Customer care means just that

Many of us know the embarrassment of having our card declined at the till point, usually in full view of other shoppers.

Sometimes it's because the card is damaged or the machine is faulty. Sometimes it's because our bank account has run dry or we've exhausted our overdraft.

Whatever the reason, it's a stressful situation and one to be avoided.

More so when you're weeks away from turning 89.

Fortunately for Stilbaai reader Mary Rogers, when her card would not work at any of her local Spar store's card machines, the manager took pity on her, allowing her to take her purchases and return later to pay when she'd sorted out the problem.

Little did either of them know that would take close on two weeks.

It turns out that Rogers's bank account, with a balance of R42000, had been drained and debited with a further R378000.

When she asked for a bank statement, it revealed she was broke and owing several hundred thousand.

A check soon revealed she'd been debited in October for a 2009 purchase of R420000 worth of SA Retail Bonds via Pick n Pay Go Banking. She'd already paid the full amount two years ago and the policy had since matured.

Not surprisingly, Rogers wanted a full explanation of who authorised the debit a second time and why. And she wanted her money immediately returned. She got neither.

Hours spent calling Pick n Pay's customer care line, as well as her local Nedbank branch, were fruitless. Nedbank runs Go Banking in association with the supermarket chain.

"There was a total couldn't-care-less attitude from Nedbank when I queried it," said Rogers. "The bank said it couldn't convince Pick n Pay to correct the problem, saying it had done its bit and it was now up to Pick n Pay.

"As I believe my problem is due to sheer inefficiency on the part of either of the above, I am taking the liberty of approaching you ... Please can you help me?" said Rogers's fax.

I asked Nedbank and PnP to return Rogers's money. By that time, she'd been unable to access cash or pay bills for more than a week.

Within two days, Rogers's money, with all costs, charges and interest, was back in her account, with apologies from both parties.

"It would appear that this problem arose because of an electronic message and reconciliation problem at Pick n Pay when Rogers made her purchase," said Bronwen Rohland, PnP's marketing and sustainability director.

An error in an online message sent to the bank by PnP caused the customer's account not to be debited when the initial transaction occurred, she said.

"The account was then, in fact, debited and an administrative error occurred during our reconciliation process whereby we erroneously asked the bank to debit her account again."

Nedbank's head of strategic alliances, Hugh Drummond, said the transaction had been processed manually on request from PnP in a batch of transactions which was "outside of the normal process".

"The matter was investigated internally before engaging with PnP and did take longer than expected to resolve. Nedbank has since been in touch with Rogers and apologised for the delay," he said.

Mistakes happen. Consumers accept that. But when they do, service providers have help desks, call centres and customer care lines to deal with them.

If a customer in crisis - as Rogers clearly was - is denied speedy assistance and forced to turn to the media for help, alarm bells should be ringing in management corridors.

Both institutions failed Rogers, not so much in the original admin blunder, but in its dismal response to her subsequent calls for help.

The chaotic festive season is upon us. If suppliers cannot guarantee zero mistakes, at least they must guarantee a quick and efficient turnaround on complaints. Anything less is an affront to the people lining their pockets this season.

Rogers operates one bank account, with no overdraft or credit facilities.

"I prefer it like that," she said.

"I don't like complications."

Thanks to shoddy customer care, that's exactly what she got.

Pay only for what you  need

I've had a lot of reader queries about MTN's refunding of its monthly "call line identity" or CLI fee on data contracts. (Power Report, November 20)

MTN has confirmed that CLI is mandatory on its data packages but that users can request, via the call centre, that the charge be removed.

No explanation has been provided by MTN for why all its data packages carry an automatic CLI fee, other than saying data SIMs can be used as a voice service.

Further questions, related to how a data customer benefits from CLI and whether CLI is also mandatory on voice packages, remain unanswered.

Bottom line? If you have a data contract with MTN and don't need CLI, you should put a stop to the monthly charge - and claim a refund. Ditto for voice packages.

It's one thing for MTN to say the fee is declared upfront to consumers in data tariff package advertising but quite another to justify making it a default charge in the first place.

Cellphone users across all networks, both voice and data, who haven't consciously selected optional or add-on services, would do well to check their statements. If you didn't request a service, don't pay for it.

Scrutinising bills is a good habit to get into with all accounts; it's the only way to ensure you don't pay for products or services you don't want or need.

Sunday Smile

At online kitchenware store, yuppiechef.com. The range is inspired, the service faultless and speedy deliveries come with a personalised card and fun fridge magnet.

No wonder it's just won the Best E-Commerce Store in SA award for the second year running.

Sunday Snarl

At Game at Gateway in Durban, for giving Paula Bell the runaround when sourcing a portable DVD player as a gift. No stock but staff said the Pavilion store had four. When Bell arrived there, only the display model was available, with no box. She returned to Gateway only to be told stock had been in its storeroom all along. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.