Hello people! I hope I find you well. Many a time I hear customers complaining about poor customer service in Zimbabwean stores or by Zimbabwean firms. One thing that I have seen happening a lot is that a lot of customers highlight the fact that customer service in developed countries is better. They tell the teller, cashier, or whoever they will be interacting with at that time that this or that would not have happened if they were getting customer service in the United States of America or South Africa thereabouts.
I would like to introduce you to Payoneer. The homepage on their website is the one below. They are an American firm. Today you will read a conversation that I had with one of their customer service agents. Let us see how that went.
Note were they say that they provide service (and consequently customer service) to companies like Google and Getty Images? Those are pretty big firms so one would assume that their customer service is on point.
As you read I would like you to think of your own experiences with Zimbabwean firms as far as customer service is concerned. This is where the ‘America Vs Zimbabwe’ aspect comes in as I will be concentrating on the American firm in this article. I will be making comments in italics about what I thought about certain parts of the interaction. You can also add your thoughts at the end of the conversation in the comments section. Also note that I have put ‘*’ on information that I do not wish to reveal, like personal information etc.
Here is the conversation:
‘Dalia: Hello and welcome to Payoneer customer service! My name is Dalia and I would be happy to assist you! Please bear with me for a few moments while I pull up your information from our system. I will be right with you.
->> The ‘few moments’ turned out to be 15 minutes which either points to system issues (slow machine, slow software or information which is not readily available) or issues with Dalia herself like her attitude towards the job.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: That’s OK
Dalia: How may I help you?
->> I would also have expected her to tell me the department that she works in (most likely the customer service department) and maybe ask me where I am contacting her from. A nice touch would have been for her to ask me how things are on my side. You know, that personal touch. She asked how she can help and that is a good thing.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK. I would like to switch my funding source from global bank transfers to the prepaid card
Dalia: I appreciate your patience while I review your information.
->>She showed courtesy here.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK
->> This took another 5 minutes. Maybe she was multitasking? Serving other people?
Dalia: Before we proceed, please provide me with the answer to your security question:
Dalia: In which city was your grandfather born (mother’s father)?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: ******
Dalia: Thank you.Can you please provide me with your date of birth in the US format (Month/Day/Year)?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: ******
Dalia: Thank you.
->> Security questions are important. At least I know that my money is safe with these guys. Others do not ask these security questions.
Dalia: did you try to switch method of payment from your ****** back office ?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Yes. I could not find the link I went through the whole back office
–>> Here she was probing and trying to find the source of the problem. It’s a good thing and it can result in a query being solved in a short period of time in the case that I had missed something.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Where do I find the option in the back office?
Dalia: you should see the method of payment – Payoneer pre paid card
Ruvimbo Munyavi: It’s under which heading? When I click where it’s written ‘Payoneer’ I get redirected to your website
Dalia: you need to sign up for the card
->> She did not answer my question but instead responded with a question. This means that she might not have been paying attention to what I was typing as she was probably ‘multi-tasking’
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Is there a link that I can use to do that. I am new to this.
Dalia: you need to contact your comapny and ask how to register for Payoneer card
->> In my view she was not being accountable for the query. Doesn’t my affiliation with the other company also contribute to her paycheck? I think it also shows that there is a disconnect between Payoneer and ‘my company’
Ruvimbo Munyavi: They told me to contact you and I have been shifted between Payoneer and *****. You want a screen shot of our conversation?
Dalia: can you provide a screen shot your ***** account where you are able to see payment methods?
->> She either is not paying attention to what I am saying or she is just determined to get to where she is going with the issue. You answer a question with an answer and not another question/request.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: From the ***** side or the Payoneer website?
Dalia: *****
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Let me check will get back to you just now.
Dalia: Thank you.
->> Some of her manners are still there at least
Ruvimbo Munyavi: There are no such settings. Isn’t there a link that I can use to register the card? The Payoneer menu redirects me to your website and the Commisions menu has no such options
Dalia: when it directs you to our web site you need to fill in your details from your existing account
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK I found where it is written ‘Payment Method’ it is written Payoneer.
Dalia: ok, you need to log in throught that link
Ruvimbo Munyavi: I have used that link before the email never gets delivered to my inbox
Dalia: I’m sorry?
