By Matthew Henry

DARWIN: Nokia has reopened a customer care centre the Northern Territory after a 12 month absence with a new shopfront in the Mitchell Centre in Darwin, and now claims to be the only mobile phone maker to offer local care to Territorians.

This is the first time Nokia has opened a customer care centre in the heart of a shopping centre, giving customers easier access to phone repairs on-the-spot.

Nokia Australia customer care manager, Peter Thomas, said that the brand’s return to the Northern Territory means the long waiting times associated with phone servicing will no longer be necessary for Nokia customers.

“No longer do Territorians have to wait for their phones to be sent away to be fixed – we can now service approximately 80 per cent of all repairs on-site providing faster repair turn-around times,” said Thomas.

“We wanted to ensure that when we re-opened in Darwin after a 12 month absence that we delivered state-of-the-art facilities in the Territory.

“We believe that the wait was worth it. The new facility features a fully-equipped technical workshop, an internet kiosk providing software updates to customers without the need to leave their phone, plus comfortable customer lounge and service areas,” he said.

According to Nokia, the new centre is part of a recent multimillion dollar investment in the customer care program, which Nokia claims is unmatched by any of its competitors in the Australian market.

The Darwin shopfront is one of 13 walk-in customer care facilities around the country, giving customers access to repair and warranty support, technical support, software updates, product training and education as well as accessory sales.

“The new Darwin centre not only supports local consumer but allows us to support over 20 local phone retailers,” said Thomas.

The Darwin centre is manned by a team of four and will service all the Northern Territory and surrounding regions.