Metro

Hold on! City takes too long on replies

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They’re supposed to be focused on customer service, but two-thirds of city agencies aren’t meeting the administration’s own standard of answering e-mails and letters within 14 days.

Figures released last week show that only 11 of 36 agencies hit the target every time last year.

One of the unhealthiest response rates was posted by the Health Department. More than two-thirds of people who contacted the agency via e-mail — 69 percent — didn’t get a response within the prescribed period.

Those who decided to take the old-fashioned route by writing a letter got even worse service — they were left hanging for more than 14 days in 82 percent of cases.

The results were also dismal at the Administration for Children’s Services, where responses to 69 percent of e-mail inquiries and 74 percent of letters were off target.

ACS conceded it needs to do better. In a statement, the agency said it would implement “a new correspondence-management system.”

But Health officials defended their performance by saying that they measure response times differently than other agencies and, therefore, shouldn’t be held to the 14-day standard.

“The Health Department reports the time it takes to actually address a concern or complaint, not the time it takes to respond to a letter or e-mail,” said spokeswoman Chanel Caraway.

Even under that system, the Health Department is falling short.

It took the agency longer to answer both e-mail and letter inquiries in the 2012 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, than it did the previous fiscal year.

At the Taxi & Limousine Commission, a flood last December at its Long Island City, Queens, licensing facility resulted in slower response times both by phone and for in-person appointments — the worst record of all city agencies in those two categories.

But despite being water-logged for three months at a key facility, the TLC still managed to get to 78 percent of e-mails and 97 percent of letters on time.

The Buildings Department attributed its below-average response times to a 5.4 percent increase in construction-project filings. But records show the increase in filings was coupled with a decrease in the number of complaints.

Most of the agencies that achieved perfect records were the smaller ones, such as the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the Business Integrity Commission.

Even though Mayor Bloomberg has made “customer service” a priority since taking office in 2002, records show virtually no year-to-year improvement between fiscal 2011 and 2012.

In the e-mail category 12 agencies posted faster responses and 11 posted slower ones. When it came to letters, nine agencies answered them more quickly and 11 got back more slowly.