Dalia: Please select Payoneer card and log in to your existing account
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK. Have logged in from your website because it doesn’t log me in from the back office
Dalia: no, sir, you need to link your ***** account to Payoneer, so you need to log in through ***** website
->> ‘no, sir’ to me that sounded like she was getting frustrated. I decided to push her all the way
Dalia: what is the error when you try to log in from *****?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: There is no error message I am now sure that there is something wrong between ***** and Payoneer coz Im supposed to be able to do this alone yet I have been trying to get this done for 2 weeks and noone seems to have an answer. Is there a video I can look at or something?
->> 2 weeks!
Dalia: one moment please
File attachment upload has started.
The file Payo.JPG (56.97KB) was received.
->> I started sending her screenshots because I started getting the idea that she thought that I was stupid and did not know what I was doing
Dalia: can you please try to log in ( select Payoneer in your ***** account )?
->> A nice touch would be for her to constantly thank me for my patience every time she makes me stare at the screen with no action going on
Ruvimbo Munyavi: There is that ‘Bank’ option I want to change that to the Payoneer card so that I do not have to incur high transfer charges
Ruvimbo Munyavi: The page that I just sent you is from the webpages that appear when I click on ‘Payoneer’ from the ***** side
Dalia: this is in Payoneer account. you need to go to ***** account and select card
Ruvimbo Munyavi: That is the link that I am saying I can’t find. Would you know where it is I must be missing it somewhere in that backoffice
File attachment upload has started.
The file backoffice.JPG (75.88KB) was received.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: There is the back office.
->> Me and Dalia were just not understanding each other. As you can see this issue dragged on for this long because she did not understand what I wanted. I think this was partly because she did not have full information about how the company I was working for was using their (Payoneer) service. To me this pointed to some serious integration problems between the two firms.
Dalia: I see that this is not *****
Ruvimbo Munyavi: it is Dalia.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: ***** is under *****
->> This last interaction is proof of the fact that she did not know how Payoneer was integrated with the firm that I work for. I showed her a webpage from the firm’s site and she did not recognise it. Wow!
Dalia: alright, we can not switch method of payment on your account, you can only do it yourself. in this case since we are not ***** customer support, we can not know the issues with their web site
->> Proof again that Dalia did not want to take full responsibility for the situation. If Payoneer is really a partner of the firm that I am working for why did she not take it upon herself to give them a call and clarify the issue on my behalf? Her last statement also serves as proof that there is a disconnect between the two firms.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: So what’s next?
Dalia: please try to contact them and ask where is the Payoneer pre paid card method registration
->> In other words, ‘get lost!’ I mean, she asked me to go and ask one of her firm’s clients about how I can use her firm’s product. Wow!
Ruvimbo Munyavi: You are saying I should contact them and they say that I should contact you. They tried to send me a link but the error message that I got was that you have already signed up or something like that.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: I think both parties have issues here.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Can I at least have a reference email or something from you guys that I can take to them because noone seems to want to take responsibility for the issue.
Dalia: So they sent you the link, this was correct message . you just need to sign up with the same details from your existing account
Dalia: please use the same link , click “already have an account” and simply log in
Ruvimbo Munyavi: That link is not working can I send you the link? Maybe you can check it out.
->> Use of the word ‘simply’ means you think that I am silly. Correct me if I’m wrong guys. She keeps bringing up the issue of the link which I already told her was not working. She was obviously not paying attention to me. I was now really thinking that she was on WhatsApp or something
Dalia: what do you mean is not working? you said there is a message taht you already signed up , right?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Yeap
Dalia: so you just need to log in with the same details throught this link
Dalia: can you provide me the screen shot of this message you see please?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: I have logged in and I am now on your website. Wait a bit let me send it
Dalia: you logged in through this link?
File attachment upload has started.
The file Synn.JPG (38.44KB) was received.
->> Round and round we go in circles like we are on a merry go round. We had gone past the 1 hour mark at this point but I was not going to let her off the hook. Nothing personal, I never let anyone off the hook, even myself.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: I logged in through that link.
Dalia: you see “click here” ?
Dalia: please click on it and enter your existing account details ( Payoneer )
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Ya I clicked on ‘click here’ and ended up on your website.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Yea done and what’s next?
