SOCIAL MEDIA COMPLAINTS ABOUT POOR SERVICES TRIGGER INSTANT RDB RESPONSE
(Posted 27th February 2015)
Frustrated with service levels, treated poorly by waiters, left standing at the reception as if you don’t belong?
In Rwanda, already one of the best connected countries in Eastern Africa, such treatment, when reported on the social media, has instant consequences as the owners of the Manor Hotel in Kigali’s Nyarutarama District found out at their expense during the week.
A disgruntled customer, realizing that his verbal complaints to management over the state of the changing rooms at the pool had not yielded any results, took his campaign to the social media and hey presto, was the reaction swift and sharpish.
Rwanda’s consumer watchdog magazine, the acclaimed ‘ServiceMag’ [@TheServiceMag] was copied into a tweet and as is customary with them, they instantly re-tweeted and widely copied the complaint. Also copied was the country’s tourism marketing and licensing body, the Rwanda Development Board [@RDBRwanda] and within hours had the organization’s COO Clare Akamanzi taken an interest, responded on twitter – not an extraordinary event by the way but that is what they do in Rwanda – and an inspection team was sent to ascertain the facts.
Caught red handed was the hotel given a week to put things right or else risked to lose their operating license on suspension.
The ServiceMag, Rwanda’s premier magazine with strong emphasis on service quality – the magazine organizes annual awards for best services based on the input of readers – has in the past often taken up such complaints and brought errant banks, insurance companies and even public offices to their heels by exposing poor services. RDB’s Tourism and Conservation Department in turn became an ally of sorts as they too are keen to see Rwanda’s hospitality sector excel in the region.
Anyone visiting Rwanda therefore, and encountering issues, at hotels, resorts, with transport or other services, airport security, customs or immigration included, is free to tweet and include the two twitter handles of RDB and the ServiceMag to be sure that there is a follow up. Rwanda’s immigration services was by the way repeatedly in the past singled out for service excellence, and the beef this correspondent had a few years ago with airport security too was addressed as customer service training has clearly not just taken place but taken root in a new culture of professionalism.
For added information about Destination Rwanda click on www.rwandatourism.com
