My Ikeja Electric Customer Service Experience: challenges & recommendations for improvement

“There’s got to be a better way…”

Those were the words I kept muttering under my breath the moment I saw the long queue. Just two days ago, my mother was on a similar queue waiting for hours to be attended to. But, why was she even there to start with?

Prior to that fateful Monday, mum had received two email notifications containing a total outstanding bill of about N74,700 for a prepaid meter that had not been installed. So, she went to the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (Abule-Egba Business Unit) to make a complaint.

Mum's visit was similar to mine in many ways ? only, I didn't have the luxury of time she spent waiting. She started off at the unit's security post/entrance, where she was handed a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it. She was then directed to sit (if she was lucky enough to find a seat) or stand outside the unit's customer service office and wait her turn. Although I am unaware of the number she was given, her long wait signaled one that must have been close to the ones I would eventually be given on my visits to the centre.

After what seemed like an endless wait, it was finally her turn. Mum relayed the issue, and she was told to write a letter to the business manager informing him/her about the erroneous bills. With the help of a guide, mum managed to write the letter. However, exhausted from the long wait, she came home afterwards.

Thankfully, my office is only five blocks away from this business unit. So, after mum narrated her ordeal to me later that evening, I volunteered to help her submit the letter. I mean, how complicated can a letter submission process possibly be. I should be out of there in less than 10 minutes or so I thought.

On getting to the Abule-Egba Business unit the next morning (Tuesday), I was handed a piece of paper similar to mum’s. Although my number was 267, I mustered up the courage to proceed to the customer service office hoping that my number was a misrepresentation of the actual number of people on queue.

Fortunately, it was. The people on the queue weren't up to 100. However, I couldn't understand why people had to be put through such a tiring and time consuming process in order to resolve issues that were probably created by the business unit itself. Likewise, I wasn't about to spend hours meant for productive time standing on a queue just to submit a letter. So, I thought to myself, "There's got to be a better way to do this". That was it for me, and I headed back to the office.

Back at work, I decided to send an email to the customer service unit asking them to help me forward the attached letter to the business manager. I did, but there was no acknowledgement of or response to my email. I later shared my experience with mum after work, and she was of the opinion that instead of joining the queue immediately, I should seek out a customer service representative and tell him/her that I was just there to submit a letter she was told to write. She must have thought that the letter submission process will be simple and so did I.

Hinged on mum's recommendation, my second visit to the business unit went differently. After getting a number at the entrance as usual, I immediately headed towards the customer service office and I arrived just in time to meet a representative. This customer service unit was standing in the front of the unit's entrance gate listening to an elderly woman lay her complaint. So, I waited for her to be done with the woman. Just about the time she was done with the woman, another person walked in and she also attended to her. All the while, I was making eye contact and repeatedly saying "Good morning Ma", so she knows I am also waiting for her. But to my surprise, the lady finished with both individuals and walked straight in.

How could she have missed my eye contacts and constant greetings? I would never have thought that a customer service representative will deliberately ignore a customer standing right in front of them without even asking "How can I be of help". That was my first shock, but it was just the beginning. Obviously, she had ignored me but I wanted to give the entire customer service department a benefit of doubt. So, I opened the entrance gate, walked towards the customer service office and I realized that the office door was closed. I was about to knock on the door when a neighbour who was also waiting along the corridor suggested I shouldn't. "Why shouldn't I?” I asked. His response was unbelievable, as he said "They are rude, and they might insult you if you knock". Seriously, am I in the right place or has the definition of customer service suddenly changed…

I was still trying to fathom what I had just heard when a security man came over to insist that we leave the corridor and stay outside the gate. By now, you can imagine how pissed I was already from all of this unwelcoming experience. So, I told the security man that I was only here to submit a letter and I can't understand why I needed to wait for hours to do so. In his defense, he mentioned that the letter submission process isn't as simple as I thought. He said that I will need to go out and make a photocopy of the letter (for acknowledgment sake), join the queue and wait my turn. That was when I lost it, and I left the building. Come on, how complicated can a letter submission process be!

Still no response to my email, I knew it was time for a plan B. While I am not a fan of calling organizations out on social media, it seemed to be the only language some understand and respond to promptly. As such, I went to Ikeja Electric Distribution Company's twitter profile page with plans to send them my complaints directly. However, I saw a customer service WhatsApp number, and I decided to send a WhatsApp message first. I did, and a number of automated messages led me to their live chat website. Finally, we are making some progress...

After sending at least 10 messages on the live chat and no one responded, I knew no one was online and the so called "live chat" was a waste of my time. So, I copied all the messages I had sent on the live chat, and pasted it on twitter ? mentioning the customer service in each tweet. My last few tweets must have gotten to them, as I received a reply to the email I sent almost two days the next day. But do we always have to wash our dirty linen in public before someone does what they are being paid to do?

Two of the major skills I developed during my MBA program at Nexford University were critical thinking and problem solving. Hence, the above story would be incomplete if I don't share some tips to help this customer service unit to improve on their service delivery and complaint resolution. Below are three things the unit can do to serve customers better:

1. Help customers to leverage technology and save time: Instead of asking my mother (and every other customers who was waiting on that long queue) to write a physical letter, ask them to send an email. While this might not be applicable to all your customers (since not all of them will be technology literate or have an email address), it will help to reduce the number of people on the queue as customers will know that they have an option ? that can save them the long hours of waiting. Likewise, this option will enable them save the money they would have otherwise wasted on printing and making photocopies.

2. Leverage technology to be more responsive: If only an automated reply containing a query ticket and stating a specific period within which a customer service representative will get back to me had be sent after my email on Tuesday, I wouldn't have had to visit the business unit a second time. Fortunately, such a message can be generated without any human input. Implementing this will help to put your customer's mind at rest ? knowing that their inquiry or complaint is receiving the necessary attention.

3. Practice customer equality and treat every customer with dignity: I doubt that the current brand perception and image attributed to the customer service unit above isn’t what they were hoping for. Rudeness shouldn’t be a trait associated with customer service, and customer service representatives should know better than to ignore or insult their customers. Treating one customer better than the other is definitely a no-no.

Bonus: If you are currently unable to run a live chat (due to limited human resources) or respond promptly to live chat messages, use a chatbot to provide preliminary responses and specify a time frame within which an actual operator will be available to continue the conversation. Not responding to a supposed live chat is as good as not having one to start with.

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