“Nommer Asseblief” (Number Please)

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 10 September 2014)

A few months ago, my wife and I were discussing our wedding and how we saw married life. My fiancé surprised me by asking that I please install a landline at our house after we get married. The first though on my mind was, of course, with the bad service we are receiving from our mobile telephone companies I cannot blame her. I was rather surprised by this request and even more by her answer: I just want to answer the landline by saying, “This is Mrs Shaanika-Louw speaking”.

The ability to communicate is today no longer a privilege but a right. Each and every one has the ability to get a telephone without waiting weeks, or even months (and yes, sometimes years in the rural areas) for our local telephone service provider to install the lines and the hardware to allow us to communicate with the outside world.

In Namibia, the ability to connect our population was not developed by a private company as in most western countries, but rather a government department that was tasked by the political leadership to get the people connected. In Namibia, even the creation of a mobile network and mobile service providers is also spearheaded by government owned companies.

Internationally, consumer groups have realised that the telephone companies (telcos) are making heaps of money without taking into consideration the rights of their consumers. In many countries it is because there is a lack of competition in the industry, or simply that the government appointed regulators are not doing enough to support the rights of the consumers. This has become such a burning issue that Consumers International (an international federation of consumer organisations) decided to dedicate World Consumer Rights Day on 15^th March 2014  to highlight the consumer issues that are undermining and frustrating the success of mobile phone services.

This week I want to take the chance to acquaint you with what are the rights/benefits we as consumers of telephone services should be getting:

·         TELCOs must provide consumers with access to an affordable, reliable service - Consumers want to be able to have access to affordable telephone services in order to communicate and to access information. It is only reasonable that they then expect those services to be consistent and of a high quality without drop outs in service.

·         MTC and Telecom must provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language - Consumers often feel cheated by their telephone service provider, either because of unfair contract terms and conditions or because they didn’t understand what they had signed. Telecom providers should always provide consumers with fair contracts with all relevant information explained clearly so that consumers can exercise their right to make informed choices.

·         Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing - Consumers shouldn’t be billed for services they didn’t request. We demand fairness and transparency in our bills, and protection from billing fraud. There have been regular complaints to this column that the service of the TELCos is non-existent in a specific month – but the consumer is still expected to pay the full rental / usage fees.

·         Provide consumers with security and power over their own information - Telecoms providers and regulators alike must protect the personal data that consumers give up in order to use mobile/data services. Whilst giving consent to use personal data can enhance the experience of using a mobile phone, it can also compromise the consumer’s right to safety. Consumers must be able to set the terms of how this data is used.

·         Listen and respond to consumer complaints - Telecom providers should have effective complaints systems and if consumers are not satisfied there should be redress mechanisms to ensure a fair outcome. We must be able to penalise providers for abusive and unjust business practices. AND please, tell me once that irritating automated service at Telecom is taken down. I cannot argue with the poor defenceless box that answers.

The above rights are encapsulated in the Consumer International statement for World Consumer Day and can also be accessed via their website.

RING-Ring – The user you are trying to reach has been disconnected for being impolite to our level of service. ;-)

Ask what your country can do for you

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 27 August 2014)

I have been working for a government institution for the past year. This has been the first time in my career spanning over twenty years that I have been a ‘public servant’. Over the years I have heard (and even contributed to the conversation) stories about the laziness of the government service and the un-helpfulness of public servants. Now that I am working in one of these institutions I have realised that these stories are more urban legends than actual fact. Many public servants, from the street cleaners in Windhoek to the election officials in the remotest parts of our country, are doing their best to deliver the service that is expected from a government.

Looking at consumer issues, means we should also look at the largest service organisation in Namibia, namely the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN).

The GRN launched the first Public Service Charter was launched in 1997 and then expanded to its present ten principles that form part of reform designed to provide professional, efficient, effective end economic services.

This week I will look at some of these principles and invite you, our esteemed New Era readers, to look at them and write to us at Consumer Court about any of these principles you have seen first-hand being followed or ignored.

Standards – These must be published and monitored – allowing consumer access to the standards public servants are expected to uphold.

Courtesy and helpfulness – yes, this means a “good morning” or “how can I help you” when speaking to us the consumers.

Accountability – each consumer should be able to identify who at a GRN organisation/ministry or agency (OMA) has provided the service. To allow such identification each government employee working with customers should wear a name badge.

N0n-discrimaination – this is not only about race or gender, but also about understanding that some consumers might not of the educational background to be able to fully explain their needs. This is about taking time to “know your customer”.

Value for money – Each GRN employee is expected to efficient, effective and affordable services. Efficiency meaning that our time as customer and service provider is well used, effective meaning we get the result we expected when asking for a service and affordability referring to our purchase price of such service or product from GRN.

Information – The availability of information on services should be provided in a prompt straightforward and open manner that is readily understandable by all consumers. This also opens a small crack on the wider debate of public access to information at the OMA’s.

Consultation and participation should take place regularly to take into account the views and needs of the public.

Transparency – I quote, “Disclose how public services are managed together with the cost and performance of specific services which are open to public scrutiny in all actions taken in public office”.