Dalia: that’s correct
Dalia: you’ve done that directly from this link?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK and then?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Yea
Dalia: one moment
Dalia: were you directed to the page where you needed to agree to term,s and conditions and change shipping address?
Dalia: where there is a button “order” ?
File attachment upload has started.
The file Capture10.JPG (86.31KB) was received.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: I was directed there
Dalia: (sends a link) https://*********************
Dalia: please follow the link
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK will revert just now
->> Finally she sends the link that solves the problem. This is something that could have happened 50 minutes ago had she listened to my issue properly
Dalia: ok, this wy you will order card
Dalia: Please wait for updates to your email
->> Is it me or this statement ‘Please wait for updates to your email ‘ seemed like another attempt to dismiss me. Your thoughts?
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Im waiting to see if it’s going to get to that wait.
Dalia: ok
Dalia: We have not heard from you for a while. This chat will disconnect soon.
->> Dismissal attempt confirmed. Was this an auto message from the system which is sent after people do not chat for a while or it was a message from Dalia herself as she attempted to rid herself of pesky me? Well I cannot say since I was not at her end but what I can say is that there were periods were the chat had been idle for longer periods of time but I had not gotten such a message
File attachment upload has started.
The file CaptureFinal.JPG (54.66KB) was received.
Ruvimbo Munyavi: Are we good now?
Dalia: great , yes, wait for updates to your email
Ruvimbo Munyavi: OK thanks good day.
Dalia: Thank you for visiting. Please feel free to contact us again at any moment during our business hours.
Our telephone lines are available from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST and our chat services are available from 09:00 AM to 04:30 PM EST, Monday through Friday. Goodbye!’
->> I would have preferred a more personal conclusion. Would an apology for the inconvenience caused have been too much to ask for? Especially considering the fact that she wanted to turn me away when she actually could solve the problem. Which she did in the end as a result of my persistence. Poor customer service in my view.
What do you think about this interaction? How would you rate this American company in terms of customer service out of 100%? How would you rate it versus Zimbabwean companies in terms of customer service? Let me know in the comments section below. Feel free to also give us details of your own approaches to customer service.
Thanks
Ruvimbo
Poor customer service is pretty much everywhere but its even worse in countries like Zimbabwe. So many times I have had change thrown at me after making a purchase at these retail shops.Dissapointing indeed but we need to do something about it.
That is very true. Can you give a few examples of the retail shops that have given you bad service in Zimbabwe?
Being a customer service freak myself, I thought this would be an interesting read but I am so sorry Ruvimbo, I just could read through the whole conversation with Payoneer (Too long LOL!). I think I only got to halfway. Anyway, I understand your point in terms of having bad customer service in developed countries too but I think from the article heading, I was probably expecting a a more comprehensive sound comparison of the two spaces. Is it on its way perhaps?
Hello. I think maybe I could have done better with the heading and the introduction to the article. I was hoping you would draw on your own experiences with Zimbabwean firms and this (unfortunately) was highlighted at the end of the article. I should also have put it at the beginning I have noted that thank you.
I can make a comparison but as a separate article if you wish. My own take on the matter is that our local firms are just as bad in terms of customer service. Some are even worse as they will not even give you a solution to your problem. However there are a few companies who are better than Payoneer in terms of customer service. One of them is African Sun.
I actually think you were lucky getting someone to through trying to solve your problem, as much as you were not satisfied, though. Most companies in Zimbabwe are now filled with reps who will not even give you the time of day. There are some really good ones, a number though are quite bad.
That is very true and there are a number of factors that are causing such problems such as the wrong managers being put in place, nepotism, poor training and poor recruitment among other issues. A performance based culture would go a long way in addressing such issues and this could be done by placing reps on fixed term contracts with performance reviews determining whether or not they keep their jobs.
‘My name is Dalia and I would be happy to assist you!’ Is it only me who hears this? Or all customer service people say that? Yet the entire experience you go through with them is so ‘un-assist’.
