In the words of the great poet Rodriguez: “I wonder and worry my friend”, mostly about the state of service delivery of the major telcos in this country.
Despite numerous stories and hundreds of complaints, none of these issues seem to ever get resolved.
Candice Jones, telecoms editor, ITWeb
I can't remember being more frustrated with the service on my cell than over the December holidays, with a million dropped calls. Luckily, I was spared the “lost in the ether” SMS syndrome, which many of my friends experienced.
With the operators spending billions to upgrade networks and produce their own backhaul, I wonder if it's actually money well spent. While the networks seem more stable than during last year's network trouble debacle, there are still vast cavities in what should be termed non-service delivery by the telcos.
The bigger trouble seems to be on the customer care centre side. People are desperately trying to get hold of a service centre, to complain about billing issues, to try and order a phone, or to get some clarity on the Internet issues.
The last customer centre call I made had me on hold for over an hour, before I was transferred to an actual person. The elevator music they made me listen to while I was on hold was enough to fry my nerves, but the relief I felt when I was finally transferred to a human being was short-lived. After the hour of holding, the person could still not help me resolve my query!
It appears I am not alone with my gripes. Over the last two months, on the Hello Peter customer complaints site, the mobile operators received some of the highest numbers of complaints - next to the banks.
Despite numerous stories and hundreds of complaints, none of these issues seem to ever get resolved. This is despite the country's telecoms regulator making a million promises about forcing the networks to uphold service promises.
Last year, when the networks were being brought to task on massive network instability, the Independent Communications Authority of SA promised the consumer it would make the operators report all network faults and unresolved queries.
It was supposed to be implemented like listed companies' financial results - every quarter, they were supposed to publish a report of all the incidents. That was in June last year - what happened to these so-called reports?
Fortunately, South Africans are now far less afraid of confronting companies that are not delivering on promises. When I pay a premium, I expect a premium service, and that includes customer call centre agents that put me first.
However, the big guys don't need to care about my silly little call. Honestly, if I move from one operator to the other, I receive the same indifference, so there really is no point in moving at all.
I hope the incoming Consumer Protection Act will help kick-start a culture of good service from all big business in SA. With any luck, the looming legislation will force the operators to stand by their promises, and remind consumers that they too have rights.
But until October, when the Act is supposed to take effect, I have to rely on a toothless regulator to follow up on my complaints.
It's sad to consider that the consumer is the reason that the mobile operators are as successful as they are. Without you and I, these companies would have remained the dreams of their current CEOs.
Have the big operators forgotten the little people that drive their impressive management bonuses?
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