Customer C.A.R.E. by Dr Trilogy
We are going to look at specific
instances of customer care calamities,
and we are going to see which cardinal
crimes were committed, and which
cardinal rules were followed. For our
first example we are going to analyse
the e-toll fiasco, which is currently
playing itself out in Gauteng.
Introduced in December 2013,
against the wishes of at least 90% of
Gauteng motorists, the e-toll debacle
is a classic case of a company
totally ignoring its customers (yes,
the Gauteng motorists are the
customers, because they are paying
the money via taxes and fuel levies
that are supposedly paying for road
construction and maintenance), and
a classic case of not communicating
with your customers, and not listening
to your customers.
1.
2.
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Over Promise, and Under Deliver
– the Sanral executives promised
free flowing freeways, but this
has definitely not happened, even
though many motorists have
moved to “alternative” routes.
Sanral also promised affordable
tariffs, but this has not been the
case, with many motorists out
of pocket, and with transport
costs doubling for many of them.
Sanral has over promised, and
under delivered.
Keeping Your Customer Waiting
– with such an expensive system,
surely this should be applied
without the hassle of receiving
accounts, and having to schlep
to a shopping mall over and over
again to pay the account. Sanral
FM-Motorparts Logos_ABR_ad.pdf
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has kept its customers waiting.
3.
Mushrooming Your Customer
– here, Sanral has managed to
use more horse manure than
is produced annually on the
planet. From day one, years
before the gantries went up; the
consumer was kept in the dark
and fed manure, like mushrooms.
Transparency was given short thrift,
obfuscation was the order of the
day, browbeating and stonewalling
were taken to unheard levels, and
even now, months after the gantries
were switched on, information
about who is benefitting, and how
much they are benefitting, is sorely
missing. Sanral has mushroomed
its customers.
4.
Losing Your Cool – this is a difficult
one to call, so we will give Sanral
a free pass on this. There is
anecdotal evidence that journalists
have been verbally abused when
asking searching questions, but
even though those journalists are
most probably road users, we
will allow Sanral the benefit of the
doubt. Sanral has kept its cool.
5.
Second Best is Good Enough –
as is the case with Cardinal Crimes
one, two and three; this one is
a slam dunk. Clearly, to every
economist out there, e-tolling could
be cost effectively subsidised via
an increased fuel levy, and it could
even be applied regionally, as per
the existing inland levy; which
kills Sanral’s dishonest assertion
that they are trying to apply the
user pays philosophy. The gantry
system that has been installed on
previously free urban freeways
2:38 PM
is expensive and inappropriate,
9/17/14
| sponsored by Federal-Mogul
which begs the question as to
who is ultimately benefitting.
The customers are not stupid, so
they do know that there has been
skulduggery in the whole thing,
but Sanral hides behind the skirts
of legislation and confidentiality to
avoid coming clean – so whilst they
have installed a world class system
suitable for first world countries
(and even this is debatable), second
best in every other aspect is clearly
what the Gauteng motorists are
getting. For Sanral, second best is
good enough.
So there it is. On the mirror
image of customer c.a.r.e.
Sanral’s Gauteng Freeway
“Improvement” Project
scores 1 out of 5 = 20%.
A clear fail mark and a clear
indication that Sanral regards
its customers as the rear
end of a horse, and not as
sovereign clients who need
to be respected. And a clear
indication that Sanral simply
has no clue as to the real
meaning of C.A.R.E.
Need we say this again?
Customers Are Really
Everything!