I went through ALL pages of your to & fro conversation, hence my delay in response. Based on what you have presented to us I can see your ‘helper’ would have loved to wriggle out of this much earlier than the 1 hr you lassoed her. Mostly this is due to lack of subject matter knowledge. Or their personal attitude. And all these tell us a lot about their organisation’s culture. (Please refer to the very last sentence of my response for a possible litmus test)
My daily customer service experiences are not mainly Zim. But I find the experiences elsewhere on our continent and in the USA not too dissimilar from our Zimbabwean experience. But ours borders on the arrogance (kombi personnel, police, ZIMRA & the rest of the govt corps). The years of basic commodities shortages around 2000 made most organisations, who could supply them, rude. (for lack of a better word).
Beyond our borders: And why I say dissimilar? I have find service in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia flawed along tribal, racial and national lines. Just as USA service is subject to racial profiling. Though it may surprise many, I find the USA everyday life racistic.
Broadly, on so many occasions I have exchanged emails with some organisations. Or phone calls. And be invited to go see them. But the moment they see my skin colour or find I do not speak their language (other than the English that previously connected us) their mood becomes frosty.
I will not name and shame any organisations. Rather I will give you some pointers (if that is ok?) of how to pick the wayward service providers.
1.1 Do you ever get served by anyone chewing gum? How do you like the stale smell? And the way they move their mouths? .2 Or by someone who will be busy nattering with their colleague out of view. Or another customer 5 places behind you. There is nothing worse than being talked through, yet not being acknowledged. And if they were concentrating 100% on the person in front of the queue, just how in God’s beloved name do they have time for someone else who is miles away? 2. Do you ever walk into a place (that advertises so loudly via all the available media) and find the faces of their people so unwelcoming? .1 One indicator: Am I wrong in assuming that the organisational representative should be the one to greet 1st whoever is entering their premises? And I would give that person a gold medal because naturally I greet everyone before they can me. So that would be a really committed customer service person indeed! .2 How many times have we entered most premises and received dismissive & brief stare downs? And we are consigned to not being existent while the person continues with their personal business as usual. .3 Or found the person busy on their phone (talking or on social media.) The cold stare, if they ever decide to look at us, says ‘Private. Don’t disturb!’ In short, ‘Buzz off!!!’ Yet they want our money??? .3 Or we have been standing in the queue for 30 minutes and have never been acknowledged in anyway. Yet some new entrant who is 10 people behind us is heartily greeted and if we and the other long-suffering queuers had not volubly complained, that person would have been served before us? 3. Leading customer service researchers use the ghost customer as one method to find out the health of customer care in organisations. .1 Almost on a daily basis I go into places incognito. With the kind of work I do this is easy. Casual attire is our norm. It is so interesting to see the amount of indifference in our societies if people suspect you are ‘low class’. I like it when people do not give me preferences because of my perceived ‘class’. I feel comfortable. Fawning is not sincere customer care. It is like wearing fake deodorant. .2 Try sending some ‘ordinary’ people into targeted premises and note what they say about the customer care they received. And how much lower it is to the red carpet one you always get because of your dress code, their prior knowledge of you etc.
I would really appreciate if you could give us a sequel based on the information I have shared above.
But not least, how many organisations do you deal with for the 1st time in any 1 month make you feel at home instantly? These are rare to non-existent yet they should be the norm. In my book, and if you can find them, they deserve the platinum medal. I would love to have that list if possible please?
Further, since you recorded your conversation with Dalia for ‘quality assurance’. Or am I the only one who has heard this repeated over the customer service lines? Can you please escalate your complaint to Payoneer’s higher echelons? We would love to know how agily they deal with it.
Well, on the issue of the greeting i.e. ‘My name is Dalia…’ I can say that this usually happens because the individuals who train these agents on customer care issues usually use text that they find on Google and other sources to create templates of how the firm approaches service. These statements or approaches to customer service are usually not backed up by a strategy, philosophy or an organisational culture. If you were to make the agents subjects of a brain scanning excercise like the ones carried out in this article about people’s emotional reactions when they are engaged in certain actions you would probably see that the agents will not even be feeling positive or caring when interacting with a customer. The people who train them about customer service (and the leadership of the organisation) also will not know or not even care about the implications of what they will be making the agents say to the customers. What one should know as a manager is that every word that an agent says to the customer creates expectations in the customer and these expectations, if positive, should be met.
