The telecoms operator du has hit the social media headlines again. It was previously sued for wrongly overcharging a customer and this week there was uproar from some customers when the company announced an increase in pricing for home services. On Wednesday, du moved to quell the reaction by offering a way out for customers who did not want to subscribe to the upgrade.
All drama aside, given the dynamics of the two recent incidents and the experience of the UAE's customer service industry, I am not surprised that something like this could happen.
Du was slow to respond to the original customer grievances, which is kind of ironic given that it is a communications company. In general, people in the community are interested to hear the rationale behind any price changes. Shouldn't du's customers have the right to an explanation on the matter regardless of the outcome?
I believe traditionally poor customer treatment in commoditised products is what caused this issue in the first place. This is more prevalent with big corporations, such as in the telecoms sector, where a lack of choice and competition forces us to deal with products and services that we must either accept or have a hard time surviving without.
Even though the smiley faces on Twitter accompanying their responses to grievances regarding the increase seemed to hint at a lack of professionalism, in a strange way it seemed rather fitting given the dynamics of the corporate-customer relationship.
When a corporation knows you have to deal with it regardless of how you feel, it is pretty easy for customer service to go down the priority list pretty quickly.
The easy answer to this is the introduction of more competition in consumer driven industries, which would make customer acquisition through competitive customer service a must for any company to succeed in obtaining a significant market share.
However, given the influence of the current players in the market, additional competition is a long shot, so what are we left with? Well there are the obvious answers, such as additional training for customer service agents, regulatory oversight and customer involvement and feedback into product development, but whether they undertake these initiatives or not, we as customers will still be going back for more.
The reality of the matter is there is not much we can do. Without competitive pressure, industries will never prioritise improvements and strong customer engagement. So if companies are not going to be proactive about customer service and customer feedback, then the onus is on customers to make them more reactive to our wants and needs.
Like the man who sued du because he was unhappy with incorrect billing, customers should be proactive in bringing up their grievances, and highlighting areas of disappointment. It is not hard to imagine the number of issues that get swept under the rug on a daily basis. As customers we may not have a choice, but we have a voice.
The hope is that with enough of a push the authorities in one capacity or another will get involved and start enforcing consumer driven corporations to make the changes necessary for a satisfied and happy customer base.
Khalid Al Ameri is a social affairs commentator studying for his MBA at Stanford University in California
Not much we can du except use our voice to create happy UAE telecoms customer base
Given the dynamics of the two recent incidents involving du and the experience of the UAE's customer service industry, I am not surprised that something like this could happen.
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