Capital shoppers Ntinda is in the media for the wrong reasons. A Uganda Baker Asha Batenga was shocked when she found out that the margarine she bought from them was rotten. The incident happened on May 25, 2015 at Capital Shoppers Ntinda branch. According to her media interviews, she was ignored after seeking help from management. Management allegedly said that it was the problem of supplier not them. As usual Uganda has a weak civil society. There has not been any statement from Uganda consumers Association and other regulatory authorities like KCCA and UNBS on the matter. Asha found rotten margarine when she visited the supermarket the second time. Asha has evidence of a receipt and rotten margarine.Asha alleged cyber bullying after posting about her experience. Asha has since lost her Facebook account to hacking after the post. It teaches us to try to frequently change passwords and invest in cyber security systems.
This is something that would have taken five minutes to resolve but continues to drag on from the month of May. This story started as a simple social media rant in May and dragged into to June when a local TV interviewed the unhappy customer. This is a case of poor customer care and reputation management. Why would Capital shoppers wait for a customer to have an opportunity to share her experience outside the supermarket premises?
The supermarket has not even responded to her fears. People in the service industry must always ensure that they get feedback and act on it before customers leave their premises. They say a stitch in time saves nine. Shifting blame is not damage control. Why would a supervisor at Capital shoppers refuse to exchange or refund her money? Capital Shoppers Ntinda is currently selling a batch of Marine margarine Fat at about Shs 61,000. Is shs 61,000 worth their reputation damage? Asking a customer to follow up with a product supplier is unrealistic and insensitive. Do customers have direct contracts with suppliers?
Power of the media. Media can break or make an organisation. In fact pictures were taken perhaps using a phone and soon they were on most media platforms including YouTube. Online communication or traditional media like newspapers can never be hidden. The rise of citizen journalism has made the situation get more attention.
Is this a case of bad customer service? Customer experience portrays the quality of staff. There seems to be lack of staff understanding and training in: Media relations, Crisis management, quality control, Media monitoring, Customer relations,and responsibility. Asha has a Capital reward card from the supermarket as a loyal customer. Capital shoppers Loyalty card customer system is under question then. If she is a loyal customer, why not treat her like one than tossing her around. Some people on social media have been pushing for a boycott against capital shoppers. The capital shoppers reward card has a slogan 'set to satisfy'. Their act was not in the same spirit obviously. Does Capital shoppers run customer care audits for their service levels? Audits look out for alertness of staff, service quality, and adherence to other acceptable customer standards. Audit results guide on possible course of action whether re-skilling, job rotation or punishment. Uganda companies must understand the difference between customer care and customer service.
Customers are taken for granted world over and this affects sales of businesses in question. The ABC of customer satisfaction starts with building effective customer care systems and thinking like a customer. Any action by staff has a trickle-down effect on the entire business operations. Patience and a positive attitude is the most important life skill for staff in the service industry today.
Asha has already expressed threats on her life. Capital shoppers needed to come out and clear its name on the matter. Every crisis requires that someone must be held accountable. Organisations must be seen to take some responsibility for the incident. Capital shoppers can go public about suspension of the staff who were on duty that day. This may help buy time and cool the pressure. The supermarket has not even bothered to communicate their quality control policies as a message of reassurance to existing and would- be customers. We are yet to get a statement from Mukwano that makes the Margarine.
There is no sorry in the service industry. You must get it right the first time and always. Customers will always be kings.
Disclaimer. This article strictly offers academic insight meant to create awareness about crisis PR management in Uganda. Therefore, it should be used for educational purposes and not viewed as an attack on institutions or individuals. The writer assumes no responsibility for contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.
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Ivan .N.Baliboola
PR and organisational diagnosis specialist
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