Questions raised about relocating utility customer call centers to Mississippi - WLBT

Questions raised about relocating utility customer call centers to Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Many of you are complaining about customer service or lack thereof from utility call centers. The problem was highlighted following the June storms that knocked out power for thousands of you. Now, a state commission is searching for solutions.

Harold Boutwell lives near Durant, and he’s had to call Entergy looking for answers about outages more times than he’d like.

“It was almost like they had no customer service or anything at all,” said Boutwell.

He says he’s gotten put on hold a lot. But once he gets through, he has questions.

“Anytime I would talk to the call center, I would say, ‘Where are you?’ ‘Oh, I’m in Texas, or I’m in Arkansas, or I’m in Louisiana,’” he recounted people saying. And that’s what I told the lady that I talked to here. I said, ‘You can’t tell me what my problem is. You’re not here.”

He finally got some answers after reaching out to Central District Public Service Commissioner Brent Bailey. It was repeated calls like that that prompted Bailey to suggest a review and cost analysis of moving those call centers to the Magnolia State.

“Sure, you’re paying for their services of out-of-state contractors and out-of-state call centers,” said Bailey. “What would the incremental cost be to bring them back to Mississippi? Understanding what are the benefits for customer satisfaction, raising the bar on getting the timely information that customers want and need.”

The Public Service Commission suggested expanding the request beyond Entergy to all investor-owned utility companies. It’s partially born out of what Bailey has heard from hosting forums following the June storms.

“We have heard some frustrations from customers... from others at these events,” Bailey noted. “As stated, you know, I’ve tried to call and get the runaround or a get moved up or elevated and may not get the answer I need and just general frustration with the current process, and we want to do what we can to help resolve that.”

Boutwell is glad it’s at least being reviewed because he doesn’t want someone just relying on a computer out of state to answer his calls.

“It takes all the personal service out,” he said. “So, they don’t want personal service, or they haven’t so far.”

Entergy Mississippi sent the following response:

“Entergy currently has 60 Mississippi-based contracted agents working in-state. We are also planning for new agents to be on-site at our contact center located in Jackson by November. In time, we estimate that the Jackson contact center will grow to approximately 140 agents working both on-site and at home. These plans are part of the company’s strategy to support customers across our four-state service area.”

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