“We apologise for the inconvenience.” That’s the way most corporates and other service providers choose to express their apologies to customers after they’ve messed up — a heartless, insincere “sorry” for everything from a minor blunder to a colossal injustice which dragged on for months or even years.
I’ve pointed out its astounding inappropriateness for years, on every platform I have, but I don’t delude myself that the cut-and-paste line will disappear from corporate communication any time soon, if ever.
Here’s my pick of the ways in which service providers “inconvenienced” their customers in 2023.
MARCH
On the last day of February, Justice Mariba’s Hyundai Grand i10 was stolen from a Hyundai dealership in Fourways, and by the time he took to social media to vent, the best the dealership offered him was to pay his insurance excess amount. This despite the fact that the Consumer Protection Act makes service providers liable for their clients’ losses should they fail to take appropriate care of their possessions.
Mariba had bought the car from the dealership less than two years earlier, and had taken it in for a battery replacement. However, when he went to collect the car, the consultant couldn’t find the car keys on his desk. They were nowhere to be found, and neither was Mariba’s car.
I took up the case with the manufacturer and their response started: “Hyundai Automotive SA and Hyundai Fourways sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and stress caused to [our customer]. The delay in reaching this decision by the dealership does not align with our values.”
Mariba’s “inconvenience” ended when the Hyundai folk gave him a new Hyundai Grand i10.
MAY
In 2022 chef Shaun Smith and his wife had booked via online travel agency Travelstart to fly to Mexico with United Airlines, but were forced to cancel. He did the cancellation on the United Airlines app, which clearly granted them R19,310 credit each, valid for travel to the end of 2023. However, when he tried to book the tickets in April, Travelstart insisted the credits were only valid until May 23, and imposed other conditions which didn’t appear on the United app.
He contacted the airline directly for a quote for their desired flights, but there was a problem.
“Travelstart South Africa had not captured both the tickets in the required United Airlines format so they could only apply one credit, and they could not take over the tickets and assist us,” Smith told me.
Back to Travelstart he went, with no joy.
“This back and forth was repeated daily, each time with a new agent responding. No-one ever seemed to read the notes or previous message history and they kept firing back the same standard replies.”
More than 30 e-mails later, Smith said, he won the credit validity battle and finally got a quote to book his flights, requiring the couple to pay in R48,600, because only one of their two R19,300 credits had been applied. Worn out from the long battle and afraid that the price of the tickets would increase if he delayed any longer, Smith told Travelstart he “begrudgingly” accepted the quote.
Having got wind of the story, I approached Travelstart, asking the company to consider taking a proper look at the case in the interests of justice, and with a view to refunding the R19,300 overpayment. Happily, that’s what happened.
“We have looked into this matter, and wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the passenger,” the response began.
“We will refund him an amount of R20,308.” (No word on the nature of the apparent R1,000 over-payment. An inconvenience compensation, perhaps?)
JULY
Manana wrote to me “in absolute desperation” after her long and unsuccessful battle to get Clientele Life to recognise her as the owner of a funeral policy which she took out seven years ago. She’s never missed a premium, and never claimed. The policy covers three relatives: her mother, grandmother and aunt.
For some reason, Clientele named the aunt, Refilwe, as the policy holder. For seven long years she had repeatedly instructed, begged and pleaded for that to be changed, to no avail.
I took up the case with Clientele. The response: “It is with regret that we note the customer’s dismay at being incorrectly addressed when contacted about Clientèle’s product offering. We never intended to cause any inconvenience or dissatisfaction and wish to offer our sincere apologies.”
The company claimed while Manana’s aunt had originally been captured as the payer and owner of the policy in error, this was corrected in 2018 when Manana raised the issue, but the aunt’s contact details were left on her profile.
Manana was delighted to hear her nightmare was apparently over, but the insurer’s response was inaccurate, she said.
“The policy was absolutely not put in my name in 2018. The latest annual anniversary communication also showed my aunt as policy owner and I had to use her ID number as the password to open the communication.”
I’m told the seven-year inconvenience is finally at an end.
DECEMBER
On December 22, the busiest domestic flying day of the year, the Airports Company of South Africa’s (Acsa) automated baggage sorting system at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg failed, with the result that thousands of passengers arrived at their domestic destinations without the luggage they had checked in.
Flights were delayed, a cruise departed from Durban three hours late in the (mostly futile) hope the missing bags would be delivered to the ship, and airline staff at the destination airports were left to deal with scores of irate passengers.
In response Acsa posted the following on X: “Please note we experienced technical challenges with our baggage sortation system. The impact was some passengers' bags were left behind. However arrangements have been made with the airlines to ensure bags reach their owners timeously. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Understatement of the year.
GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail consumer@knowler.co.za or on X (Twitter) @wendyknowler.
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