DOHA: Qatar Telecom (Qtel) plans to open several new Customer Service Centres in the country to reflect its corporate motto ' Shorten the Distance' with one such a facility planned at Mesaieed and another at the Hyatt Plaza, Ahmed Al Derbasti, executive director, general business, at the company, said here yesterday.
Speaking to reporters, Ahmed said, the new centres in Mesaieed and Hyatt Plaza would be opened before the end of this year, with at least one slated for inauguration during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The company, he said, now has 11 call centres and plans are to increase this number to 20 by opening new facilities at locations that are convenient to customers. A centre, he said, was also planned at a commercial complex near the Hamad General Hospital's car park since thousands of people visit the place daily.
Ahmed yesterday formally inaugurated Qtel's new Customer Service Centre located on the upper level of the LuLu Hypermarket. He was accompanied by Hashim Mustafawi Al Hashemi, executive director, group communications and Hamad Shareef Al Emadi, manager, customer service centres at Qtel.
Hamad Shareef disclosed that the new call centre would function from 10am to 10pm from Saturday to Thursday and between 4pm and 10pm on Friday. The centre was functional since earlier this week, he disclosed. Customers can avail of all Qtel services through the LuLu Hypermarket branch such as applying for connection or disconnection of any facility, purchase of Hala subscriber identity module and recharge cards and settlement of bills.
According to the official, Qtel customers visiting the service centres had not declined despite the company offering the facility to pay their bills at banks, post offices and through direct debit advices. He said that most customers in Qatar prefer to deal face-to-face with company officials rather than use other convenient methods of bill settlement. Qtel, he said, also has plans to extend the work hours of some of its centres to offer round-the-clock services to customers.
© The Peninsula 2004
