It’s no secret that accessing public services can be a frustrating and exhausting experience.
From long wait times to disconnected calls, many people have experienced the frustration of trying to get help from a utility before becoming discouraged because there was no one on the phone.
Unfortunately, according to a survey by the magazine 60 million consumers published on January 26, this problem is still very present in France. The survey reveals that the three major public services, CAF, employment center and social security, are often unreachable by telephone for citizens who need their help.
Faced with these observations, the Defender of Rights proposed the drafting of a law which would impose multiple modes of access to public services, in particular local counters with representatives of each organization.
60 million consumers pin public services “too often unreachable”…
The survey of 60 million consumers was carried out during the Covid-19 crisis and after. It collected the comments of 523 people who tried to contact CAF, Social Security or Pôle Emploi by telephone. in the last 12 months.
According to their results, about two-thirds of respondents failed to reach these public services on the first try. Even more worryingly, for those who managed to reach them, about half said they took more than 10 minutes to get there. On the other hand, almost all participants said they found the wait times unacceptable and expressed dissatisfaction with the experience as a whole.
What solutions have been proposed?
In the light of this study, the Defender of Rights made several proposals to improve the accessibility of public services.
First of all, he asked for the creation of a law which would impose a multiplicity of modes of access to public services. In its proposals we can note the desire to create local counters with representatives of each agency.
This would allow citizens to obtain help from a physical interlocutor in case of need.
Secondly, it was suggested to introduce an automatic call back system for disconnected calls or long wait times, as many people get stuck in an endless loop of “please call again later” messages when they try to reach the public services by telephone.
Finally, an increase in staff was discussed in order to reduce waiting times and ensure more efficient customer service.
What you must remember
Ultimately, the survey of 60 million consumers provides an important insight into the current state of accessibility of public services in France.
Although efforts have been made to improve customer service and reduce waiting times, it is clear from this survey that much remains to be done to facilitate citizens’ access to these services. It will be interesting to see if the Defender of Rights’ proposals are taken up by the government and if they can help to improve the situation. Only time will tell.