On the issue of subject matter knowledge there are usually two causes. The first one is a lack of training on relevant issues that surround the product or the service and the second cause is irrelevant training (in the case that training is being conducted). Firms use methods like in house tests which ask questions that are not practical or relevant to the situation that an agent finds themselves in. This can lead to the agent feeling powerless as a result of a lack of adequate knowledge and unfortunately the customer has to bear the brunt of this shortcoming. Many agents themselves do not have a passion for their job and as a result they will not go the extra mile to attain the relevant knowledge that will assist them in their jobs. This points to issues with the recruitment team.
You are spot on about the organisational culture. The organisational culture also reflects on the leadership of the company. Almost all organisations take the form of their leaders when it comes to culture especially their behaviors and actions. In the case of Payoneer the CEO Scott Galit is the one who is at fault and he needs to work on himself and then his employees.
It is not a good thing that customer service is bad all over the world. One of the biggest effects that this has is that economies and firms that are coming up will not have many reference points or benchmarks from which to build upon. If the CEO of a firm in an emerging economy goes to the USA and receives poor service he or she will return to his country and just do the same. Another effect is that our economies as a whole will not grow at the rate that they should. This is because irate customers will not conduct as much business as they should with firms and as a result the firms will not grow as fast. Some will even decline. This has an effect on GDPs and the story goes on. This one issue can affect Africa on a massive scale. The fact that a lot of companies are not providing good customer service ties closely to the fact that 82 percent of managers that are hired turn out to be the wrong managers. This is according to this article http://ow.ly/QaFi6
You are not wrong at all for wanting to be greeted first for the customer is king. In all cultures I am sure that the one in a position of authority is the one that should be greeted first. In the case of an agent-customer relationship the customer is the one that has the authority. Allow me to quote this article entitled How To Greet Customers and Boost Sales. They say ‘More important than what you say, is the fact that the visitor is acknowledged – not necessarily served – the moment they enter. One study revealed that 68% of customers who leave do so because they feel like no one cares that they’re there. Picture entering an establishment waiting to be served. Then use your watch to count off 30 seconds. You realize that even half a minute is too long to wait.’
Mystery shopping is indeed a critical exercise for firms to conduct. Whether or not it is conducted consistently and accurately is another matter altogether. I have conducted a lot of mystery shopping in the past and the aspect of the discrimination of the ‘ordinary customer’ always comes to the fore. It shows a lack of insight on the part of the firm that is involved. Let me give an example of a maid. A maid is someone who usually has the trust of the owner. If you treat a maid poorly and she works for a millionaire you risk losing that business depending on the strength of their relationship. She might have been sent to buy something at your shop and you delaying or frustrating her will cause her to make an excuse at home based on your firm’s poor service. The next time the rich employer comes to your shop they will probably have a smaller zone of tolerance towards your firm based on the maid’s testimony. Treat every customer well because you do not know where they come from, who they represent or whom they might influence.
I will raise a complaint about Dalia with Payoneer and see how they deal with the issue as per your request. We might be able to get a sequel to this article. I will be looking for elements of service recovery on their part among other aspects of making a situation such as this right. We will also see whether or not they conduct quality assurance. The second interaction should be better than the first I hope.
I will keep an eye out as I interact with various firms to see whether or not any of them would make my list of firms which give exceptional service. There are currently no firms (of the firms that I have interacted with) that I can rate as world class and that is a shame because if any of them were to become world class I would definitely spend more money on them.
Thanks Ruvimbo.
Great article as usual. I look forward to your future ones.
You may have come across this article already?
Customer service hall of shame http://finance.yahoo.com/news/customer-hall-shame-151103637.html
You are welcome I will keep writing more articles.
I had not come across it actually thanks the article it’s a good one. Good customer service can make a firm a lot of money indeed. Apple loses out to other manufacturers in terms of rankings for their gadgets for example http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/mobile-phone/20-best-phones-2015-mobile-smartphones-uk-3210667/this ranking of the best smartphones in 2015 saw the Apple iPhone 6 come in at number 6 although in terms of price Apple phones are much more expensive than the top ranked phones. This is because Apple creates a culture or a lifestyle around its brand and customer service is one of the tenets of that culture.
Thanks for the smartphone link Ruvimbo. I also visited the 3 tags in your response of the 28th. Handy!!!
You are welcome!