Consumers speak out against poor service

Corporate institutions (both public and private) have come under severe criticism for their unending and lackadaisical response to consumer complains of poor service and customer care.

The worst culprits are the mobile telecommunication giants who despite customer complaints continue to rip them off with poor network, high call drop rates and frozen lines.

Assurances of “we are working to resolve the difficulties and have spent millions of dollars to install new equipments” never get fulfilled for months, during which period, poor subscribers pay high tariffs but are unable to easily terminate calls.

“The regulators are not doing their business and customers often lose in the debate,” says Management consultant Nana Ato Conduah on Accra based JoyFM during a discussion on poor service delivery.

Despite several complaints about poor service delivery and calls for businesses to make customer care and high service delivery priorities, many consumers and clients insist that the situation keeps worsening.

Dennis Wemah, a young banker told the dailyEXPRESS that many businesses do not take customer complaints serious because “they know that we’ll only complain for a while and forget it, in any case we for some funny reason go back to these places despite the shabby treatment.”

The sentiments expressed on JoyFM this week and random interviews by the dailyEXPRESS, though not knew, suggests that the consuming public is fed up with such bad practices.

From the perennial poor service providers, the cellular network providers and the country’s monopolistic utility providers to other private companies and the public service, the public had nothing positive to say about many of the service providers.

Some customers are now threatening possible public demonstrations to register their disapproval of the poor services provided by especially the cellular network owners.

In random interviews, many respondents were also unhappy about the services provided by the banks, transportation sector and governmental agencies.

Fred Crentsil, an IT Consultant who operates an Internet café, ‘Worldpoint’ in Tema says he’s frustrated but typically, would not name his Internet Service Provider.

“I pay so much for the internet service but unfortunately the service I receive, the least talked about it the better,” he said.

For about 45 minutes while this reporter was at the café, the link was down and customers had to sit up waiting to browse.

Mr. Crentsil said “these people will not understand that the problem is coming from the source. For them once they’ve paid you have no excuse to waste their time and, this is seriously affecting me as well.”

Amidst all the frustration, clients asking him when the link will come, and me asking him questions, he gets a call and seconds later, it was the usual hello, hello, can you hear me.

“We are made to pay for things like this in Ghana, uh, uh,” he blurted out.

Fred Crentsil told the dailyEXPRESS that consumers have been taken for a ride for far too long; agreeing that it’s about time something is done.

Following the complaints from many respondents about banking service, the dailyEXPRESS sought responses from some banks in the Tema area, but nobody will talk.

We were however showed what was labeled suggestion boxes in some obscure corners of the banks visited and told that customers who had issues can drop their concerns in there.

There couldn’t have been any further demonstration of a lackadaisical response to customer complaints.

Management consultant Nana Ato Conduah says the absence of a credible consumer protection body in the country has somewhat been responsible for the current problem.

He cited the National Communication Authority (NCA) in particular for condemnation, noting that as a regulatory body it appears to be failing in making sure companies within its jurisdiction live by the terms of agreements signed.

According to him, it is important for the NCA to have a service level agreement with the mobile operators and others within their scope to monitor these companies to ensure that they are performing their agreed roles and, that the customer is getting value for money.

Mr. Conduah said sometimes monopolistic tendencies force virtually every consumer “to sign up with certain organizations with certain products” due to consumers lack of sophistication in the choices they make.