JUST a few days ago, our area has experienced water interruption. Well, for any person like me, I suppose any form of interruption can be annoying as it can block a smooth flow of your day. That is exactly what happened.
As a paying customer of Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD), I am a stakeholder of the services they render. Therefore, for any interruptions such as this, I deserve to know. I deserve to have quality, timely and accurate information of the product or service that I purchase. The thing is, I am not informed at all.
I tried to search their facebook page and there we learned that they have posted a notice about this interruption an hour before it happened. They have promised that the interruption will just be a few hours, which eventually extended to a few more hours than what they have promised.
For one, the consumers should have access to information of their service. Everyone should know, not just those who have internet access. What about those consumers who do not have a hold of any internet access? It is therefore the responsibility of the company to find a way to inform their customers. As a result, some of the customers were left hanging not knowing what happened. Thus, they should have explored all possibilities to inform their clients.
Moreover, I highly suggest that companies or organizations should not promise what they cannot deliver. If they say that the restoration of the water will happen in a couple of hours, then they must rightly deliver so. The statement that they release, no matter how minute they think it is or no matter how great the delay is vis-à-vis with what they pledged, has a lot of implications already in the lives of the people that their group serve. A couple of hours would mean a delay for them to do their household chores, or a person who cannot even go to work anymore, or a business that cannot fully function as they need to. These things involve costs.
Lastly, do not give your clients the “we are doing all our best here” statement because clearly, if it were your best, you could have had the initiative to give your customers alternative solutions to pressing concerns while you were busy solving the issue at hand. We know when you are already doing what is best. It is up to us to evaluate when you are doing your best.
The point that I am driving at is to serve your customers with care, not just because you are paid or it is something expected of you but because you owe it to the people who have committed and trusted your group in the first place. Deliver! This is not just a call during times when there are interruptions. But have the consistency and excellence in providing your clients what they deserve.