OUTsurance 24hr Assistance vs. Vodacom 147
by Fred Roed on 26/02/07 at 10:57 pm
11 comments
Earlier this month I celebrated my 33rd birthday. Yep, in 66 years I’ll be 99. Anyway, my wife and I did something special. We went out for dinner at an exceptionally expensive restaurant (Moyo. R180 per head for the buffet and worth every African penny). I got serenaded, twice; had my face painted; and had a few swigs of one the Cape’s finest: Haute Cabriere’s 2003 Pinot Noire. We even sat in the treetop table, and watched the full moon rise.
A perfect night out, it would seem. But, as many of us know, there’s no such thing as a perfect night out in Africa.
We finished our dinner, sated with a selection of unbelievably decadent desert treats, carted our full stomachs to the car and started our slow, lazy drive home.
And then, BAM! A blowout.
Not just any blowout, I must stress. This blowout occurred 15 minutes outside of Cape Town, on the N2 – commonly referred to by the tabloids as ‘Crime Hell’ – on the Vanguard Road turnouff – commonly referred to by the tabloids as ‘The Capital of Crime Hell’.
So, there we sat: in my new, gleaming silver Scenic, birthday boy and 4 month pregnant wife, on the side of the road, at 11:30 at night…on a full moon. I look to the left and right, and all I can see are the poverty-stricken township houses that make up 60% of Cape Town’s population. Some of the most violent gangs in the world run amok in this part of the world.
What the bleep do I do now?
My first thought was to get out and do a record beating tyre change, but then I reasoned: If I was a tik-crazed gangster, I would think it was my birthday if I saw some lily-white suburbs boy stepping out onto my doorstep to change a tyre.
The obvious solution was to start phoning people. In quick succession, I rang:
1. My mom
2. The police
3. 147 ‘Peace of Mind’
4. OUTsurance
In case you don’t know what 147 is, I pay a couple of extra bob on my cell contract every month to a Vodacom add-on called Peace of Mind. It’s an emergency rescue service supposedly provides, erm, peace of mind. You’d think, anyway. They didn’t answer the first time, and then, the second time when I got through, the guy takes my details and tells me they’d phone back.
After not hearing from 147 for a good half-hour, and with my wife and I reciting the Lord’s Prayer more than once, I remembered that, with my insurance policy, I had access to the OUTsurance 24hr assistance line. I called and spoke to a guy called Rueben. I explained to Rueben where we were, and after a brief silence, he told me to wait 1 minute. Sure enough, he calls back in 1 minute. Rueben told me that I had to wait another 5 minutes for ‘R&J Towing Service’. Rueben then gave us stern instructions not to get out the car, to keep the motor running, and to keep his number ready. By this time he had also phoned the police to let them know where we were.
Sure as Bob, 5 minutes later, a tow-truck arrives. The young driver helps out with the tyre in double-quick time and followed us all the way back to our turn-off. Rueben phoned me again, and when he heard we were safe, he let out a deep breath and said: ‘Oh, thank God. Thank God!’
Talk about a guy that cares.
As for Vodacom 147, they took 45 mins to phone me back. Then, when they did, they had no idea of the details of my situation, even though I took great care to explain it to the first guy. When I exclaimed that this was fairly serious, being on Vanguard Drive at midnight, the operator told me that they were sorry, but they needed to verify what ‘package’ I was on first before they could send someone out.
Big up to OUTsurance. Rueben – you rock!
Vodacom 147, consider my peace of mind in writing this post and informing you our relationship is over.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred Roed.
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Tags: company insurance, insurance companies
Henre
Feb 27th, 2007
Fred, a big thanks to you for writing this article. I should really trackback and provide you with my own little tale on Vodacom. (the cell phone part of the company) But I fear for my health if I have to go through another 45 minutes of anger in writing it.
The good news of course, is OUTsurance. A big fat congratulations to a company who still believes in the wellbeing of people. See, it’s not just about insurance anymore, it’s about relationships. And by doing that part well, they have established a client (friend even?) for life. And not just that. The good word is spread through the magic of the internet.
Oh yes: The Entrepreneur Magazine (Feb 07 edition, pg 49) has a great article on Moyo in the words of Jason Lurie, the brainchild behind the success story. Featured article: Profit through Growth.
Cheers
Andrew
Feb 27th, 2007
I have just removed a comment that someone by the name of “ZA Poster” left on this post. It was a personal attack on Fred, and didn’t make for pleasant reading. I doubt that this person would ever say what he said to Fred’s face (particularly seeing as Fred is 6′4″ and 100kg), so I don’t believe it should be said anywhere.
Mike Perk
Feb 27th, 2007
This isn’t a personal attack on Fred, but 100kg has got to be a lower end estimate. Despite his efforts in the pool, Fred is still packing the pounds.
On the issue of good service, I’ve just got off the phone with Telkom who are sorting out a line to our new offices. I was dreading the call after hearing horror stories of automated voices and getting through to someone who can’t help and passes you to someone else, who happens to be the wrong person, etc, etc.
Anyway, with sleeves rolled up and a heavy dose of caffine inside me I called. Only to find arguably the best service I have had since I arrived in Cape Town a couple of weeks ago. The lady on the other end of the line was helpful, polite and understanding of my needs. She even called back within 10 minutes when trying to get my line set up faster than the date we had been allocated.
I don’t know if many people say it or whether I’ll come back and retract my statement when something goes wrong, but for me today, Telkom rocked as well.
thescott
Feb 27th, 2007
There’s an alternative to having to stop on the roadside after a blow out – Runflat tyres!
Standard on 1 and 3 series BMW’s, but also available from various tyre manufacturers.
You should be able to go another 250km at 80km/h before needing to get it fixed.
Good to know what to expect from these roadside assistance guys.
Henre
Feb 27th, 2007
A general customer service revolution has embarked in South Africa people.
Vodacom, Telkom, Eskom, SARS (as per your latest article), please keep this up.
The problem isn’t with raising the bar. It’s keeping it there. Moreover, it’s continuously raising it. Constantly exceeding the expectations of clients is key.
It takes only two acts of superior customer service to write about these companies in public…indicative of our poor state of customer service.
Karin
Feb 27th, 2007
What you should do now (my own experience with blogging about darn good customer service and naming the good guys):
track the amount of traffic to this specific post and see if there is a lot of traffic coming in from one point/link (or server). If that happens, you know that the one who’s linking is proud to be a part of the company that is mentioned here: which indicates that customer service is embedded in the core value of that company.
If it doesn’t happen (also own experience) it’s a safe bet the received good customer service is a ‘one-off’ and really due to a person’s own values, not the companies values.
Make a good house a GREAT home
Mar 2nd, 2007
OUTsurance proves themselves
OUTsurance vs. Vodacom. And the winner is? OUTsurance by a loooooooooong shot!
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