Poor Customer Service

I write this service complaint today regarding the poor service that I received from one of the service consultants (Emmanuel Nkuni) and manager on duty (Mandla Ndlovu) at the City of Johannesburg Braamfontein branch.

My first visit to the branch was on the 30th of June 2020, to query my Electricity and water bill and at the same time I wanted to know more about prepaid electricity.On that particular day I spoke to a lady by the name of Fortunate (if I am not mistaken) who explained the whole process about getting a prepaid meter.

She said my account should be up to date or alternatively an arrangement should be in place for payments on the outstanding balance in order for me to apply for a prepaid meter. She then mentioned that I would need to obtain a form from the municipality when I do decide to apply for prepaid electricity, fill it in and then return it to the municipality.

She also mentioned that upon handing in the form, I would get an installation quote, and once payment has been made, the technicians would then come to my home to install the meter within 14 days.

I then left on that day as I needed to return to the municipality the following day (1st July 2020) regarding my meter readings, as I was advised to purchase a newspaper, go to my meters, take a picture of the readings, ensuring that the date of the newspaper is visible, which is exactly what I did.

On the 1st of July 2020, I was assisted by Phumzile at General inquiries, who was quite helpful and who also managed to assist me with all the queries that I had. I then asked her what needed to be done in order for me to get a prepaid meter installed at my house, and she said the same thing that was said by Fortunate.I then asked her if it was possible for me to do it there and then, however she mentioned that systems were still offline due to financial year end, therefore she can only give me the form to be filled in and returned as soon as the system was back online. She added that the system would possibly be back online by the 6th-7th July, which is when the form should be returned.

Unfortunately, on the said date of the 7th of July 2020, the system was still offline as my husband had gone to submit the form.He was then issued with a telephone number and told to phone in and check if the system is online, which is exactly what we did for most of this month without success.

We were eventually told that the system is now back online, which is why I decided to go to the municipality today (29th July 2020) to go and submit the form.

I got there at 14:00 to be quite exact. I was screened by the receptionist upon entry and asked what services I needed. I said I am here to apply for prepaid electricity and as the lady was about to stand up and get me a form, I explained that I already have a form and it is filled out, she then directed me to the General inquiries queue.

While in the queue, I was called to the counter by Emmanuel who told me bluntly that due to Corona virus, they no longer take any paperwork from customers, due to precautions and I would need to apply via email or online. I tried explaining that before I came in to inquire in June, I tried sending emails regarding my queries, including prepaid electricity and to this date there has not been any response, which is why I came into the branch personally.

He kept on saying that unfortunately he cannot assist me and he is not sure why his colleagues told me that I can apply by filling out a form and bringing it back to the branch, and he cannot understand why Phumzile gave me the form. I then asked to speak to someone else regarding this, and he said I should sit where I was sitting, while he gets someone.

While I sat there, I noticed that under his keyboard, there was a similar paper (form) to the one I had, it was filled out and the instruction was written in bold (convert to prepaid). I wondered how it got there as they were no longer allowed to take any paperwork from customers.

Nonetheless, he came back and took me to Mandla. When I got to Mandla, he (Mandla) told me exactly what Emmanuel had said to me and then I asked him when did this all start as the Corona virus outbreak started in March and I was here in June and a form was issued to me, with an instruction to hand it back in and get a quote.

He then said it all started when they came back on the 8th of June 2020. I then said that the first time I was here was the 30th June 2020, how is it possible that 2 people tell me the same thing after an instruction to take precautions had gone out? I even told him that I tried sending emails, however there was never a response, which is quite frustrating, which is also the reason I came into the branch.

He then said unfortunately he cannot assist me, meaning that nothing I say would help me to get assisted. In frustration, I asked for his name and the consultants name as he had left and he gladly gave it to me. When I asked why a similar paper as the one I had was under Emmanuel's keyboard, he could not respond to that. When I asked him why the lady at the front door did not turn me back as they no longer take in paper work from customers, once again, he did not answer to that too and didn't seem to even care.

I then left and went back to the reception and asked the lady why she did not turn me back because forms are not allowed to be handed in, she was just surprised to what I said and even confirmed that customers were coming in today to do the same thing and they were not turned back. She then asked who I spoke to, I showed her the names and she said that one of the guys was a manager (Mandla), which leaves her speechless.

She then went to the counter where statements are printed out and a gentleman at that counter said he can gladly assist me, and that I should calm down and not shout at him. I asked for forgiveness and also mentioned that it was due to frustrations of being sent from pillar to post. He politely asked me to return to the branch on the 30th July 2020 in the morning and that I should come straight to his counter and he will assist me. And I was okay with that and I left.

Above is what I experienced and I hope that this will all be rectified as I wouldn't want to see any other customer going through such.

I am big on customer service as I believe that customers are King and should be treated with respect. I believe that managers should know better. I am a manager myself and its sad to see other managers encouraging such behaviors of their consultants.

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