11 May 2008

Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Fujairah: The customer is always right, is the motto that employees must abide by, but is that always the case?

When walking into a department store or calling up a call centre, you can come across two types of employees - one that seems genuinely content in trying to help you and takes the time to talk, while the other clearly shows that they could not care any less of what you need help for.

Is the level of customer service up to high standards, or is the monotony of being on hold for more than 10 minutes on the telephone a common practice?

City Talk took to the streets and asked residents whether they think customer care is up to the mark, if they have ever faced an issue, and was it able to get resolved.

Abdul Razak, a Syrian doctor, 33, said: "I believe the customer service in the UAE is very good as compared to many other countries in the world. I have never faced any issues with the services here. I would say it is a relatively rare issue here."

Ana Maria, an administrator from Romania, 29, said: "They are generally very good. They are very fast and try to answer any queries as fast as possible. The customer care at retail shops is good because the owners set high standards."

Khine Winmu, 29, who works as a head cashier and accountant and is from Myanmar, said: "In some supermarkets their service is not very good. One day I asked an employee to find if a certain brand of cream was available, and he replied that I should check for it myself. I was upset because employees should not talk like that to customers. He said that he would help me but instead he disappeared. I then complained to the manager who was kind enough to help me out."

David Leitch, a construction manager from Scotland, 27, said: "[Customer care] varies [from place to place] but it is generally good. The big restaurants, hotels and expensive shops are quite good, but smaller places like small restaurants are sometimes slow to serve customers and their service is not that good."

Tagorenath Masanam, 38, an Indian engineer, said: "I feel that the customer service here in the UAE is very good. 'Customer is the king' definitely seems to be their motto."

Shirina Suhail, 27, an Indian travel agent, said: "I think, overall, customer service in the UAE is good. I have not had any bad experiences with customer services and I find most staff helpful. Occasionally, you may find staff who are new to their job and do not have ... service knowledge ... but that is understandable."

Anwar Kabbani, 30, a business development manager from Lebanon, said: "It pains me to admit that, overall, some employees lack such customer service skills and in some cases are just plain rude. I remember an incident once at a well known bank I went to open an account and when I approached a customer service employee, he rudely shrugged his shoulders and walked off after telling me that opening new accounts was not his job ... unfortunately he is not a rare example."

Muhannad Taysir, a Palestinian customer service personnel, 26, said: "There are companies which [have] poor customer service but there are many others that offer their best. I think the services on offer in the UAE are [on par] compared to other countries in the region."

By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Rayeesa Absal and Fuad Ali

Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.