The new facility joins an existing Customer Service Center (CSC) that is currently
located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a new Customer Service Centem in the TFS/LFS
Eastern region, which will be located in Owings Mills, Maryland. The two new
Customer Service Centers are part of an organizational restructuring effort
to continually improve the satisfaction of our customers.
The Customer Service Center in Chandler will provide service to approximately
632,000 loan and lease customers living in the Western region, and expects to
handle an estimated 4.4 million incoming and outgoing customer and dealer calls,
as well as nearly 500,000 pieces of mail per year. Typical activities of the
center include basic account maintenance such as address changes, account status
inquiries, retail and lease payoff inquiries, and payment processing.
"This new customer care center will provide our customers with the highest
levels of service and customer satisfaction," said George E. Borst, President
and CEO of Toyota Financial Services and Lexus Financial Services. "We
continue to develop a high-tech / high-touch environment where we use technology
to enable us to deliver personalized service to our customers. Our customer
service representatives use the latest telephone and computer technologies as
tools to take care of our customers, who are the most important aspect of our
business."
Toyota Financial Services first established operations in Phoenix, Arizona
in July of 1987 with 9 associates. The Phoenix branch office provided service
to local dealers and customers. Last year, a restructuring was announced to
move all of the customer service functions out of the 30 branch offices across
the U.S. and into 3 regional customer service centers. The branch offices have
transformed into dealer sales and service offices, which will focus its attention
on the needs of Toyota and Lexus dealers. The Phoenix Dealer Sales and Service
office has been moved, and is now co-located with the Customer Service Center
in Chandler.
When looking for a home for the new Western region Customer Service Center,
the Phoenix metro area rose to the top of the list. "We were hoping to
retain and relocate 40-50 of our associates to the new center in Chandler. However,
we had almost 200 associates who toured the Phoenix metro area and decided to
make it their new home," said Geri Brewster, Vice President -- Human Resources
and Real Estate. "In addition, when we held a job fair to recruit for the
remaining positions, we had over 1000 applicants. The workforce is talented
and passionate, and has a real commitment to delivering extraordinary customer
care. It is an ideal place to do business."
TFS is the finance and insurance brand for Toyota in the US, offering retail
auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) and
extended service contracts through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). Lexus
Financial Services is the brand for financial products for Lexus dealers and
customers.
TFS is the third largest captive finance company, and the seventh largest finance
company in the United States. TFS currently employs over 2700 associates nationwide,
and has managed assets totaling more than $34 billion. It is part of a worldwide
network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services
Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation.
