When CPSC's current Chairman Ann Brown arrived at the Commission, she made it a priority to improve customer service. She scrapped the old system and put in a state-of-the-art Hotline that could smoothly handle large numbers of calls under almost any situation. Since then the Commission has: (1) tripled the number of incoming lines from 8 to 24; (2) doubled the number of operators to improve customer service; (3) added volunteers who can handle calls in 16 different languages; and (4) at no cost, added, the services of James Earl Jones as the Hotline " voice".
The CPSC Hotline 24 hour-a-day, 7 days-a-week services include methods for consumers to: report unsafe products; report product-related injuries; find out whether CPSC has recalled a product; learn how to return a recalled product, or to arrange a repair; obtain tips on buying safe products; safe product use; and, obtain safety publications.
Between 1993 and the early part of 1994, the Hotline had reached its capacity, and increased phone calls were taxing the system. The Hotline phone system almost collapsed as a result of several simultaneous recall announcements, and, at one point the entire 800 service along the eastern seaboard nearly crashed due to the backup of calls.
The improvements
made by Chairman Brown increased the Hotline's capacity through innovation and efficiency.
CPSC measures customer service success by the numbers. From 1993 to 1995, the new
Hotline generated a dramatic increase of 75,000 calls. In addition, the number of complaints
consumers called in about unsafe products more than doubled, from 1,900 to almost 4,000.
Moreover, the average cost per call has decreased from $2.00 to $1.40.
CPSC is also promoting government efficiency by entering into a cooperative project with the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA). Customers calling CPSC's Hotline who need auto safety information are transferred directly to NHTSA's Auto Safety Hotline. Similarly, NHTSA transfers appropriate calls to the CPSC Hotline.
CPSC's Hotline number is: (800) 638-CPSC.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from the
unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's
jurisdiction.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury and for information on
CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter
at (301) 595-7054.
Consumers can also report product hazards via electronic mail by sending a message to
info@cpsc.gov.
Comments: info@cpsc.gov
Revised: May 5, 1996
URL: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/success/hotline.html