Service suffers because rich people don't queue

[rpm]

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3642546

As I listened to the disembodied voice at Telkom thanking me for holding and assuring me that somebody would assist me, it struck me that we, the general public, are the "synned upon" in synergies and the "effed upon" in efficiencies.

 

[Syndyre]

There may be scope within the Competition Act for a well-resourced consumer body to block, on grounds of public interest, any transaction that enhances a company's bottom line

Not a bad article but that comment is just stupid!

 

[Ozymandias]

It's not only that you are forced to queue for long periods on the phone before being attended to, the reasons you have to phone in the first place should be also be questioned. I came back to this country seven years ago from the UK. Immediately, I found myself having to make countless phone calls to chase up transactions which should have been executed first time around. Initially, I thought it must only happening to me and they were unfortunate isolated incidents. Seven years down the line, I am finding that the situation is exactly the same or worse and can only infer that I can't possibly be that unlucky. If I was to gauge a country's productivity on the general ability of it's institutions to accomplish a smooth transaction on behalf of it's customers, I would guestimate that the UK was 5 times more productive than SA. My bad experiences all come down to administrative mess ups which point to system failures. It's a sad indictment that we as customers, are forced to endure such poor levels of service. Nobody stands out from the crowd on service leaving the public little choice but to accept the status quo.