Crap service in South Africa – surely we can do better?
by Fred on 14/04/07 at 9:23 am
8 comments
Check this out. This is a rant from a new employee of World Wide Creative on her personal blog. She has only been in South Africa for 8 weeks now. This week she was in a state of utter frustration after being at the receiving end of continuous bad service from South African businesses – big and small.
When deciding to move to South Africa, I was warned by Cousin that I would be pulling my hair out with the level of service that we would recieve. If it was not for the 90p a glass champagne and the sunshine, I would most certainly be bald by now after only 2 months in the country.
After a day on the telephone to [First National Bank], I am writing a list of reasons not to do business in South Africa. This is not to say that we regret coming to this country, it has many things to offer. My advice is come to South Africa, but leave your business office in the UK.
Reasons:
1. "I will call you back" – only 0.01% of the time will this hold true.
2. Monopolies – since when should internet be so expensive? why does internet need to be capped? For £20 in the UK you can have super quick unlimited broadband.
In South Africa £20 does not even cover your telephone bill to the internet provider each week in complaint calls.
3. Internet only works between 7 at night and 11 in the morning – this means you must be nocturnal.
4. Call Centres. We may complain continuosly in the UK about our call centres, but, at least be grateful they are not based in South Africa. Even when speaking to our bank local branch face to face, we were told it is of no use to use the call centre.
5. Internet Banking. We have now been over a week without access to our bank, a change in system has led to 15,000 internet bankers being without access to their accounts. For a week we have been relying on the infamous "I will call you back" way of working.Having said that, the face to face customer service we have received has been great.
This is not the first time we’ve heard this kind of thing. After witnessing it first hand (after one harrowing day, this individual looked like she had just come out of a POW interrogation), I must sympathise deeply. I realised how desensitised I have become to crap service – I have almost become comfortable with it. It’s one thing to complain about it, but now, the question is: what are we, as the small business community, going to do about it?
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.
Karin H.
Apr 14th, 2007
Why does this remind me of our rants (2 months in the UK – seven years ago) about “don’t English businesses want to do business”, and we asked ourselves many times over: “have we time travelled?”
Items 1, 2 and 5 really bring back bad frustrating memories.
On the other hand, it did taught us how to become a better business ourselves
Alan Levin
Apr 16th, 2007
Interesting observation. I think its worth noting that one can get bad service anywhere you go, even the most service oriented cultures can have bad eggs in the batch.
As an example, the http://www.worldwidecreative.co.za/ website shows 240 errors in the html coding (according to the w3c standards). Many people would not notice it but some may complain.
Having said that I agree that the banks are particularly bad. Some are better than others especially if you have a good turnover in your account (this can get you personalised service that is globally competitive). SA telecoms companies are also renowned for poor service. My favourite is No Choice (they call themselves multi-choice).
I personally had an excellent FNB experience last week, but they have been under extreme pressure with major changes happening so I suggest that you give them another chance.
Fred
Apr 16th, 2007
Thanks for the observation Alan.
What you’re trying to highlight is maybe that ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’. As a service-oriented business ourselves, World Wide Creative has a proud track record of going above and beyond for our clients, notwithstanding the fact that w3 standards are second to our client’s profitability. World Wide Creative is a marketing company, not a technology company.
That said, W3 standards has been on our radar for the past few months now, and one of our team is focusing on getting our sites w3 compliant.
I think the point I’m trying to make is that this is it’s not the first time I’ve heard a visitor to our country talk about service. In fact, as it happens, South Africa has a reputation of delivering diabolical service.
I don’t want to get caught up in throwing stones – I want to uncover solutions.
Henre
Apr 17th, 2007
Interesting to say the least. Only when you show a commitment to service excellence, is it forgiveable to slip up a few times.
It is inevitable to slip up once in a while (often even), but true commitment to service delivery and the management of these slip-ups is what seperates the good from the bad.
Sjefke
Apr 17th, 2007
Yep, banks here are notorious – moving in from Holland, 6 years ago, we thought it couldn’t get much worse: used to only 6 mayor players, there was no real ‘competition’. Enter SA: with 4 banks only, it’s client’s hell: when you make an appointment twice with ABSA to open a new account, they don’t even follow up – so, no account, no new client (hopefully Barclays will cut out the dead wood – I have some candidates for instant lay off – just call me….)
And then their ‘friendliness’: we now come to the conclusion that it is easier to do business with a Colombian coke-cartel: you pay, they deliver. AT SA banks you’re not wellcome as a foreigner, distrusted (xeno-phobic) and charged for putting money in your account….
Overchraging and underperfoming seems the national creed. Or should I say greed?
Multichoice was hell as well. Discovery and other insurance companies are legalized and institutionalized theft-syndicates. Anyway, the big corps.
Now the SME’s. They suck. Too. They have 2 cellphones (male ego, you know), have major phone bills, but don’t seem to be able to inform clients: whether they will be late for an appointment (“Africa time” – sure, looser: if you can’t manage your own time, why would I spend my money with you) or simply return calls from a prospective client.
Asking for a quote, same story: 2 or 3 times is no exception. But if you hear them: complaining business is slow bla bla.
I think it is their inferiority complex: big mouth about service, delivery etc. But being boycotted for years (12 years is too little to adopt to a new world – the ANC suffers from that same disease), never been overseas, it is perhaps too much asked to gear up, to benchmark yourself in a globalizing world. But then, braai and rugby are their measure for success.
Makes it easier for us foreigners, though: opportunities, overtaking them left and right. But that makes them even more xenophobic…
Eish, so much to conquer here
Nicola
Apr 17th, 2007
Sjefke – great post this is exactly what I was talking about.
Sjefke
Apr 17th, 2007
Thanks Nicola – great minds….
In a way it is sad, frustrating and irritating though: this country has so much to offer, to everybody, and then they don’t grab the (full) opportunities – or they rip each other off, making everybody’s life harder. And (as a foreigner) you can scream until you are blue in the face, but you are the only one that seems to care…
Welcome to SA – we all rant, in and about every country, but at the end of the day this is a beautiful place. My unsollicited advice: go with the flow, adapt to (try to accept) the ‘hasta manana’ mentality of others, but do never become sloppy like that yourself – that way you keep your edge – it will pay off.
BTW: can’t find your blog – is it so private that they were not allowed to include a link? Not much link-love, my love LOL
Nic
Feb 12th, 2008
Check out http://www.crapservice.co.za – an all new site encouraging people to vent, but also compliment where it’s due, and most importantly to make suggestions which can be forwarded to the powers that be. Lets not only complain, but attempt to be a part of the solution!