“Excuse me please, do you work here?” I asked with a smile
“Do I work here? You are asking me ‘do I work here?’. What kind of question is that? Am I not the one that served you food in your room today? And you are asking if I work here. What kind of question is that?”
I pulled back sharply in a mixture of disbelief and shock. Did a hotel staff just attack me like that?
“Why are you talking to my guest like that? What is wrong with you?” My friend asked with the disbelief I felt, clearly etched in her voice.
Staring at her disdainfully for a moment, he walked straight out on her. My level of disbelief had reached a whole new level. WHAT?! My friend, who is not one to let slights go, quickly walked straight to the reception to report the insult that had just been dished to us by a member of their staff who is actually supposed to be extremely polite to guests, no matter what. Surprisingly, she got another shocker there as well, because she was all but walked out of the reception. I still think it very unfortunate that they were our last resort to be used in lodging the bridal party for her wedding the next day so we really could not check everyone out of the 7 rooms we had booked for.
This is just a sad example displaying the sorry state of our customer services in Nigeria. I have experienced many such annoyances, some thankfully minor and others grossly inflated enough to make me shrink and swear never to use the services of the companies in question, ever again. I used to think it was the norm to hire trained customer services personnel that would butter up clients and make them eager to continue their patronage of the company and its services, but I have been harshly roused to the reality of our almost lack of quality customer services in Nigeria. It begs me to ask, these companies hiring naive novices with terrible customer skills, are they actually profit oriented or open for show? I realise however, that some of these companies do not place enough relevance on their customer care departments, hence their freedom to be totally bitchy to clients and lacking in even basic information.
I once worked as a customer care rep in a service oriented company and this entailed me taking calls from sometimes irate and downright rude customers. Regardless of their dispositions, I always had a smile that could be heard in my voice and information for the enquiring minds. This ensured that we retained our existing clients, and secured new ones. The importance of customer services really cannot be over-emphasized. Companies need to take second looks into that department and ensure they have only the best in the department.
I know this is a somewhat herculean task as I have observed that the average Nigerian is rude and mostly unwilling to take corrections, so training have to be done extensively and intensively. I know a lot of feathers would be ruffled by this statement I have made, but I stand by it as I am sure some honest people would also do. This post is an appeal to the general public especially those working in the customer care departments of companies. This issue has been over-flogged and I am just a voice amongst many, but I cannot refrain from adding my own voice to the cry for quality customer services from the companies we patronise. I am tired of calling a care line and having the person on the other line shout me down and hang up on me because I did not hear her clearly enough to understand what she said. I am tired of being stared down in the very offices I bring my money to just because I am wearing a Wana Sambo dress and Jimmy Choos. I want to be treated like the valued customer that I should be, even if all I bring is a naira that brings their monthly profits to a naira more than usual and pays the salaries of these same people that treat me like roadside trash.
THEODORA CHIMONEZ
