Customer care or customer fraud?

Getting a prompt response and solution to a challenge associated with a product/service from a company, can be very fulfilling. In the same vein, the frustrations that go with an unattended challenge of a product and/or service are better imagined than experienced.  Apparently to handle these “frustrations”, companies, through their customer care units, have positioned customer service representatives, to attend to customers’ challenges regarding their products and/or services, and other queries.

However, while this has worked effectively and efficiently with some business organizations, as they have been deliberate about it, in some others, it could be said to be a smoke-screen. For some business concerns, deliberate “lies” are part of the game, provided they are “succeeding” in them, and are making profit.

Nevertheless, this customer care service variation, has thrown up the question- Is it customer care or customer fraud? amongst concerned customers. A business management and marketing consultant, Mr. Akin Akinkugbe, responded to this question this way “It is obviously a fraud; a situation where a customer service representative tells a customer one thing and does another”

Mr Akinkugbe didn’t stop at just the answer, he blamed business organizations for this unwholesome practice saying “they set up customer care units, pretending to be concerned about their customers’ problems, whereas their intentions are opposite”  He however exonerated customer care representatives , adding “most times, these customer care representatives are not trained, and when they are, the company, perhaps out of lack of trust, refuses to avail them of all the required information about a challenge. And because the customer care rep. has been trained to present the company in a good light always, he or she will keep assuring a customer that all is well even when he or she is in the dark”. Akinkugbe said.

However, yours sincerely witness a charged altercation recently in a business organization that ostensibly gave credence to Akinkugbe’s position. Read below.

Ada Okeke (not real name), has a frustrating issue with her branded smart phone.  The purpose of buying the smart phone ab initio, according to her, was to enjoy, and utilize all the “advertised” functions of the phone for her personal use and some of her rather “urgent” official works.  But the “enjoyment and utility” were cut short when the phone started malfunctioning. The next thing that came to Ada’s mind was to take the phone back to the company where she bought it from.

At the company, she met with a customer-care representative that took her complaints, details, and  told her to drop the phone; assuring her to come back in about four days’ time to pick it up, repaired.

As told, she came back, and met a different customer care representative who took fresh details of her previous complaints, feigning ignorance of any trace of her initial complaints. Not bothered, Ada cooperated and supplied another detail of her challenge.  Thereafter, the “new” customer care representative promised Ada, that she would be on her (Ada) “case” and make sure she gets her phone on a promised day- in a week’s time, with an assurance similar to that of the previous customer service representative, that “all will be well” by the time she comes back.  According to Ada, “I had to keep my cool, and hide my disappointment, knowing that there’s no need quarrelling. Getting my phone restored was my focus”

Here comes the “promised day” and Ada, with excitement, came for her phone without any premonition of further or any excuses; not after a “convincing assurance” according to her, from the second customer-care rep.

This time, she was “lucky” to meet the customer care representative she met during her first time visit to report her challenge. But alas! She got another disappointment- “We are yet to fix your phone” said the customer care representative cautiously, after she made some enquiries concerning the phone from the department concerned.

This got Ada infuriated who amongst considerations, felt she was being taken for granted. For Ada, she has been magnanimous in her understanding. Hear her “I can understand that phones could malfunction, but making me spend my time and money coming here always with the false hope that you are fixing my phone is not fair at all” She added “I don’t think I committed any crime patronizing you guys”. It was this outburst that drew yours sincerely’s attention to her plight.

Apparently looking for whom to share her plight with, Ada found succor in the listening ears that her “eruption” attracted as we sought to understand her more. That seeming kind gesture of ours attracted about four other customers that have the same issue similar to Ada’s. Interestingly, one Henry Odigie (not real name) was uncontrollable in his angst. It took timely intervention of some of us to calm him down. But that was after he shared his story. That day was the fifth time Henry Odigie would come for his phone as assured buy the company’s customer care rep.  For him, he is suspecting a foul play, and insisted his phone must be given to him “that day, repaired or not”.

Over to the management- the customer service representative that Ada met during her first visit was looking “lost but calm” during the whole imbroglio. Her disposition portrayed “I only did my job and any other thing after that, not my business”.

In the midst of the “noisy melee” a senior director of the company came out obviously to douse the “tension”. Expectedly, he was diplomatic in his approach; promising to look into the issue, and proposed a fresh date for the parties concerned to come for their phones. This really did not go down well with the parties who saw the “appeasement” as another ploy to “put them away”.

As the different voices were getting cacophonous against the plea from the director, Henry Odigie screamed louder, saying “If you think you have customer care, you don’t; what you have is customer fraud”. Wow!

But would you blame Henry Odigie, Ada and their “co-complainants” for “trying” to disrupt a peaceful business environment? This is more so after several assurances from the company, with their desired results.  This sure looked like customer fraud, and not customer care.

To be fair to most companies, they may have good intentions of taking care of customers’ challenges, but for some actions and inactions, their “customer care” is misconstrued to be “customer fraud” Who wouldn’t react on noticing a fraud?  After-all for every action, there is equal and opposite reaction.

Situation like this above is common place in most businesses, but it is pertinent to state, from the situation above, that customers are understanding enough to know that issues come up with services and products. What I know that didn’t add up, were the promises made to them by the company that they didn’t meet. No one likes to be deceived, or mildly put, taken for granted.

Therefore, in as much it is commendable to have a functional customer care unit with customer care representatives with sweet-soothing voices and training, it must be done with utmost integrity bearing in mind that customers must not be taken for granted. 

Anything short of the promise to customer, is “customer fraud”

Arinze Okamelu