Quality of service includes appraising consumer of the complaints procedures, feedback methods and how corrections will be made.

The Public Service Charter end with the principle of accessibility and refers to the provisions of the needed services where the consumer are situated. In other words bringing government service to the people.

As a public servant, even I had to question myself on how many of these principles I actually adhere to in my work. Sadly, I was only able to honestly state that wile six of the principles were adhered to by myself, I was clearly lacking in four other areas.

The main reason thus for this week’s column is thus to fulfil the principle of INFORMATION. I wish to encourage each and every consumer of government services to question any GRN employee (starting with myself) on the services we provide and how you can access them to ensure an improvement in your quality of life in our Land of the Brave.

Warm beer, lousy food, bad service

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 20 August 2014)

The past week I have been fortunate to travel through some parts of Namibia as part of my job. We started in Otjiwarongo where training was taking place and I was really impressed by the level of service that was provided at hotels, lodges, restaurants and even the large retail chains. (Have you ever seen the cleanliness of Shoprite in Otjiwarongo? You must then wonder why this level of service and cleanliness does not exist in the Windhoek branch.) On Sunday I decided to travel to Swakopmund via Omaruru and Karibib. Upon entering Omaruru, I was impressed with the main street where every house and business seemed to have a fresh coat of paint. The business community of the town must be recommended for their strategic vision of making the town an oasis of artists, which has obviously increased the tourism numbers of the town.

While traveling on the roads I had to commend the Roads Authority in their efforts to upgrade and maintain our roads. Our road network throughout the country is the envy of many visitors, even those coming from some European countries.

Upon my arrival in Swakopmund I headed straight to the Municipaly bungalows where I am booked for the week. After checking in I was pleasantly surprised by the service assistant who automatically deducted 10% from the quoted price as they were busy renovating and the DSTV had not yet been installed (even though it was advertised). The bungalows were clean and one could sense the renovations were part of a regular routine to prepare for the coming December holiday season.

As I had just become a married man some two weeks ago, I had arranged for my wife to also join me in Swakopmund so we could at least spend some quality time in the evenings after work. (Yes, I am a bit of a workaholic and even go into the office while on holiday – like I did for an important meeting the day before my wedding.) Being a “difficult customer” which always expects the highest standards and gets deeply disappointed when these are not met, I was in for a surprise in this sleepy town of Swakopmund.

On Sunday evening I decided to get some seafood and thought it would be an easy thing as it was the weekend and very few customers would be around. Surprise, surprise. All the restaurants were already full by 06:15 and most of them had a waiting list of over 30 people. That’s right. There were busloads of tourists who were also not yet accommodated and they had actually booked.

As a last resort, I headed to Kuki’s Pub in the Central Business District. It was very busy with a waiting list of groups, but upon enquiry (and stating we were only two and on honeymoon ;-), the waiter arranged a small table close to the kitchen for us. Being a person of colour I was a little bit intimidated by the fact that every other person there was Caucasian and seemed to speak German. However, I did not for one minute feel that the service was secondary and had an attentive waitress who regularly checked up on us. The meal of oysters and seafood platter was probably the best I have ever had, and it had a great deal to do with the service I received. “Warm beer, lousy food bad service” is the motto of Kukis and while it is a great slogan, the slogan could not be further from the truth.

After Kuki’s – which is after all a “touristy place”, I was sure it could not get better. On Monday however I was once again surprised when I visited the Village Café in the main road for brunch. Upon entering, the waitress gave us a pleasant greeting and offered us various areas of seating. Every waitress that we passed smiled and greeted like we were old friends and even had my wife guessing that I was probably a regular that was well known. In fact just the opposite – I had not been to a Swakopmund eatery in over four years. The best part of the menu was for me being able to order a cup of coffee in a Village Mug, or “blikbeker” as we grew up calling it. The food was excellent, the freshly squeezed orange juice divine, and the service quality made me wish I could stay in this holiday town a lot longer. (The only pity is that the Village Café web page has a redirect loop and cannot be viewed on the Internet.)

As consumers we tend to only complain about the bad service, products etc. and hardly have a good word for the truly exceptional service industry which does sometimes exist in our Land of the Brave. This week I wish to thanks each and every customer service agent for the wonderful service that some provide.

As I am finishing this article I am sitting in Café Anton sharing a cheesecake and a cappuccino with Mrs Shaanika-Louw and the waiter politely asked if I need the password as they have free wifi. I must be in a little piece of service heaven.

Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat - Ignorance of the Law Excuses No One

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 13 August 2014)

Dear Consumer Court,

I was very upset today when I received an SMS message informing me that I had a debt with the City of Windhoek and that I should please make a plan to pay. They gave a reference number as well as a bank account number and requested I pay at least a minimum of N$ 100.00 as part of a payment plan. I do not know of any outstanding account with CoW so contacted the number given on the SMS. The debt collection company informed me that they have been given all the debtors of CoW and they have me with an outstanding account for ambulance services. Unfortunately they did not seem to have the date of the account but were very insistent that I should start paying at least a small amount to get the debt settled. After going through my own records, I found that I had gone to hospital over 8 years ago and this could be the only time that I could have used an ambulance of CoW. My question is, “Can the debt collection company still force me to pay as they say they will put my name on the blacklist if I do not?”

