Case Stories

Ms. N’s builder was not responding to her concerns about water penetration, so she attempted to contact Tarion’s Customer Service Department for information on the warranty process.

When Ms. N attempted to reach the Contact Centre, she found that she was unable to get through and ended up leaving voice messages. However, when Tarion employees returned her calls, they did not leave a name or extension number for call back. Instead, Ms. N found herself having to repeat her issues and concerns all over again each time she contacted Tarion.  

The New Home Ombuds discussed this issue with Tarion’s Director of Customer Service. The Director informed the Ombuds that this approach is standard procedure because when calls come into the general phone line they are more likely to be picked up live than if they go to an individual staff number.  

However, because of the concern raised by Ms. N, the Director agreed that a change would be made to Tarion’s call back process to ensure that Customer Service staff will leave an email address as well as the general phone number when returning a call. This way, customers like Ms. N can email details of their concerns and a specific staff person will be assigned to assist, cutting out the “telephone tag”. This change allows for continuity in addressing issues and prevents the need for homeowners to start over with each interaction.