Excellent response from customer service

Just the other day, I visited my bank to change my ATM card after getting the usual expiry notice. The bank is very advanced in terms of technology and therefore I rarely visit my branch or any other branch. Most of the time, I use mobile banking and mobile money transfers to get cash in and out of my account.

As I visited the bank, the New Year had just started and at that time of the day, the queues were not long. We were just less than ten customers and all of us were men. It looked like all of us were impatient. I had spent most of the day dealing with schools, from nursery, primary to high school as I happened to be the chairman of the school where my children go. Therefore, my day had been hectic and it looked like it was the same to the other customers at the bank. We had to wait for long because one customer took too long at the customer service desk. As usual, this makes other waiting customers uncomfortable and it can also be irritating.

My bank is one of those banks where things look very orderly and everything is neat. As my turn came to be served and before I stood up, a young lady walked in and went straight and sat down to be served before me. I had been there for more than one hour and this was quite annoying. I complained and the customer service staff did not listen or take any action. The other customers were equally irritated. Then, the lady was served and she went away.

As I sat down to be served, I reminded the staff that she should not have allowed that to happen. I told her they should install a queue control system that gives a ticket. For that she said “we do not have that here”. I told her, then, she should request such a customer to wait a little or join the queue. For that she said “you are the ones on the queue and should control it”. I did not enjoy these responses so, as usual I kept quiet.    I was served and I left the desk.

So, what did I do? We live in very good times whereby every customer has access to decision makers using online platforms and the social media. Before leaving the bank, I just sat down at the waiting bay. I went online using my phone and complained directly using the bank’s social media platform. Let me tell you! A few minutes later, I received apologies and a request to explain the details of my bad experience. They asked me for my phone number and they actually called me. They promised and assured me that such a thing will never happen again. They went on to ask me if I was interested in opening a personal account.

What do we get from this story? Most of us do not get annoyed, I guess. Others choose not to complain at all and that is fine. I always ask people to complain in a way that helps to rectify the situation. If we choose to not to complain, it is said that is a ‘dangerous customer’. Such a customer goes away and may never come back. That category of customers is a big number as only a few of us choose to complain, hoping that something is done. Yes, most of the complaining customers usually do so with good intentions. In my case, the bank had put in place an excellent customer service system. The response I got was excellent and very timely. If you like this story, please smile!