Customer Bill of Rights sets standards and expectations for doing business with City of Seattle

"This is the city that set the standard for excellent customer service and people doing business with the City of Seattle are just as entitled to excellent service from us as from the merchant down the street."

-- Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

Download the Bill of Rights - Acrobat PDF 市長號召公眾幫助建立客戶權利法案 (Customer Service Bill of Rights)         Translation in Chinese - Acrobat PDF 시장이 고객 서비스 기본권리 (Customer Service Bill of Rights) 를 제정하기 위해 시민의 도움을 요청         Translation in Korean - Acrobat PDF Duqa Magaaladu waxa u dadweynaha ugu baaqaya in la sameeyo Customer Service Bill of Rights (Sharciga Xuquuqaha Adeegyada Macmiilka)         Translation in Somali - Acrobat PDF El Alcalde hace un llamado al público para ayudar a crear una Customer Service Bill of Rights (Declaración de Derechos de Servicio al Cliente)         Translation in Spanish - Acrobat PDF Nananawagan ang Alkalde sa publiko na tumulong sa pagbuo ng Customer Service Bill of Rights         Translation in Tagalog - Acrobat PDF Ngài Thị Trưởng kêu gọi cộng đồng giúp đỡ thành lập Bản Tuyên Bố về Các Quyền Liên Quan tới Dịch Vụ Khách Hàng         Translation in Vietnamese - Acrobat PDF

Each year, the City of Seattle receives more than 10 million phone calls and thousands more e-mails, letters, and visits from people looking for help. Many are handled well and many City employees take great pride in providing excellent customer service. But over the years our system has become too bureaucratic and unresponsive. We can do much better.

As part of our Customer Service Initiative, we now have a Customer Bill of Rights that sets clear standards and expectations for our customers when conducting City business.  Whether it’s water and power, roads, or public safety, our customers are entitled to prompt, efficient and easily accessible service from the City of Seattle.

  Bill of Rights Survey

In spring 2008, we asked our employees and customers to fill out a brief survey on the meaning of customer service and what they thought should be included in a City of Seattle Customer Bill of Rights. We received more than 500 responses.

In answer to the question, “what is the meaning of good customer service,” responders placed, “friendly, courteous and patient” at the top of the list. They also listed other values:

• prompt, timely and responsive
• taking ownership of getting answers
• listening, understanding and acknowledging the problem
• trained and knowledgeable employees
• clear communication
• follow up and going the extra mile

Responding to the question, “what should be part of a Bill of Rights,” again at the top of the list was “friendly, courteous and patient.” Other suggestions:

• prompt, timely and responsive
• performance measure and accountability
• social and racial equality
• all calls answered instead of going to voice mail
• call back with status of inquiry
• single number to call

Thank you for your thoughtful responses. We have taken your suggestions and aligned them with our four standards for excellent customer service.

City of Seattle
Customer Bill of Rights
When doing business with the City of Seattle, customers are entitled to prompt, efficient and easily accessible services – from water and power to roads and public safety. Customers who contact any office or employee of the City of Seattle can expect excellent service. The Customer Bill of Rights is guided by four standards. Click here to see the full Bill of Rights pdf.

1. Easy and understandable -- City products and services should be easy to locate and access.

• The City should reach out to its customers to inform them about City products and services.
• A customer should be able to locate any City service and initiate a request with a single phone call, visit to seattle.gov, trip to a service center, or a letter.
• When a customer’s request involves multiple City offices or departments, the City will coordinate the work.
• A customer should receive clear and accurate information.
• A customer should be treated with courtesy and respect.

2. Responsive -- City employees should be helpful, connecting customers with others who can help if they cannot.

• The City should provide service hours and locations that are convenient to customers.
• The City should provide estimates of how long, and if applicable, how much it will cost to fulfill a customer’s request.
• The City should both keep the customer informed of progress and readily answer questions about the status of pending requests.

3. Fair -- There should be no economic, social or cultural barriers to accessing City products and services.

• The City should collaborate with its customers to ensure City services are designed and managed to meet customers’ needs.
• The City should provide interpretation services when necessary to fulfill a customer’s request.

4. Results oriented -- Customers should get results, not just process.

• The City should, in a timely manner, follow up with the customer after the request has been completed.
• The City should regularly evaluate and report on overall performance in addressing/resolving customers’ requests.

For more information, contact the Customer Service Bureau at www.seattle.gov/CustomerService or call (206)684-CITY (2489)

  A case study in excellent customer service

"The ultimate in customer service is when someone saves your life," says Seattle resident Mako Nakagawa. She called with a question about her electric bill and was connected with utility account representative Maureen Murphy. During the call, the phone line went dead. Instead of moving on to the next call, Murphy called 9-1-1 which arrived at Nakagawa's house to find she had suffered a brain aneurysm. At Mayor Nickels' press conference, Nakagawa met Murphy in person for the first time. She thanked Murphy not only for saving her life, but for acting quickly enough so that Nakagawa made a complete recovery.