I have never received an account from CoW since the incident and had no idea that they were putting me on their blacklist. I am now also worried that CoW will not allow me to open a water and electricity account etc. until I pay the debt.

________________________________________________________

One of the readers of Consumer Court contacted me the past week complaining about a debt of over 8 years old that she was now being forced to pay. The debt collection company had informed her that she had the outstanding account for ambulance service from the City of Windhoek and if she did not pay, they would be blacklisting her name.

I contacted the debt collection company and was quite speedily assisted in getting in contact with their manager. After explaining the situation, the manager told me that the CoW had given them the debtors book, but had not provided them with the dates from which the debt originated. I immediately realised this was a tricky situation, whether on purpose or not, I do not know.

I have previously written about old debt and the fact that most debtors are not aware that a debt that is older than three years can be defined as prescribed debt.

According to the South African Prescription Act 68 of 1969 - which is also valid in Namibia, a debt is prescribed when the debtor is no longer liable for it. The “tricky” thing about this law is that the consumer must first know about this law to be able to raise the Prescription Act as a defence. A well-known quote states that “Ignorance of the law excuses no-one”.

I have previously researched this law and found very little assistance from regulatory authorities, and even less from the debt collectors that should be aware of this law. Even worse to me is that there is no debt counselling services of any note anywhere in Namibia that can assist the financially illiterate consumer.

So how does prescription work? If after three years, a consumer realises that a creditor wants to collect the debt, but they (the debtor) has not acknowledged the debt nor has a court of law summoned the debtor, the consumer can apply for prescription. (Please note that this is also valid if you have not paid any amount on the account for at least three years.)

As the consumer, you must inform the creditor (or debt collector) that the amount owed is prescribed and they are therefore not able to insist upon payment. For legal purposes, the consumer must also raise the case for prescription with the courts by sending a registered letter stating that they believe the debt has prescribed. It is very important to note that no-one can do this for you. Only the consumer can raise a case of prescription.

To put it in plain English: If you have an unpaid account that is older than three years since your last payment and the creditor has not tried to collect this debt, then your debt has become prescribed and you no longer are responsible for the account. Be aware, that the court may dismiss your case for prescription if you fail to prove that the statement was paid or that a summons was not provided.

Read that last sentence again! If you have made a payment (even after 3 years) the account becomes valid and you are liable to repay the creditor.

In our case this week, the consumer contacted me before making the payment of N$ 100 and can now insist that her debt has become prescribed and she is no longer responsible for the debt.

This week I must say shame on the City of Windhoek (and other unscrupulous debt collections) that know the debtor is no longer liable for the debt under prescription, but they trick them into making a small payment again which now keeps the debt alive.

In this case, ignorance of the consumer is blessedness for the creditors.

Good service is good business

(First Published in New Era Newspaper - 6 August 2014)

Last week I was invited to address the Consumer Complaints Management Symposium held in Windhoek. The theme of the symposium was “Bridging the Gap between Industry Relations and Consumer Care” and the participants came from various industries including financial services, tourism, health care and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

What amazed me the most that was that all the participants were the designated “consumer champion” and were there to find better ways to engage with their clients as well as getting their organisations to embrace client feedback as an integral part of doing business. This was shocking to say the least. How many times do we not hear that Namibia does not have a culture of service? I myself have in fact gone on record a few times in this regard through my various writings.

Yet here were representatives from these various industries requesting me to assist them in dealing with consumer complaints in a better manner. I hope this is not the first or last of such corporate interventions and hope to see a positive result within the next few months.

So this week, I share with our corporate readers some tips on how they can deal with consumer complaints.

1.       Make sure you listen to the concerns expressed by the consumer. Most times concerns over an issue (such as shelf pricing, cleanliness of the premises, etc.) can be handled without it becoming a complaint.

2.       Make sure that you record the consumer’s name, address and contact number.

3.       Acknowledge that the consumer has a valid concern by getting further details on the issue.

4.       Do not take the complaint personally – this could result in you feeling attacked – which is not the case. A consumer has to take time out from their schedule to inform you about the issue, the least you should do is see it from their viewpoint.

5.       Allow the consumer to explain the problems without interruptions. This will show you are not trying to make excuses before they have stated their case.

6.       Ask questions to get a better understanding of the issue and its cause. In some cases the consumer will even give you a possible solution to the issue they have raised.

7.       Have an understanding of how the consumer wants the issue resolved. The resolution can be in the form of a replacement, refund, exchange or discount on the price.

8.       If the form of resolution is possible, explain the time it will take to process the complaint and what will be needed to make it happen.

9.       Explain to the consumer that your company values all feedback from its clients.

10.   Follow up with the consumer on to find it if the resolution was to their satisfaction.

The most important part about resolving a consumer complaint is that you will have turned a “bad mouthing advertiser” into a champion of your business and the satisfaction level you have instilled in the consumer.

Remember: “Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you.”