You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. ~ Jerry Fritz
I went to the CarlCare service center at Tip Toe lane with my Infinix phone for repairs. The power and volume buttons had stopped working and I was managing the condition as it was for a couple of months and now decided it was time to have it repaired. I never turned it off because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to turn it back on.
I got there, was issued a ticket with a number, which I thought was quite impressive, and waited in line till it was my turn. Then went to the receiving area and told the lady there what my problem was and then I told her that the phone wasn’t off but it’s the power button which is not working. I even double tapped to wake the phone so she see. She now understood the condition, ask the lady next to her something (I wasn’t paying attention to that) and before I could realize she has confidently opened the back of the phone and took the battery out and scanned the barcode at the back to get the serial number. Honestly I wanted to shout STOP! but I didn’t, because I trusted she knew what she was doing.
She now told me that it will take 3 to 4 working days to have it fix and I should come back to check on it on Wednesday and this was a Saturday (Btw, how was she expecting me to go 3 to 4 days without my precious phone?)
I told her I couldn’t and without any care whatsoever about the current state of my phone, she gave me back my phone so I asked her that how do I get my phone back on. This lady just told me that she doesn’t know and then asked me if she can call the next person? With a surprise on my face I said no, I just want the phone back on then I can go. With a smug, she told me to go the software guy to see if he can turn it on (I knew that was just a way to get rid of me, but I complied because I didn’t want to keep others waiting).
I went to that side and spoke to one gentleman called Emmanuel, and frankly he was the only person I interacted with who showed a good sense of professionalism. He tried what he could but failed and explained to me that there was no other way but for me to leave it behind and have it fixed.
I went back to the receiving area, gave my phone to another lady, the one just next to the person who screwed me, because the one who screwed me wasn’t seated. Not that I would have gone back to her, anyway. And then I went through the worst experience I have ever had in relation to customer service.
Pain point number 1: She asked me to have my screen protector removed to confirm if the touch is not cracked since I had some cracks on the screen. I told her the touch was not cracked but she insisted and told me that “aha deɛ yɛnnyɛ no saa” meaning, “that’s not how we do it here.” I had that done and came back and showed it to her that indeed it wasn’t cracked. I then asked her a simple question, that now that the screen protector is removed will they replace it?
Pain point number 2: She asked me that “How much is a screen protector? In a very cheeky way”, this attendant looked me to my face and told me that “screen protector 5ghc nso na wontumi ntɔ?” which is to mean, “can’t you afford a screen protector which is just 5ghc” and it’s just surprising how she kept replying me in Twi though I was speaking English with her.
I was very disappointed and “to add salt to injury” she was discussing this with the attendant seated next to here. So much insolence! I expressed my dissatisfaction to her, stating that I was not happy at all about their service and said no more. I went to pay the service charge and on my way out I told the gentleman called Emmanuel what happened and left.
I straightaway went to get another phone because the mere thought of leaving my dear phone with a bunch of customer service “professionals” who would rather insult a customer was just too unsettling for me.
I have enough case against CarlCare to have made it my personal mission so you lose prospective customers. I’m sure I’d succeed at that.
Emmanuel, I’m sorry you have to work with such people and also that you’re affected by this. But I know you’d do better. I hope the CarlCare management will take note and rectify this.
One sorry-for-the-inconvenience will not solve everything customer service blunder because Ghanaians deserve better. The fibre of this county is made up of all these and more. Perhaps your employees don’t even know what your tagline is.
… bad customer service annoys me so much!
“That they may forget what you said but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou
