Too many newsagents are losing too much time waiting on the phone for the Gotch call centre. Two newsagents yesterday told me they had been on hold for more than 45 minutes. Three more called me Monday.
Gotch should urgently create a new customer facing website to deal with the calls taking up the most time:
- Over supply.
- Under supply.
- Permanent supply adjustment requests.
- Damaged stock.
- Basic account queries.
By pushing newsagents to deal with these through a website would bring a structure to the process, ensuring all necessary data is gathered and enabling faster processing by Gotch. Indeed, this structure ought to have been established prior to the closure of Network Services.
I have been patient with Gotch. I thought they would be further ahead by the end of May. Their out of date processes are costing the newsagency channel thousands of dollars in time every day.
I want Gotch to be successful as magazines play an important role in our channel. The current delays (friction) on the Gotch processes are imposing an additional cost on an already margin-challenged category for newsagents.
This post is about the company, Gotch and or its parent PMP, and the resources it is allocating rather than the people doing the work.
same here 45 min and still no one from G&G to answer. NDC was far better, already missing best service from NDC, wishing someone better to takeover from G&G or bring back NDC. G&G is worst company when its comes to customer service or any service.
As a monopoly, milking short term profits is likely to continue. Why invest in a declining market when there is no competitive reason to do so.
Expect not service but profit enhancing changes as GG exploits its strength.
Forcing small outlets to be sub agents ?
Gouging of smaller publishers !
Moves towards firm sale.
Hope I am wrong but not holding my breath.
We don’t waste time on the phone, just send an email then there is a record. Ask for a return email when it is actioned.
If you ask for a read receipt you will see that they usually read the email within a few minutes, that doesn’t mean you get an answer that week and sometimes resending the email after a week gets a prompt response.
Just given up trying to call G&G after 30mins. Today we got no Take 5’s and only9 of 39 That’s Life. Customers are ok because they just walk next door to Coles who have plenty, In the past month, we have had non-deliveries of New Idea, Woman’s Day, TV Week and again, previously, That’s Life and Take 5. When there is a non-delivery, they seem to manage to always make it a major-selling mag. They are doing a great job in wiping out my mag sales figures.
Great point Bill Palmer.
We have experienced regular missing bundles and parcels containing major weekly titles since the joining of the two companies. This rarely occurred prior.
As pointed out, Woolworths, BigW and Coles all receiving bulk quantities without issues.
I know from a newsXpress perspective when newsXpress members report these issues to the business they are escalated to senior management at Gotch as well as the respective publisher businesses. It facilitates resolution.
Mark;
When woollies and coles are shown favouritism with promotions etc. you comment about it being unfair yet you openly state here that newsxpress is only too happy being shown the same. I would like to think all newsagents were treated the same no matter what organisations they belong to.
Except for s couple of exceptions Ken supermarkets are not shown favouritism on promotions.
Yes, sometimes newsXpress has exclusive deals – as should be the case when you act as a group and act commercially.
The channel as a single entity does not exist and have not existed for years – not as you see it.