Customer service, The Commercial Bank of Kuwait has it right!

You don’t need an appointment to send an email

Remember back in the day when you had to stand in a long line, on a hot afternoon, to file a complaint? And the pointless, senseless, mindless bureaucratic policies you had to go thru? It served to make people disheartened to have their voices heard and their opinions noted. Nowadays, with the internet gaining an unprecedented popularity, the matter of voicing your opinion has become but a click of a button away.

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A while ago, (ok, a month or so ago) I was placed in an unpleasant situation at CBKs branch in Hawalli (which happens to be one of the few that work afternoon shifts). Normally, one would have shrugged off said occurrence and gone about their normal routines, however, as this blog has taught me, I had learnt to always voice my opinion in any situation, hence whilst standing before the teller, I inquired as to the name of the person sitting in the office that had just irked me (this will make more sense later), and then upon getting home, I sat down and shot a very well-worded email to CBK admin. Here is the email:

Dear CBK,

 Good morning. I am writing you this email as I wish to file a formal complaint against one of your employees in the Tunis St. Branch, I believe his name is (BLANK), he occupies the(location of guys office).

 Yesterday I visited the branch to conduct a transaction; I wished to withdraw a sum of money from my account. I visited the branch at roughly 5:40~5:50, the number on the waiting board was 76, and my number was 131. I waited for a while, at the front desk, then realised that this wait would take some time, so I left and sat down to get some work done, I had my laptop with me at the time.

 I kept a watchful eye on the waiting board, and when the number reached 128, I decided to move out of the waiting area and closer to the tellers, as numbers were being rapidly changed and I did not wish to miss my turn.

 Please note I was not the only one standing infront of the tellers waiting for my turn, there must have been atleast 6 others there as well.

 I took a position infront of the aforementioned office and awaited. By 129 I heard a voice calling the following, "excuse me", "pssst", "Mr.", "sir", much as you would do with a child, actions unbefitting of a working professional in a professional environment seeking to conduct business. Afterward, (HE) comes up to me, taps me on the shoulder, and asks me to take a seat.

 Again, I disregarded his previous and rather mediocre behavior reminiscent of a high school teacher and politely informed him that my number was 131; that I had been sitting down, and that the counter was now on 129. He kept insisting that I sit down, rather rudely. Again, I pointed out the fact that there were other people standing infront of the tellers waiting their turn. Again, he kept insisting that I move.

 He was not even humorous or comical about it, he was serious.

I was taken aback by this. I do not expect to go into a CBK Branch and be treated like a child in high school, he refused to give me any proper reason or justification for requesting me to move, and not asking anyone else to do the same.

 Therefore, I wish to file a formal complaint against his actions of yesterday, by the time he was done with his tirade, the waiting board had hit my number, and I had my transaction processed with haste.

 Thank you for your time,

 Best regards,

 Ayman Nassar

I had done my part and was satisfied, I had named the person in question, given an accurate description of the event that had occurred, along with timings etc.

Two days later I received a call, the person was very pleasant and polite, introducing himself as the Head of Customer Service and Employee Relations (I think, I’m not really sure) at CBK. First off, he apologized for the harassment I had been subjected to (if you can call it that), and requested me to re-tell the incident. I did. He then inquired as to what I was wearing at the time, as he wished to review the CCTV footage of the day (good thing I mentioned the times properly). He also informed me that yes, the employee’s actions were not professional and that they would speak to him.

At this point, I was elated. I never thought that this email would go this far and that a tangible investigation would be solicited.

The next day, I receive another call from the same Head asking further about my attire on the day, to verify where I was standing exactly on the CCTV footage.

What happened next is beyond me, I was not privy to that information, however, suffice to say, I really appreciate CBKs effort to take a pro-active attitude in dealing with customer complaints.

I am not a guru with photoshop and my photo-search skills are limited, however, I do remember seeing a picture somewhere before of a customer complaint box with an open bottom right atop a trash can, this is clearly not the case with CBK.

If only all companies in Kuwait would put more faith and effort in their online presence, as I would much rather send an email than make a phone-call (yes, I have become desensitised as a result of the online world). For example, UshopWEship, whom I have not used again since my last disagreement with them, and will most definitely not use them again.