The cost could easily be born via the savings of not having to handle complaints meant for other forums, as evidenced by the figures in the last Ombud annual report.
Click here to read the FAIS Ombud’s media release about the introduction of the Share Call Number.
