QUICK GAME OF GUESSING!

So I am trying to call to report street flooding and a frozen sewer drain.. of course I need to go through 311 for that.. so.. QUICK what was my hold time?

And how long did my call last?

30 seconds and two minutes.

Do you live within the protection of the Floodway?

13:21 on hold waiting to talk. 37 seconds of talking ... awesome.. just awesome.

That 311 system sucks so badly that someone should be tarred and feathered over the implementation of the program. Incompetent jerks.

It is good in theory... the execution is serisouly leaving something to be desired.

13 minutes on hold aint that bad i wait on hold longer if i need customer service for my cell phone, tv subscription, credit card, or just about any other paying service i might have

My phone is out the window by that time...

We don't have screened windows in Italy.

Electrician wrote:We don't have screened windows in Italy.

Neither does Cuba.

In all honesty, 13 minutes isn't that bad these days. I've had to wait up to 1 hour several times because either the volume of callers was so high, and/or the calling centre was short staffed.

These machine-based services are bullshit, IMO.

what i want to know...is why any of you are calling 311 bogging down the system?

It's not designed for you...it's designed for those who DON'T have the internet.

If you haven't seen the news stories about the centre...check one out...and try looking in the background at their computer screens.

They are taking a call about Winnipeg information...and simply doing a search on the City of Winnipeg website. Something you can do yourself.

About the only thing they CAN do through 311 that you CAN'T do online, is handle actual registration changes and updates for various city services (leisure guide comes to mind)...and those do take some time (mostly from lack of training).

I recently had to cancel two leisure guide courses for my wife. It took almost 40 minutes on the phone JUST to do that (though I had 0 wait time to reach someone) because whoever it was on the other end of the line...had never done it before.

311 COULD be quite beneficial...if SOME people would stop bogging down the lines with frivolous requests and expectations.

I was referring to the machine-setup in general for various companies. I don't use 311.

Simply emailing them that a sewer drain is frozen.. still goes to the 311 centre for them to deal with it, and does not give me the immediate satisfaction of knowing that the report was already made on the frozen drain.

too many of the numbers have been switched to 311. some of them should have been left at the department level.

311 was supposed to be "Directory Assistance" for the city.

ie. you call them, tell them what you want, and they transfer you to the correct department, unless they can answer your question themselves.

well that is not what they are actually doing.

they have cross trained all the operators to actually deal with the calls. no one is transfered anywhere ever now

yes...this I know.

which is why the delays and problems.

Problem is the fcuken operators are stupid and cannot give proper advice or solve the problems they've been ask to fix.

Sunday morning at 4:20 am the firetrucks again were going down my street waking the entire neighbourhood with their sirens blaring.

I had this problem fixed a couple of years ago thru Chief Burgess.

The operator was insisting that I be put through to the police non-emrgency number, although I repeatyedly told him to send a message to the fire department and have someone call me Monday.

I called the Fire department this morning and asked if they had received my request. They hadn't.

Fcuken commie bastard operator!!!

whats wrong with fire trucks having sirens going? isnt it just sort of a given that a fire truck going to a fire is going to have lights and sirens on?

4:20am on a Sunday morning is a bit much ....with absolutely no traffic...what's the point of waking up the neighbourhood.

Actually, there is no reason to do it.

When I imitiall called to see if something could be done, Chief Burgess, without any hesitation, said it was not necessary and then did put a stop to it.

i see

i would have thought that they would always have them going incase they get in an accident or someone steps out on the street and gets run over, then the person could not claim "i didnt see or hear them coming, there was no sirens going!" or something like that.

Lights for sure. Siren at 4:30am on a side street? Not really...

Think they have to at intersections though.,siren and lights if on a call . Due to an accident a few years ago, as said driver claimed didn't see them .

What they have been doing is to blow their horn at the intersections...just a beep is sufficient. That covers them re: HTA Of course, the lights let everyone within eyesight know that an emergency vehicle is approaching.

Then how come they don't get out of the way