Scania Assistance is celebrating 25 years of delivering what it says is “a silver service” to customers as the conduit between them and their vehicles, and the OEM’s service network.
The in-house support service began in August 1998 with a single contact centre in Scania’s home of Södertälje. It dealt with 5,000 cases per annum. Scania Assistance now has 15 locations globally, supporting customers in 52 countries and handling over 250,000 cases each year.
In the UK, the Scania Assistance centre is located in Bradford. It houses a group of experienced service coordinators. In addition to supporting customers here, it also receives calls from Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia.
Those centre staff liaise with “an army of expert field service technicians” that specialise in all of Scania’s business areas including coach and bus. Manager for Scania Assistance Western Europe Andy Greenwood describes the quarter-century milestone as “a fabulous achievement.”
He adds: “It is credit to everyone in the Scania Assistance team, as they all play a crucial role in answering our customers’ distress calls and getting them back moving as quickly as possible.”
Managing Director for Scania Assistance Tobias Andersson explains that the support network was established to supplant many different emergency call centres globally operating under different names, including Greenflag in the UK.
“In 1998, we decided to give our customers even better support. This year, we reach an incredible milestone in Scania Assistance’s journey, but this has only been made possible by the team that makes it a reality,” notes Mr Andersson.
As part of the 25-year celebrations, a trio of technicians have been crowned Heroes of the Road by their peers in recognition of their commitment to keeping Scania’s customers moving. Later this year, a Scania Family docuseries that focuses on the Scania Assist team will be released.