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No one is better studied and courted, and yet no one is more taken for granted and pushed around, than the customer. More and more customers in all countries of the world are being subjected to the pains of this maxim.
Even in advanced industrial countries, which once set much store by high-sounding slogans such as “Customer is King”; “Quality is what customer says it is” and “A customer retained is equal to 20 new customers gained”, articles have been appearing with increasing frequency, both in the media and professional publications, severely lambasting the hassles undergone by customers at the hands of companies, many of them enjoying brand status. There is no dearth of awards for outstanding performance in the field of customer relations: There are the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and Stevie Awards in the US, Deming Prize in Japan and European Quality Award. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, for instance, are specially focused on best services provided through call centres and by sales professionals and given annually in recognition of excellence achieved in these fields worldwide.
In India, the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award introduced by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in 1991 comprises the categories of ‘The Best of All', certificate for the next best and commendation for the runner-up, with cash incentives of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively. But it is not directly meant to promote customer protection and satisfaction by service providers, product makers and goods suppliers with reference to their commitment to instant removal of customer grievances.
LAUDABLE INTENTION
It only addresses indirectly the issue of maximising ‘consumer satisfaction' by seeking to recognise the achievements of Indian manufacturing and service organisations in improving the quality of their products and services and thereby setting an example for others.
For all its laudable intention of bringing about a new and fast-growing generation of leaders of quality movement in India, its impact has been minimal for two reasons: Many are not aware of its existence itself, and despite whatever effort the BIS has made, it has not yet acquired a coveted status.
The less said about the Chambers of commerce, business and industry the better. There is little evidence of their showing any keenness to live up to the expectations of customers other than bandying about phrases such as ‘customer delight', ‘customer paradise' and the like. One can understand why they have not joined together to institute their own award for this purpose: They know that every selection made will immediately invite angry nationwide protests by hundreds of customers affected by the outrageous customer relations of whichever firm is selected!
Meanwhile, the mental, physical and financial torments of customers continue: Lousy after-sales service; inordinate delays in attending to complaints; nitpicking over the fine print of maintenance and service contracts to make extra money; refusing to replace defective goods and products; and making false and extravagant claims in sales pitch and advertisements.
PATHETIC PLIGHT
The New York Times published a half-serious, half-facetious piece some years ago about customers being forced to wait for as long as 15-20 minutes at their end of the telephone after going through the user-unfriendly rigmarole of pressing various numbers for this, that and the other kind of help which is seldom forthcoming.
If this is the case in countries where there is greater awareness of their rights on the part of citizens and customers, just imagine their pathetic plight in India where they have to run from pillar to post even to get basic entitlements, leave alone having the stamina to enforce the discharge of their bounden duties and obligations by service providers, product makers and sellers of goods.
As has been the experience of many customers who had filed cases for deficiency of service in Consumer Redress Forums and Courts, the accused companies think nothing of indulging in downright untruths in response to customer complaints.
In short, customers everywhere have begun finding themselves cold-shouldered in terms of attention and service by a faceless and apathetic business bureaucracy no less remote and unresponsive than the government's garden variety!
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