Its a general perception that government owned enterprises are perhaps the worst place for consumers in India and I think there are good enough reasons to believe that it is quite true. I flew Air India twice from US to India and to be honest, I could have slapped the flight attendants for their callousness, horrible attitude and rude behaviour. My last few trips to the BSNL office, however, have been a revelation of sorts and are certainly playing a big part to change my outlook.
I applied for a broadband connection and got it in 4 days flat when the general activation time was 7 days. A month later, I was not able to connect to the net for 3-4 days. When I went to complain, the person taking the complain actually scolded me for not complaining earlier because if I had done so, they could have solved my problem a lot earlier. Surprise!! I then had to upgrade my monthly plan. I applied on the last day of the month and was well beyond the date by which the application should be given for the effect to take place in the coming month. Surprise again!! The person took my application and said, "Don't worry, Sir. The upgraded plan will be effective from tomorrow."
What happened today, however, was the mother of all surprises. An incorrect bill is probably one of those issue that takes ages to resolve. But voila!! In less than 30 minutes, I walked out of the BSNL office with a receipt stating that I had indeed over payed and that the amount will be adjusted in the next bill. I can say with some confidence that even a privately owned telephone company would have taken atleast 7 days to solve the problem.
For those who think that the change was brought in by the youth bandwagon that is joining the government organizations, be ready for another shock. In all the above incidents, the persons responsible for acceptance of the issue and its resolution were in their forties and fifties; people with bald head and round spectacles; people whom we chide for their slowness and ineffectiveness.
Maybe its time we change our notions about the ingredients of a good customer experience. Public/private ownership and youth/elder might make some difference but I guess, at the end of the day, its the person who handles the customer who is responsible for making or breaking the experience. I sincerely hope that the change sweeping through BSNL engulfs other public sector organisations also and change the way we perceive them and the people working in them. Its time they deserve some appreciation.
BSNL, take a bow.
