Suggestions for improving customer in-store experience

[morkhans]

So I went to Cell C Canal Walk yesterday to port a number to Cell C. For a start when you walk into the store there are 3 different counters with staff serving customers. So the first thing you find yourself battling with is deciding which counter has the least people waiting or has the least complicated or time consuming activities at it. Solution: Ticketing system. Recent experience at Capitec shows how well this works. You walk in, man hands you a piece of paper with a number, sit/stand where ever you like and wait for you number to be called. This makes so much more sense in a mobile store. Let customers play with phones or shop for accessories rather than dying a slow death standing in a disorganised queue.

Paperwork. When I'm handed a contract that looks like an Nth generation photo copy of a photo copy I'm immediately put off. It's just plain unprofessional. Staff should be able to print or be supplied with 1st gen copies of contracts. Pretty simple and goes a long way towards presentation IMO. I took out a top-up contract. I had to initial about 20 different individual points on the contract and sign (sometimes multiple times on the same page). Never have I had to do more than initial each page and sign the last page. Surely you can simplify this.

On the plus. The staff member I dealt with was friendly and knew how the porting process worked and wrote up my deal as I had generated it from the website. Just waiting for the port to complete so I can go collect the phone.

 

[mercurial]

100% You should let them know.

 

[Cell_C]

So I went to Cell C Canal Walk yesterday to port a number to Cell C. For a start when you walk into the store there are 3 different counters with staff serving customers. So the first thing you find yourself battling with is deciding which counter has the least people waiting or has the least complicated or time consuming activities at it. Solution: Ticketing system. Recent experience at Capitec shows how well this works. You walk in, man hands you a piece of paper with a number, sit/stand where ever you like and wait for you number to be called. This makes so much more sense in a mobile store. Let customers play with phones or shop for accessories rather than dying a slow death standing in a disorganised queue.

Paperwork. When I'm handed a contract that looks like an Nth generation photo copy of a photo copy I'm immediately put off. It's just plain unprofessional. Staff should be able to print or be supplied with 1st gen copies of contracts. Pretty simple and goes a long way towards presentation IMO. I took out a top-up contract. I had to initial about 20 different individual points on the contract and sign (sometimes multiple times on the same page). Never have I had to do more than initial each page and sign the last page. Surely you can simplify this.

On the plus. The staff member I dealt with was friendly and knew how the porting process worked and wrote up my deal as I had generated it from the website. Just waiting for the port to complete so I can go collect the phone.

Hi Morkhans,

Thank your for taking your time to type your suggestions, we highly appreciate and welcome such suggestions and we have escalated this one to our marketing team for their consideration.

Thank for choosing cellc and let us know should you need assistance.

CellC|TM

 

[morkhans]

So to wrap things up. I tried calling the store yesterday to confirm the port was through and the phone was ready. The Cell C site only lists the Fax number. Fortunately the Canal Walk site has the phone number, but it just rings. I tried again last night at 8PM and someone finally answered and confirmed the port was through and the phone was in stock.

Again when I arrived it's try your luck with a counter. I watched people as they came in and could see them struggling with the same problem of which counter to choose. I did spot the staff member who helped me on Monday, but he was busy and got someone else to help me. He processed the contract, handed me the phone and a print out of my details. He was equally friendly. When I got home I checked the print out he had given me. It was a basic summary of my contact and contract details, all poorly captured and in lower case. My postal address was also ignored in favour of my physical address (which I don't use for post). I would have expected him to ask me to check it once he'd completed it. I was also not offered a copy of the hefty contract I had to sign. I signed up on the Cell C site and fixed all my details myself. Tested the phone and checked balances and all is in order.

So all in all a relatively positive experience, but definitely room for improvement.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

So all in all a relatively positive experience, but definitely room for improvement.

Yep. The suggestion with the tickertape number will help a lot.

I had the same experience when signing for my first contract - you don't know which desk to choose, and the queue system is a bit iffy. I'd rather get issued a number and take a shufty at the exhibits than standing in a queue doing nothing.