Experience with service providers over the years has taught me one thing and that is that they all share the same common philosophy:
“We are not responsible for the service we provide you”
Telkom, the South African telecommunications monopoly has this in their terms and conditions, amidst a bunch of other CYA [cover your ass]:
“Telkom may provide hyperlinks to websites not controlled by Telkom (“target sites”) and such hyperlinks do not imply any endorsement, agreement on or support of the content, products and/or services of such target sites”
So, more than just not being responsible for the service they provide you, it seems they are not even responsible for their own website 😮 How many other companies out there do the same? And then we perplex at the breakdown in the fabric of society. It comes as no surprise really when the public examples are so insipid… aaah, but that itself is another discussion.
Vodacom too has it’s fair share of CYA. I’ve had *issues* with the software they provided [there is no alternative] for monitoring data usage. On more than one occassion i’ve been short-changed 80MB-100MB. Their customer care [less] response: The software we provide you cannot be used to reliably track data usage. Again. Another weak and, quite frankly, pathetic excuse- in the sense that is “so miserable as to be ridiculous”.
ADT, a security provider also suffers the symptoms of this modern day lukewarm customer [dis]-orientated behaviour. After waiting outside our house, in the rain, at night, for 45 minutes for their patrol vehicle to respond- we demanded an explanation. That was weeks ago. Still no word after many phone calls. Again, it seems that they are not responsible for the service they provide.
Edgars, yet another clueless organisation, allowed my mom to purchase a gift card for me which had no credit on it 🙂 Again, that was my problem. What i have had to go through to NOT have this problem resolved, is unreal. The rest of the list is thick with these weak-willed corporations who make it your problem once you’ve signed a deal with them. And read the fine print. You will see that any problem that does arise: eventually becomes yours. Afterall, you made the decision to deal with them, so deal with it 🙂
‘Cos remember:
“We are not responsible for the service we provide you”
Disclaimer: the author of this blog cannot be held responsible for any thoughts, messages and opinions expressed herein… yeah, riiiight! puhlease 🙂 imagine that? what would be the point of saying anything if you weren’t held responsible for it?