EE, the UK’s biggest mobile operator and part of BT Group, has completed the first stage of its pledge to onshore 100% of customer service calls, with all EE pay monthly customer calls now answered in the UK and Ireland. As part of EE’s drive to become number one for customer service, it has already created 500 jobs in the UK this year, including more than 200 in North Tyneside, and is creating a further 550 customer service roles before the end of 2016.The next phase of onshoring includes recruitment drives for 130 new roles in North Tyneside, 130 in Darlington, 140 in Plymouth and 150 in Merthyr Tydfil to provide the staff to handle all EE Home Broadband and pay-as-you-go customer services calls in the UK and Ireland.
EE’s commitment to improving customer experience has already been reflected in Ofcom’s latest complaints data report. The report shows EE mobile complaints have continued to decline for three consecutive quarters. Mobile complaints to Ofcom have dropped 50% year on year and now fall well below the industry average with fewer than six complaints per 100,000 customers.
EE CEO Marc Allera said: “Earlier this year, we set out ambitions to transform the experience and service we provide our customers, including returning all customer service roles to the UK and Ireland. We’ve had fantastic feedback from our customers about the changes we’ve made so far and the number of complaints has plummeted – but we’re not stopping there. There’s still more we want to achieve and we’re creating over 550 additional service jobs here in the UK to fully onshore all customer service roles, and provide the best possible experience for our customers.”
The plan to onshore 100% of EE customer service was announced in April 2016, along with EE’s new 4G coverage plan focussed on eradicating ‘not-spots’, with the ambition to cover customers wherever they go by 2020. This will boost coverage for rural UK, with an ambition to grow 4G coverage from 60% of UK landmass to 95% – further than any mobile operator has ever gone, and significantly beyond the furthest reaches of any 2G or 3G signal today.