Railroad Retirement Board
Railroad Retirement Board Customer
Service Update
November 2009
RRB Scores High in Customer
Satisfaction Survey
The U.S. Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB) earned a score of 88 out of a possible 100 in a recent American
Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey. This is 19 points higher than the
latest Federal government average of 69 and demonstrates a very high level of
satisfaction with the services provided by the RRB.
The ACSI survey
focused on railroad workers who had recently retired and were receiving monthly
annuity payments from the RRB. This segment of the agency’s beneficiary
population was originally surveyed in 2001 and the current score reflects a
6-point improvement over the previous score of 82.
The survey
evaluated the areas of customer service, the retirement application process,
the quality of written information provided by the RRB (including the agency’s
Web site, printed publications, and award and estimate letters), and telephone
service.
The 2009 survey
found the RRB scoring highest (93) in the area of customer service, with
courteous and professional personnel providing clear and accurate information.
This was a 2-point increase over the 2001 score of 91.
The retirement
application process received a score of 87, with customers pleased with the
ease of the process and the promptness with which they received their first
payments. Customers also did not find the amount of supporting documentation
required to be burdensome. The 2001 score in this area was 84.
The customers
surveyed also gave a rating of 87 to the written information provided to
applicants by the RRB, and were particularly satisfied with the accuracy and
usefulness of the information. The 2001 score in this area was 85.
Satisfaction with
telephone service was rated highly at 82. This area was not included in
the 2001 survey.
Customers
also had a high level of confidence in the RRB doing a good job, with a score
of 91. Likewise, they were very willing to say positive things about the
agency, with a score of 93. Both confidence in the RRB, and a willingness to
say positive things about the agency, showed improvements of 4 and 5 points,
respectively, from 2001.
Produced through a
partnership of the University of Michigan Business School, the CFI Group, and
the American Society for Quality, the ACSI regularly measures national customer
satisfaction with corporate and government goods and services. Working with the
Department of the Interior’s National Business Center Federal Consulting Group,
government agencies participating in the survey use the ACSI to gauge their
level of service and benchmark their performance for comparison with similar
organizations in the private sector. The ACSI also helps agencies focus on
those processes, based on customer feedback, which will have the biggest impact
on an agency’s ability to deliver the highest quality products and services.
This marks the
fifth time the RRB has participated in the survey. In 2006, the RRB earned a
score of 85 in an ACSI survey of railroad workers who were recently awarded disability
benefits, and a score of 90 in a 2005 ACSI survey that focused on its survivor
benefit process. The RRB also earned a score of 75 in a 2002 survey of
railroad unemployment and sickness benefit claimants, and a score of 82 in the
2001 survey of recently retired railroad workers
The addresses and phone numbers of all the RRB’s field offices are available on the agency’s Web site at www.rrb.gov or by calling the toll-free RRB Help Line at 1-800-808-0772. The RRB Help Line is an automated telephone service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Applications for railroad retirement or survivor benefits
are generally filed at one of the RRB's field
offices, or with an RRB representative at one of the office's Customer OutReach Program (CORP) service locations, or by telephone
and mail. Persons can find the address and phone number of the RRB
office serving their area by calling the automated toll-free RRB Help Line at
1-800-808-0772, or from the RRB's Web site at www.rrb.gov. Most RRB
offices are open to the public from
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
Posted: 11/21/09