An assessment of the effectiveness of complaints desk in the public sector: A case of selected institutions in dar es salaam.

ABSTRACT

This study was assessing the effectiveness of the Complaints Desk in Public Sector. It based at looking the awareness of the general public and challenges of using Complaint desk to handle complains of the services users. The study was conducted in Dar es salaam and used a sample of 150 respondents including 45 public officials and 105 citizens. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data were presented by using descriptive statistics mainly frequency, percentages and tables. The results revealed that the majority of respondents were not aware or they had not seen complaint desk in the public institutions. On the other hand, the findings showed that the majority of the respondents agree with the fact that complaint desk is an easy platform to express their concerns. However, the results for the variable of accessibility and availability of the tool in the public institutions had more negative response and they also challenged ability of the public institutions to provide feedback or make changes after complaining through complaint desk. The challenges unraveled in the implementation of the tool entailed negligence of the public institutions, illiteracy of the public, lack of confidence and trust of the public in using the tool. The study therefore recommended that, the government through its public institutions should pay attention to “customer complaint” in order to increase customers’ loyalty. It should also incorporate complaint handling system in the policy to show its commitment in offering qualitable public services.