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Member services at a time of crisis
Like almost every enterprise around the world, Automobile Club Luxembourg has faced unprecedented challenges in the wake of the huge upheavals caused by the coronavirus crisis. How would the Club be able provide its members with advice and assistance of the same usual quality and effectiveness in such conditions? An emergency response plan was drawn up and implemented right away.
Timeline of events and steps taken:
9 March
ACL management issues an internal appeal to all staff. The aim is to establish who can work for the Club from home during the crisis. At the same time, efforts are made to provide the equipment needed to carry on working.
11 March
Automobile Club posts information from the Ministry of Health about the coronavirus crisis on its web site.
13 March
Offices close at ACL, the Diagnostic Center and the Centre National de Véhicules Historiques in Diekirch, where the Club has a branch.
Technical equipment enabling ACL staff to working remotely is ready for deployment and the internal IT dept provides staff with instructions. The operations centre in charge of coordinating breakdown services and Home Assistance is involved in the new way of working. Other issues presented to ACL, such as requests for legal advice and information about Club membership, are now handled by staff from home by phone or email.
ACL Assistance Center: there for members, especially in a crisis!
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How could we see to it that the ACL Service Routier went on working properly in an unprecedented crisis, ensuring business as usual for member services? Frank Ernst from the ACL Assistance Center explains:
“After an initial assessment of the available technology, we immediately established and activated the necessary user access options. We also set up a Teleworking for Operation Assistance Center, a sort of internal assistance line, enabling us to test functionality and get feedback on user experience."
We had to keep a close eye on data protection and security, of course. That’s why the IT team under Patrick Hames immediately produced a remote access information security policy and detailed instructions for different remote connections.
‘Remote work stations’ were set up in the homes of staff having to coordinate breakdown services from home. They received the appropriate instructions, and adjustments were made later if necessary. Teleconferencing and 24-hour assistance on Messenger made sure that, although physically isolated, staff never felt abandoned. Communication with other ACL services like accounts and external staff was also available at all times.
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ACL member trips to Moscow and Saint Petersburg scheduled for 20 and 27 March have to be cancelled. Further trips are cancelled in the days that follow. All ACL members on the trip to Patagonia return to Luxembourg a day earlier than planned.
The International Automobile Association (IAF), which ACL belongs to, postpones its Spring Meeting scheduled to take place in Naples in May 2020. ACL Sport announces cancellation of the Holtz Hillclimb, scheduled for 13 April.
16 March
Closure of ACL HQ is announced in the press and on social media. Note added to Diagnostic Center appointment forms.
19 March
ACL President Yves Wagner, speaks on RTL, confirming that breakdown services will continue unchanged, regardless of the crisis situation.
20 March
ACL uses social networks to thank breakdown staff, expressing its gratitude for their tireless commitment. Staff from the Clubmobil hire service, which belongs to Automobile Club, reorganise their process of working so that they too are prepared to deal with the crisis.
Automobile Club breakdown service: brilliant in a crisis!
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Throughout the pandemic, ACL breakdown staff and vehicle drivers have been just as committed and professional as ever, showing amazing flexibility in difficult working conditions! Coordinator Fabien Recht gives us a glimpse of how they work:
“To protect staff and ACL members against the risk of infection, the team was provided with masks, gloves and disinfectant. Members who had broken down or had an accident weren’t taken home in the breakdown vehicle, but a taxi was called instead. And the way they worked was adapted to the new situation right away, of course: 18 breakdown staff and vehicle drivers stayed at home on the substitute bench in case anyone on the active team fell ill, which luckily never happened!
Night-time and international call-outs and international transport were covered by partner companies. Two thirds of our breakdown vehicles were taken home by staff, and changeovers happened there to insure minimum contact between drivers."
ACL breakdown staff responded to 2,852 call-outs a month to help members in need. They effected 2,467 call-outs in April. Most of them were due to dead or defective car batteries.
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24 March
ACL uses social networks to thank breakdown staff, expressing its gratitude for their tireless commitment. Staff from the Clubmobil hire service, which belongs to Automobile Club, reorganise their process of working so that they too are prepared to deal with the crisis.
31 March
Bausch says that he is against extending the vehicle inspection deadline. He justifies his position with the argument that vehicle safety is vital, especially in a crisis, and particularly for courier drivers and anyone still depending on their vehicle for professional reasons.
Automobile Club announces that it is making its breakdown service available to anyone working in the medical or health sector if they need it from now until the end of the coronavirus crisis, whether they are Club members or not.
1st April
New edition of the Club Autotouring magazine published and sent out to members on schedule.
2 April
Under the heading “ACL Crisis Response: Assisting travelling members”, ACL member travel service explains steps taken to ensure that participants can go back to travelling again quickly and safely.
As part of the “3D Print – Let’s Fight Corona Luxembourg” initiative, Automobile Club sets up a drop-off point at its HQ in Bertrange, where people with 3D printers can donate masks and other protective equipment that they’ve made themselves. Two members of staff from the ACL breakdown service join the initiative with their own printers. Items are delivered to the Lycée des Arts et Métiers, which then passes them on to health services.
3 April
Transport Ministry announces that vehicle inspection appointments can be postponed temporarily for vehicles of people in risk groups. The measure applies to vehicles with an inspection certificate expiry date between 18 March and the end of the coronavirus crisis. The vehicle inspection still has to be carried out by 1 September 2020.
7 April
ACL Clubcar makes three vehicles available to the Health Ministry free of charge. Automobile Club does so to thank health sector staff for all they are doing and help them with mobility.
11 April
ACL Clubcar makes three more vehicles available to the government crisis unit.
28 April
In a collaboration with student association ACEL, Young ACL provides overseas students with important news and information. Students can also ask questions by email or telephone. In the weeks before that, Luxembourg auto sport was featured on the ACL youth programme Facebook page, including a report on young rally star Dylan Pereira.
30 April
In a collaboration with Digital Inclusion a.s.b.l., Automobile Club sets up a second drop-off point at its Bertrange HQ. This time, locals are encouraged to donate used laptops and smart phones to be distributed to underprivileged students so they can go on studying at home in ideal conditions.
4 May
ACL Trafic Info starts up again after weeks of practically no traffic on Luxembourg’s roads, issuing information on current traffic conditions via the media again. Club’s tourist service posts answers to member on our
FAQs web page (in French only), mainly about rules of international travel during the crisis.
© Florin Balaban