3 hours to Deliver, That is Not Fast Food!

When people order fast food, like the name implies, they want it fast! How do you explain ordering lunch from one of these 'chicken ' eateries, less than two streets away, you have so much to do so you can not drive out  and decide to order instead. Three hours later, you are still waiting! And the shameless fast food (more like crawling food) still collect their delivery charge!

In civilised countries you get free delivery and even free meals when they fail to keep to time. And this crappy service just goes on and we all sit down and take it.

CSI team, we need to know what you intend doing asides sharing our stories.

Especially with these eateries. A colleague bought a pie, and there was a dead fly stuck to it, he showed it them, they just took it and gave him another. I bet they just took the fly off and sold it to some other unsuspecting customer.

Another eatery which starts with a T and is fast folding up (not surprised) actually serves left over meals!

Who monitors these guys? they are no better than iya basira who cooks her meal beside the gutter! At least her customers know what to expect!

Contributor: Very angry Customer

Karaoke Gone Wrong in Victoria Island...Zero Service

Last Friday, my colleagues and I decided to take our regular TGIF to very popular Karaoke bar in Victoria Island Lagos. We had called a day before to make reservation, and the number we called was the number on their website.  We were told to go and check the reservation procedure on line, make a deposit and call back to confirm. I was a bit irked, but went ahead and made the deposit.
We called the same number and the guy on the other end politely told us that he had seen the deposit, but we should call some landline he gave us to make the reservation. 
Ok, if you dont make reservations, why is your number the one on the website (he sounded like the boss/owner)
I told him if your number is there, then I should not be made to call anyone, he should do it.
But knowing how crazy fridays can be, and knowing how much crazier services can be in Nigeria, I decided to save my colleagues and I the drama and call the landline he gave. I was assured by some idiot called Mike that the reservation was confirmed for 7pm.
At 6:30, I called to say we are on our way, and the person on the other end said no problem.
We got there and voila, we did not have reservation!
They gave us a table for 8 instead of 12, they scurried about cluelessly looking for seats to add, asking already seated customers to please excuse us to get more seats!
This was a reservation made the day before and confirmed! Nobody was apologising of course. 
The daft, pot bellied manager was busy ass kissing some big client, and only made attempt to attend to me when he saw I was going to make trouble for him.
We managed to have a good time, with me still seething cos it looked like I failed in organising the outing.
Time to pay the bill, (of course I had already decided that I was not paying any stupid service charge as we got Zilch, and no tip for anybody either) the waiter gives me the bill, and I tell him we already made a deposit, so would need to deduct that and give him the balance, he said he was not aware, and I should go discuss with his manager!
How is it my business, I told him to do his frigging job and go confirm with his manager, not asking me to do his job. He confirmed, we paid and I remembered again this morning when someone told me about @service_talks on twitter, so I decided to rant and complain.
I wish you could publish names of companies, it will be good for these no good places to be afraid and train their staff members on customer service.

 P.S did i mention it took them almost an hour to actually start serving us?

Contributor: Damilola Akingbade

How Would You Define Customer Service

This  graphic representation clearly defines Customer Service:

Terrible Customer Service Experience at XYZ Telecom on Adeola Odeku

Very excited about this post below, It is our very first Customer Service story from a reader!  It shows people are responding to this website, it also makes me feel guilty that we have not been making regular posts.
Many thanks to our  twitter followers @service_talks, we see your DM's and we do appreciate them. Customer Service is important to the CSI team and we intend making a difference!

I have gotten a number of stories from people, talking about their worst experiences, most of them have mentioned specific companies and banks, before we go about publishing these stories, we would like to find out the legal implications to avoid lawsuits (all that balderdash about defamation of character, yada yada).

We would also like you all to know that this is not an opportunity to smear or slander targeted companies! If your cable is not working, or your flight was delayed, or your telecom/ service provider is acting crazy, or your bank is making crazy deduction, please find out why and be as sincere as possible about your stories. Also commend organisations that have been doing well in Customer Service delivery, I am sure there are some good stories out there!

We want to make a difference to CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY in Nigeria, we want companies to SEAT UP!

Thank you Obehi Okaisabo from Lagos for this contribution, Like I already told her, we will take out the name of the particular staff member, and the Telecom company.

CSI, I really hope this is published, cos I am sitting down at my office, typing this mail and really seething in anger.
Recently, I have been getting these annoying sms' from XYZ saying that I have not registered my line as per the NCC regulation, so I decided to go find out what the problem was as I had registered my line the first month NCC mentioned it (which is over two years ago)
I went to XYZ on Adeola Odeku as it is close to my house, first I thought it was a mix up and they would tell me to go, but some ill mannered lady tells me
'go and sit down with the other people there, they all came to register like you'
I was shocked at her hostility, but I complied.
Then some elderly many walks up to her from his seat and complains that he has been sitting for a while now, to which she responded 'have you filled out a form?' 
of course the old man was not informed that he had to, so after much drama she gave him a form and he went back to fill it.
I took this as a cue and went back to ask if I would have to fill one out as well, as I had registered before, and her reply was 'if you dont fill out a form, how will I know your details?'
At this point my patience was already wearing thin , so I snapped at her. I told her I had watched her be rude and not give people the right information for the past thirty minutes, and I was not going to take it from her. She told me I could go to another branch if I had a problem with her service!
At this point, other irritated customers joined me, and started expressing their disgust at her attitude.
Guess what? No manager came to scold her (maybe she is ogas girlfriend) and she was the only one attending to us all. She took probably a pee break, and came back when she felt like it!
I am still very mad as I type this, a colleague of mine said maybe she is overworked and frustrated, but seriously how is that my business?
Just appalled at the service we get in this country, and I had a similar one at the airport ....maybe I will send that one another day.

Please Intervene o!

I have always thought Customer service should be an easy thing to do if you take to cognisance the fact that people simply want to be treated with respect, consideration and curtesy.
Having been in that field for several years now, I would say...not so much so.
The purpose of this blog is to create an interractive forum where we get to read about people's customer service experiences (Good and bad), we also get to hear from the Customer Service Personnels (CSP) the challenges they face each day trying to render those services.
I have heard endless complaints as a CSP, and having been out of directly over the last few years, I still talk about it with so much passion. This is so,because I think of it as a vital part of any organisation's image.
So, lets share our stories and see if we can give the CSP's a hint on how to get it right, and also lets tell the Customers that CSP's are there to serve and assist you within reason and not get water from the moon!

Lets Intervene!

Customer Service: How Would You Rather Have It?

I always have and always will be interested in Customer service. I find it rather fascinating that everyone complains about poor services wherever they go to, even the customer service agents complain too. Makes you wonder who gives and receives these services? And if we all crave excellent customer service, why do we find it so hard to give.
It feels easy to blame the waitress for being rude while she serves you coffee, while you just walked out on a paying client in your banking hall where you work! 
We all expect good services, but maybe we should stop and think for one short second if we treat people in our everyday life the way we would like to be treated...bet most of you if honest will say No.
So, lets see how we can work on treating people with courtesy, say thank you and please when appropriate, maintain eye contact, listen and be as observant and helpful as you can be.
This blog is an intervention!